Government wants law to compel setting up of telco towers

By Riza Lozada

The refusal of rich commu­nities to allow the installation of cell sites has been a major impediment to improving communications services, primarily internet speed, and the National Telecommuni­cations Commission (NTC) is urging Congress to enact a law to stop this.

NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said the commission plans to submit a draft bill that would man­date subdivision developers to reserve adequate space for telecommunications infra­structure and facilities

In addition to cell sites, telco infrastructures shall also include base stations and oth­er communications apparatus needed to improve mobile services.

“The approval of the homeowners association shall no longer be required in the use of utility space for tele­communication infrastruc­ture and other similar features and amenities,” Cordoba said his address during the Phil­ippine Telecommunications Summit last Friday.

The bill, to be known as An Act Strengthening the Vi­tal Role of Information and Communications Technol­ogy, will amend for the pur­pose pertinent provisions of Presidential Decree 957 also known as the Subdivision and Condominium Buyers’ Pro­tective Decree, as amended by Presidential Decree 1216.

The NTC drafted the measure in coordination with the Department of Informa­tion and Communications Technology (DICT) and vari­ous stakeholders in the telco industry amid concerns re­garding the resistance of var­ious villages and subdivisions to the installation of commu­nication facilities and bureau­cratic red tape in acquiring the necessary permits.

Cordoba said the bill would be applied prospec­tively but the NTC would ask Congress for it to have a retro­active effect to penalize unco­operative villages and subdivi­sions at present.

Major communications firm Globe Telecom has dis­closed that around 30 vil­lages and subdivisions have rejected their cell-site pro­posals, thus preventing them from proceeding with net­work expansion program.

The approval of con­cerned homeowner associ­ations is one of the permits that telecommunication providers need to secure for the construction of one cell site.

Globe Chief Information and Technology Officer Gil Genio said most of the vil­lages rejected their proposals due to alleged health risks associated with cell towers. But he said Globe cell sites were issued radiation safety certificates by the Depart­ment of Health (DOH) as proof that radio-frequency signals from their facilities do not pose any danger to health.

“At Globe, we ensure that all our facilities adhere to global health standards. The radiation-safety certifi­cates should allay concerns over alleged health hazard that some homeowners as­sociations are concerned about, he said.

These villages include Forbes Park, Magallanes Village, and Belair Village in Makati, Greenmeadows Vil­lage, La Vista, and Greenhills North in Quezon City.

Other villages or sub­divisions that rejected the company’s cell site proposal include TS Cruz Subdivi­sion, Fruitville, BF Exec­utive Homes Village, JEE Village, all in Las Piñas City; BF Homes, Merville, South Bay Garden Village all in Paranaque City; Vista Verde in Tanay, Rizal; Concepcion Village, Modesta Village, Loyola Grand Villas, Jaybee Village, St. Mary’s Subdi­vision, Vista Real Classica Subdivision, and Meteor Homes in Marikina City; Vista Verde Subdivision in Cainta, Rizal; Valle Verde 1 in Pasig; Kings Vill Executive Village in Antipolo, Rizal; Smile CitiHomes Condo­minium in Quezon City; Thomas Home in Valenzue­la City; and Vista Rio Village in Cardona, Rizal.

The NTC will also sub­mit a bill that would enable the installation of fiber optic cables to provide high-speed internet in condominiums, commercial establishments, government and private of­fice buildings, public and private hospitals and govern­ment and private buildings.

The measure will in­clude the submission of electronic documents to be signed by a registered profes­sional electronics engineer in the application of building permits.

Information and Com­munications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima reiterated the need to estab­lish mobile communication facilities to ensure quality services at an affordable cost.

“The right to telecom­munications is a basic hu­man right. The DICT is mandated to improve public access to telecommunication and to build information structures as means to ca­pacity building for industry and countryside develop­ments particularly in areas unreached or underserved by the public telecommu­nication entities,” Salalima said.

The Philippines has the lowest number of cell sites in Asia, with a combined 15,000 cell sites, according to a February 16 study of TowerXchange.

China has the highest number with 1.18 million sites, followed by India, with 450,000; Indonesia, with 76,477; and Vietnam, with 55,000.

“We have repeatedly emphasized that there is no substitute for government support in developing telco infrastructure in the country. We need the government to prioritize and enable the sec­tor to undertake infrastruc­ture builds, not just in the construction of cell sites but also in establishing under­ground facilities and in fa­cilitating pole attachments,” Genio said.

He explained that the lack of cell sites is one of the reasons internet service is slow in the country.

The approval process for the construction of one cell site involves 25 permits that takes at least eight months to complete. A number of local government units impose tower fees of up to P200,000, he added.

Uncooperative villages or subdivisions also hamper the ability of LGUs to fur­ther expand its communica­tion facilities nationwide.

Globe said it has a back­log of 3,000 cell sites amid varying degrees of permit­ting issues despite aggressive efforts by the company to in­vest in network facilities.

Interior and Local Gov­ernment Undersecretary Austere Panadero said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is pushing for limiting the number of days for the issu­ance of building permits for additional cell sites.

The DILG is proposing that LGUs set policies that would ensure that the pro­cess for the building permits would involve 16 steps for 61 days, compared to the cur­rent practice of 24 steps for 98 days.

He reiterated the need for collaboration between the government and the tel­co industry players.

“The Philippines de­serves faster internet that both businesses and govern­ment can benefit. There is a need for fast and effective internet communication,” Panadero said.

A memorandum of agreement for cooperation in the fast-tracking and expe­diting of public services will be signed during the summit by the DICT, the DILG, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap), the League of Provinces of the Philippines, the NTC, the Philippine Chamber of Tele­communication Operators (PCTO), Globe and PLDT/ Smart. RIZA LOZADA