{"id":36236,"date":"2019-08-27T12:12:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T04:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=36236"},"modified":"2019-08-27T12:12:55","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T04:12:55","slug":"now-telecom-gearing-up-to-be-countrys-fourth-telecom-company-analysts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2019\/08\/27\/now-telecom-gearing-up-to-be-countrys-fourth-telecom-company-analysts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"NOW Telecom gearing up to be country\u2019s fourth telecom company, analysts say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is NOW Telecom gearing up to be the country\u2019s fourth telecommunications company?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to industry\nanalysts, this seems to be so following the signing of a memorandum of\nunderstanding with the world\u2019s leading provider of shared communications fiber\nnetwork, a move that is expected to facilitate NOW\u2019s move into the 5G (fifth\ngeneration wireless network technology) space and its expansion nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore-based HyalRoute\nGroup, through local subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network, Ltd.\n(PFOCN), is investing between $1 billion to $2 billion to roll out a fiber\noptic cable network in the Philippines, which will then be leased to telcos,\nInternet service providers (ISPs), and cable TV operators, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An earlier regulatory filing\nby NOW Telecom\u2019s affiliate and listed firm NOW Corporation revealed that PFOCN\nand NOW Telecom will collaborate on the commercial aspects of shared fiber\ninfrastructure assets nationwide, including access to fiber optic cores and\nother related facilities. The collaboration will strengthen and support NOW\u2019s\nnationwide expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOW Telecom also said both\nparties intend to collaborate on the fiber optic cable network rollout that\nwill strengthen and support NOW\u2019s nationwide expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say that with\nthis impending partnership with NOW Telecom, which has a 25-year congressional\nfranchise to provide telecommunications services throughout the Philippines and\nis a cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) licensee, is in the best position\nto be the country\u2019s fourth telco, beginning with the partnership with PFOCN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newly installed\nInformation and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan has said\nthat he was open to a fourth or even a fifth telco. China Telecom-backed Ditto\nTelecommunity (formerly Mislatel consortium) earlier bagged the right to become\nthe country\u2019s third telco, after PLDT-Smart Communications and Globe Telecom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, the DICT, which\nhas also signed a memorandum of agreement with PFOCN, said in a statement that the\nlatter\u2019s investment will address the need to extend the fiber optic network to\nrural areas, which local telcos are unable to do at the moment because these\nareas are considered non-viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media reports quoted HyalRoute\nchairman Huang Xinglong has said that this investment project will greatly\nimprove the status of communication infrastructure, particularly fiber network,\nwhile improving broadband penetration rate and speed to meet the needs of the\ngeneral public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rollout of PFOCN in\nthe country will be done in phases starting this year until 2028. The company\nwill be giving preferential rates to the government for its free WiFi and\nNational Broadband Program while the rest of its capacity will be leased to\nother players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last June, ALT Global\nSolutions, one of the 24 telecommunications tower-sharing companies that have\nsigned an MOU with the DICT, reported that it has also signed an agreement with\nNOW Telecom for the provision of shareable telecom infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALT Global Director\nSherwin Hing told media earlier that while they are talking to all three major\nmobile network operators, so far they\u2019ve signed with NOW Telecom. He said a\npartnership with ALT Global will allow telcos to utilize their shared tower\ninfrastructure to enable rapid deployment of cellular equipment, and in some\nareas increase cellular density in preparation for 5G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a chance interview,\nnewly elected NOW Telecom president Rodolfo Pantoja said that their impending\npartnership with HyalRoute and PFOCN will accelerate NOW\u2019s nationwide\ndeployment through the availability of a nationwide transmission backbone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pantoja explained that\nwhen coupled with NOW\u2019s fixed wireless capability for the last mile and using\nspectrum exclusive to it, NOW Telecom can reach consumers faster than a pure fiber-based\nbroadband provider at a fraction of their capital expenditure, thus leading to\nmore compelling broadband offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasized that the\ncollaboration with HyalRoute will open to NOW Telecom underserved markets that\nare currently prohibitive due to the huge capex needed, adding that the\npresence of a provider-agnostic fiber operator solves one of the key\ninfrastructure elements of NOW\u2019s 5G plan and allows NOW to launch truly\ndisruptive 5G offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe nationwide backbone\n(of HyalRoute-PFOCN) allows us to replicate our success in Metro Manila with\nguaranteed throughput broadband services that continue to resonate with\nenterprises especially those where availability of reliable broadband is\nmission-critical,\u201d Pantoja added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOW Telecom has announced\nearlier that it plans to offer 5G or fifth generation wireless technology which\nwill allow the delivery of up to 20 gigabit per second speed to enterprises and\nhomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pantoja explained that 5G\nwill allow high wireless bandwidth in low latency scenarios, allowing for\nfurther complex technologies to exist. \u201c5G is necessary for the Internet of\nThings to thrive. With cloud computing, you can now decentralize the business\nof telecommunications,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Singapore-based HyalRoute Group, through local subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network, Ltd. (PFOCN), is investing between $1 billion to $2 billion to roll out a fiber optic cable network in the Philippines, which will then be leased to telcos, Internet service providers (ISPs), and cable TV operators, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":36237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[6395,96],"class_list":["post-36236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-now-telecom","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}