Globe is planning to build 200 new cell sites in Batangas this year as part of the telco’s sustained network builds. The province, located south of Luzon island currently has 361 Globe sites, 85 percent of which will have an additional 4G capacity.
It is also installing 50,000 fiber-to-the-home lines this year to beef up its existing lines in the province.
During the first-ever Liveable Cities Local Lab event, Globe assured Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas that the telco will continue to offer digital tools and build a robust network in Batangas — one of the Philippines’ culturally rich provinces.
The Liveable Cities Local Lab, co-organized by Liveable Cities Philippines and the League of Cities of the Philippines in partnership with Globe, serves as a platform for sharing good practices, innovation, appropriate technology, urban planning, and local government unit (LGU) management.
“We are seeing a 60 percent increase in coverage, a significant increase in fortified 4G sites, and a 150 percent increase in fiber. These initiatives will improve the overall experience in the province with faster internet speeds and lower latency,” said Peter Maquera, Globe Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group.
The telco noted an improvement in connectivity in the province as mobile data average download speed increased 38 percent to 16.8 Mbps in Q1 2021 from 12.1 Mbps in Q1 2020. Average latency also improved to 29 from 50 milliseconds.
Latency is the amount of time it takes for information to be transmitted from source to its intended destination. A lower latency score is better.
One of the three major landing stations and cable systems of Globe is in Nasugbu, Batangas. The company is currently building a 4th cable landing station to accommodate international cable systems and 3,800 kilometers of new underground fiber optic cable to support the new cable station.
As the province gears up to make the most of the available technologies, Ayala Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala enjoins Batangas to also look into the development and use of green energy.
Zobel, who is also Chairman of Globe, said the Ayala Group through AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. is pursuing renewable energy developments through solar power plants in Alaminos, Laguna, and in Palauig, Zambales.
“There is a new concern about the green economy, about the energy being green,” Zobel said. “All of us, even those who have invested in fossil fuel, we’re also beginning to expand. So one thought I would leave with the province is the development of green energy in your portfolio. I think that is another trend that maybe the province should consider because increasingly it is getting tougher to finance fossil-based energy,” he added.
Since 2015, Globe has started replacing lead-acid batteries on its 105 cell sites in the province with lithium-ion batteries. New builds will be using lithium-ion batteries due to their higher energy density, faster rate of charging over VRLA, and more stable backup power.
Globe also replaced 23 end-of-life AC generators with modern DC generators that have higher efficiency and more fuel-efficient systems. Lower diesel fuel consumption translates to reduced carbon emissions and lower operational cost in fuel and maintenance.
Moreover, to reduce electricity consumption in its indoor cell sites, Globe has installed Free Cooling System (FCS) to reduce dependency on air-conditioners to maintain the required temperatures in its cell sites. As of March 2021, the company has installed 37 FCS in its cell sites in Batangas.
Globe is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and is committed to implement universal sustainability principles. It also supports 10 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
