MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is set to release by next week the revised common tower policy which will likely undergo months of testing before being finalized to ensure significant improvements in the country’s telecommunications services.
Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio told The STAR that the policy, rules, and regulations on common and shared infrastructure in the public telecommunications market would be finalized this week and targeted for release by next week.
“We are thinking before finalizing the policy to first subject it to a proof-of-concept period involving around 2,000 common towers nationwide,” he said.
Rio said while no specific duration is finalized yet, a proof-of-concept period of around three months is being planned.
“Within that period, 2,000 common towers would have been contracted between telcos and tower companies,” he said.
“This is the first time that we will have a common tower policy and testing the policy first, so that it would not be subject to changes, would be wise,” Rio added.
Mandating infrastructure sharing and the implementation of a common tower policy are expected to greatly improve mobile telecommunication services and internet reliability and efficiency in the country and provide these at a reasonable cost to consumers.
Through a common tower and pole infrastructure policy in place, the pressure of network roll out and cost management from telco companies are expected to be alleviated as they will be allowed to focus on improving customer service.
It will also promote the availability of a wide range of cost effective and competitive telco networks throughout the country by ensuring optimum utilization of telecom resources.
In September last year, the DICT, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and Presidential Adviser for ICT Ramon Jacinto presented to stakeholders the draft common tower policy which received concerns from tower firms, telcos and even the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for provisions dubbed as being “anti-competitive.”
The DICT wants the country to have 50,000 towers in seven to 10 years, or roughly 5,000 towers a year, under its common tower initiative.
The agency has so far signed agreements with 15 different local and foreign common tower firms to form the pool of possible providers for PLDT, Globe and Mislatel in their respective tower roll out plans.
The DICT earlier said the incumbent telco players and the incoming one have expressed their support to a market-driven common and shared passive infrastructure policy as well as their willingness to collaborate with the interested tower providers.