Globe downplays report on 'tower sale', says business as usual on telco assets

ABS-CBN News

Globe Telecom on Tuesday said it&#x27;s business as usual in terms of its telco assets after Bloomberg reported that it is mulling the sale of half of its towers for $1.5 billion.&quot;Globe is on business-as-usual mode with regards to the tower assets. We have been approached by the different TowerCos given the recent transaction but this is consistent with our typical engagement with them given they are also our vendors,&quot; the Ayala-led telco said in a statement.Bloomberg earlier reported that the telco is mulling the sale of about 6,000 towers.&quot;As mentioned in the article, to date, Globe has no Board approval to proceed and execute any transaction for our tower assets, other than the engagement of the tower companies for our network rollout,&quot; it said. An analyst told ANC that the Bloomberg report quoting &quot;people with knowledge of the matter&quot; meant that Globe could be exploring ways to fund its capital expenditures set at P89 billion in 2022.Investors will also likely be on the lookout if the reported tower sales materialize since Globe has not officially confirmed the news yet, said Creditsights&#x27; Credit Research Analyst Jonathan Tan.&quot;I think Globe could use a large part of the P80 billion sales proceeds to fund its hefty capex that’s P89 billion and this should then reduce the need for additional debt incurrence and it could ease constraints in its credit profile,&quot; Tan said.Globe&#x27;s rival PLDT Inc recently sold 5,907 telco towers for P77 billion. Many foreign common tower companies are eyeing Philippine entry to address the demand for better connectivity. In 2018, the Department of Communications and Information Technology said the country needed to build <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/27/18/government-wants-50000-cell-sites-in-5-years-dict-chief">50,000</a> towers in the next few years to be at par with its neighbors. Tower firm edotco&#x27;s Philippine subsidiary said the goal was more likely to be achieved in 7 to 10 years. Edotco purchased 2,973 towers from PLDT Inc in a leaseback agreement worth P42 billion.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/14/22/tower-firm-edotco-sees-growth-in-ph-amid-high-data-demand">&#x27;Everybody TikToking&#x27;: Tower firm edotco says data demand to drive growth in PH</a></li></ul>

Globe downplayed a Bloomberg report that the telco is looking to sell about 6,000 towers, saying this proposal has yet to get Board approval.