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Friday, March 29, 2024

Aboitiz Infra keen to join auction of PLDT’s cell sites

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Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. plans to submit a bid to acquire the cell sites of PLDT Inc., a top executive said Friday.

“Yes, as a matter of fact we are assessing the opportunity. We will actually be participating in the process,” Aboitiz Infra president and chief executive Cosette Canilao said in a virtual briefing when asked if the company would join the bidding for the sale of PLDT’s cell towers.

PLDT earlier said it would seek non-binding bids on Nov. 9 for the sale of its cell sites.

PLDT president and chief executive Al Panlilio said 21 groups already showed interest to join the auction. PLDT tapped UBS as financial adviser for the transaction.

Aboitiz InfraCapital formed in April this year a joint venture with leading global private market firm Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, to establish a telecommunications infrastructure platform called Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc.

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Through Unity, Aboitiz InfraCapital and Partners Group will build and operate telecommunication towers and supporting infrastructure across the country.

This supports the government’s vision to improve the country’s internet connectivity in local communities by increasing the number of cell sites of mobile network operators.

Under the common tower business model, MNOs can co-locate on Unity’s tower assets to help fast-track expansion, increase service reliability, reduce costs and lessen redundant sites.

Aboitiz InfraCapital launched in 2020 its small cell sites business to help MNOs accelerate the expansion of network capacity and coverage using Aboitiz assets.

Small cells are expected to play a key role in the deployment of 5G, which requires antenna density to deliver larger quantities of data at higher speeds.

Unity secured a certificate of registration as an independent tower company from the Department of Information and Communications Technology in February.

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