It looks like the race for the 3rd telco player in the Philippines is still on. This time, it’s been reported that ZTE Corporation, a Shenzhen-based telecommunications giant, is making moves in the country.
ZTE Corp is just one of the five companies who has pledged up to USD2 Billion (around Php100 billion) to help provide internet access to those isolated islands in the Philippines. The companies are doing this in partnership with TierOne Communications International.
The consortium consists of some big names like ZTE themselves, Nokia, and Parallel Wireless.
The budget will be used to build around 50,000 microcell towers throughout the country over the next five years, with the first rollout happening in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
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This is after the ARMM’s Board of Investments approved the Php3 billion investment of TierOne to provide the said service to the people of the said region.
By 2022, the project is expected to cover the rest of Central Mindanao, the southern part of the country, and hopefully, the entire Philippines. It is all projected to happen before the end of the term of President Duterte.
Source: Inquirer