The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is moving to extend the validity of permits for telecommunications towers from five years to at least 15 years.
The agency is also stepping up efforts with Converge ICT Solutions to combat online scams and harmful digital content.
DICT Secretary Rhoel Aguda said a new department order on tower licenses would be finalized within the week following a final consultation with tower companies.
“The telco companies like the plan,” Aguda said at a briefing for the 51st Philippine Business Conference and Expo 2025, organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
“They are even organizing themselves into a business group. Once that’s done, we may arrange something for them,” he said.
He said longer permits would better reflect the 25-to-50-year lifespan of telecom towers and give investors more certainty.
“When companies invest in towers, the infrastructure can last 25 to 50 years. But the license to operate is only five years. This has to change. We told the tower firms that while we will extend the license period, they should also expedite the deployment of new towers,” said Aguda.
Converge ICT chief executive Dennis Uy welcomed the reform, saying shared infrastructure would reduce costs, improve efficiency and benefit consumers.
“If you build three separate facilities, you triple the capital expense,” he said.
“But if you share infrastructure, capex is lower and services become more affordable. At the end of the day, efficiency and redundancy protect the consumer,” said Uy.
Uy also said the reform ties into the broader goals of the proposed Konektadong Pinoy law, which aims to protect consumer rights to affordable and reliable connectivity.
Aguda said the DICT is intensifying its cooperation with Converge to address the growing volume of online scams and malicious websites.
The agency and Converge are preparing to sign an agreement focused on financial scams with advanced mechanisms for site blocking and filtering, with the goal of wiping out online scammers by the end of the year.
Uy said Converge is also tackling other harmful content, including child pornography sites, through global cooperation.
“There are so many child pornography sites. We participated in the UN Internet Watch Foundation to help take these down,” he said.
“Private sector and government collaboration is the only way to combat this while also re-educating students on responsible internet use,” he said.
