GLOBE Telecom Inc. will put up cellular sites in 14 of Shell’s retail stations nationwide.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. President Cesar Romero said as much as 1,000 retail stations all over the country are being considered as possible locations where Globe can install its cell sites. Initially, however, there are 14 target sites along major thoroughfares and major areas of convergence identified.
Officials did not disclose the locations of the 14 Shell stations.
“We will see how the experience on one station goes. Depending on learnings [sic] that we will acquire overtime, we will deploy these in more sites as we see fit,” Romero replied when asked for the next batch of Shell stations that will accommodate the installation of Globe’s cell sites.
Globe Telecom President Ernest Cu said an investment of roughly $15 million is needed to put up one cell site. Investment for the 14 cellular sites would hit $210 million, or roughly P10.68 billion at current exchange rates.
Once the installation of new cell sites in select Shell retail stations is completed, Shell’s network of strategically located stations throughout the country shall become Go WiFi hot spots, where customers can enjoy better connectivity.
Romero said Shell would soon allow the use of cellular phones within the premises of the gas station.
“We are in the process of removing that policy. At the moment, because of advancement of mobile-phone technology, research shows emission risk a little bit lower now than before,” Romero said. “The risk we are seeing is the distraction when people use their mobile phones.”
Cu said the partnership with Shell supports its commitment in continuing to build a robust and reliable network for its customers’ expanding data needs.
“We are constantly seeking ways to improve customer experience, especially in high-traffic and strategic areas,” he said. “The partnership, which we project will lead to improved mobile services, is a win-win collaboration for the two companies, benefiting both our customers.”
Cu added the company’s decision to tap Pilipinas Shell was not an offshoot of the government’s plan to require phone firms to lease cell towers from tower companies instead of building their own sites.
“This partnership has been in the works for sometime now. One year in the making,” Cu said.
He also declined to comment how the proposed policy could affect the company’s business plan, saying the nitty-gritty details have yet to be presented by the government to the phone companies.
He commented, though, that phone firms would be placed on a difficult situation if they can’t build their own cell sites.
“I don’t see that [that] hastens the process of building connectivity. It just slows it down,” Cu said. “The more cell sites, the better.”
Apart from the installation of new cell sites in a number of its retail stations, Shell also stands to become the first petrol station to offer the Scan to Pay facility of Globe’s GCash.
Through this new payment option, customers can pay for Shell quality fuels and other items inside select and the newly opened Deli Café via mobile wallet.
Cu said the partnership is not exclusive, which means Globe can also partner with other oil firms.
“Our vision in GCash is to have its presence in high-end department stores all the way to palengkes [markets].”
The Globe official also claims network coverage will not suffer.
“I think the reason we’ve grown over past years is network performance,” Cu said. “We carried more than twice traffic of competing network and yet our network performance is better.”