Globe vows to provide better, faster internet service

MANILA, Philippines — Globe Telecom Inc. has vowed to give its customers better data and faster internet speed this year.

The telco  is ramping up investments to build more fiber to homes and cell sites.

Globe said the aggressive roll out of 5G would also happen this year in  more cities and municipalities nationwide.

With a better data network in place, Globe said voice services would likewise improve by providing  voice over LTE (VoLTE) and voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) to deliver clearer voice calls, faster call setup and near zero dropped calls.

VoLTE and VoWiFi were initially rolled out in NCR and in other parts of Luzon, and will be present in Visayas and Mindanao this year.

“As we go forward and upwards, Globe is committed to advance and improve its network infrastructure. While the new sites will need time to be built and fired up, the recent unimpeded permitting process has proven to be the much-needed catalyst for the telco industry,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said.

“Improving the country’s state of connectivity and internet speed is a continuing effort that requires both public and private sector support,” he said.

Globe built 600,000 broadband lines last year, a 55 percent improvement from 2019.

The company was also able to build 1,300 new cell sites and upgraded 11,529 sites to 4G/LTE in 2020.

Its 5G mobile network now covers 80 percent of urban Metro Manila and is also available in 17 key cities nationwide through 1,031 sites.

Globe said these expansion initiatives and upgrades have paved the way for its network to support virtual get-togethers, online masses, concerts, distance learning, and popular online sale events during the holiday season.

Mobile internet traffic during Christmas Day and New Year’s Day spiked by at least 12 percent as compared to customers’ usage in the previous month.

It said that popular virtual interactive apps like Zoom and Skype were  consistently being used during weekdays and slightly dropping on weekends, suggesting that more customers use these apps for work from home and distance learning or online class requirements.