NOW Corp inks deals with TransCo to access fibre infrastructure for broadband network plan

NOW Corp, which is seeking to establish itself in the Filipino telecoms market via its NOW Telecom affiliate, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with government-owned National Transmission Corp (TransCo) for the use of its fibre-optic network in the establishment of a nationwide broadband network. The deal also affords NOW Corp access to the utility company’s vacant lots, tower spaces and related facilities on the National Grid Corp of the Philippines (NGCP) – which is owned by TransCo – to build a fixed broadband network across the country. In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday (14 June), NOW Corp chairman Thomas Aquino confirmed that the company ‘is determined to build an independent nationwide backbone to cover the entire country and [is] seriously looking on the viability of collaborating with TransCo to achieve this end.’ Aquino went on to add that NOW Corp believes it has ‘a government committed to exhaust all means to solve the digital divide’. Through NOW Telecom, the group seeks to provide better, more reliable broadband internet services in Metro Manila.