AN advocacy group of lawyers recently urged government to address the bureaucratic and regulatory issues that have consistently hampered the construction of new cell sites that could improve signal reception.
In a public statement, Defenders of the Flag spokesman and convenor Arnel Victor Valeña said government has the power and resources to help Globe Telecom and Smart Communications to improve their services.
“It should not expect recurring issues to be resolved in a snap without proper intervention and regulation,” Valeña added.
“We are not aware of any emergency and do not find any compelling reason for the government to resort to the drastic measure of taking over Smart and Globe,” Valeña said.
Meanwhile, former Department of Information and Communications Technology Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. also cited red tape as the real problem in the telco industry “that only government can solve.”
In another development, Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu recently urged local government units to rationalize fees and hasten the processing of permits to facilitate the building of infrastructure to improve connectivity in the country.
In a July 30 meeting in Malacañang, Cu informed Duterte of the telco industry’s challenges particularly the slow process of getting permits to build cell sites and towers which takes at least eight months. During the meeting, Cu revealed to the President that Globe needs to secure a total of 29 to 35 permits to build a single cell site tower.
In a swift response, Duterte ordered his cabinet officials to “take the most drastic measure you can find” to fast-track the processing of telco infrastructure permits. The DILG recently signed Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 01-2020 ordering concerned government agencies to provide a faster processing time to a maximum of 20 days.
Cu thanked Duterte for giving them the opportunity to present their predicament and for his swift action on the problem of tedious LGU permits for the construction of their cell sites. “In addition, having many cell sites is critical to successfully roll out advanced technologies like 5G services in the country,” Cu said.