Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc. of the Aboitiz Group now has 1,100 tower sites after closing 250 and 79 towers sites from Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc., respectively.
PLDT-Smart transferred 75 percent of the 650 tower sites to Unity under a sale-and-leaseback arrangement since getting the Philippine Competition Commission’s clearance in April 2023.
The remainder of the portfolio is expected to be transferred in early 2024, paving the way for the delivery and execution of the committed build-to-suit (BTS) site orders.
“After having completed the transfer of more than 90 percent of the acquired towers of Edgepoint and Edotco this year, we are pleased to have likewise transferred 75 percent of the acquired towers of Unity in a short period of time,” PLDT senior vice president, chief legal counsel and corporate secretary Marilyn Victorio-Aquino said.
“We aim to transfer the balance by early 2024 and continuously work with our partner TowerCos to strengthen connectivity nationwide,” she said.
Unity, with a pipeline of around 700 committed BTS site orders to add to its current base of 350, aims to double its scale and solidify its foundation with a healthy mix of both built and acquired sites.
“The past two years have been about navigating the onset of a new TowerCo industry while trying to scale the business in an optimal manner. Going forward, we are focused on driving colocation across our towers to help in further improving digital connectivity across the Philippines,” said Unity chief finance officer Cheryl Venturina.
Unity is a joint venture telecommunications infrastructure platform by Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, and Partners Group.