Globe Telecom Inc. said over the weekend it will speed up network expansion and upgrade next year to provide an improved internet service to customers.
The telecom unit of the Ayala Group said it would focus on 4G/LTE next year for better data experience on mobile, while accelerating fiber-to-home connectivity.
“All these are being done to provide an improved internet service to customers especially at this time when internet service is an essential need,” Globe said.
The company said a large portion of the P50.3 billion in capital expenditures this year would go for network upgrade initiatives.
Globe said it secured 715 permits from August to September to build facilities across the country, from Bangued in Northern Luzon to Butuan City in Northeastern Mindanao.
It said despite the pandemic, Globe’s critical skeleton workforce composed of engineers, installers, repairmen and other personnel continued to work on network improvements and site builds to ensure unhampered connectivity for subscribers.
Globe said that prior to the pandemic, it spent P51 billion in capex in 2019 to increase its network and putting up 139 percent more cell sites compared to 2018.
It said that as a result, 4G base stations increased by 28 percent from 2018, doubling the deployment of massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) sites, thus considerably adding more data capacity.
The company said that as proof that the improvements over the last year and a half yielded results, it was named by independent mobile analytics firm Opensignal as one of the most improved telcos in the world in terms of video experience, based on its user data comparison between the first half of 2019 and 2020.
Globe’s improvement score of 32.7 percent average video experience of Opensignal users on 3G and 4G network signifies impressive gains against the worldwide average improvement at 14 percent.
“We are happy that the changes are being recognized. While there are still gaps, the new network upgrades are designed to address these,” said Globe chief technology and information officer Gil Genio.
“We expect the improvements to continue moving into 2021 with bolder moves to provide 4G everywhere and connecting homes with high speed fiber,” he said.
