Globe is working with industry leaders to connect billions of people around the world through the use of innovative technologies and operational methods
As part of its commitment to help build a digital nation and a digital world, Globe Telecom has joined a global initiative formed to create new technologies and approaches in support of accelerating the growth of high-quality, scalable, and affordable telecommunications infrastructure by driving innovation and collaboration in the industry.
Globe is a founding member and currently the only Philippine telco, at launch, to be part of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), an engineering-focused initiative driven by operators, infrastructure providers, system integrators, and other technology companies that aims to reimagine the traditional approach to building and deploying telecom network infrastructure.
“We are proud to be among the leading operators of this global initiative. We will be working together to learn new approaches to support the demand surge for data and connect more Filipinos through this new technology, ” says Ernest Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom. “We are committed to maximizing the use of information and communications technology (ICT). As a major development contributor of the country, we’re excited to deliver on our promise of a connected individual, home, and business for a wonderful Philippines.”
In addition, in collaboration with Facebook, Globe recently launched an initiative that aims to connect millions of Filipinos based in far-flung and geographically-isolated areas with no cellular coverage. “We are currently testing the technology and approach and we are optimistic that we can replicate this initiative across thousands of barangays nationwide in our future roll-outs. The things we will learn from the TIP ecosystem will definitely add value to our network deployments in the coming years as we provide basic connectivity services to each and every Filipino”, added Cu.
“Facebook is committed to making the world more open and connected,” added Jason Taylor, Facebook’s Vice President of Infrastructure Foundation. “Globe’s efforts to adopt new approaches and embrace new technologies will help increase the pace of innovation in this space. We are proud to be joining Globe in their quest to connect the Philippines.”
TIP will explore new approaches and technologies across three initial focus areas: access, backhaul, and core and management. The project groups within these areas will leverage the unique engineering and operational expertise of each member, and they will focus on developing new technologies and exploring new approaches to deployment in both developed and emerging markets. In the near term, TIP’s work will focus primarily on disaggregating the hardware and software layers in the traditional network stack and recombining those elements in ways that enable significant efficiency gains in urban and rural deployments. TIP will also collaborate on the acceleration of technologies like 5G and the development of new technologies that will pave the way for better connectivity and richer services.
Globe Telecom’s network infrastructure investments is considered as one of the highest in Asia, posting one of the highest CAPEX-to-revenue ratio in the last two years and showing how aggressive the telecommunications provider has been in upgrading and enhancing its network infrastructure. Globe has a CAPEX-to-revenue ratio of 28% in 2015 and 27% in 2014 while the local telecommunications industry averaged 23% in both 2015 and 2014.
In 2011, Globe embarked on a $700 million network modernization program that provided among others the adoption of latest telecommunication technologies for seamless customer experience and increased data capacities. The modernization initiative, completed in 2014, delivered the most advanced network infrastructure in the country, putting in a brand new access, transport, and core network nationwide. As part of the initiative, the company also completed a nationwide rollout of 4G network, using the HSPA+ technology. Since 2011, Globe has invested over $2.2 billion in its network and IT infrastructure to enhance the telecommunication provider’s data network capacities.
