A Filipino Telco Has Inked a Partnership with U.S. Agency to Launch a New Local 5G Network
Filipino telecommunications company NOW Telecom has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to work together to deploy a nationwide standalone 5G mobile and fixed wireless network in the Philippines.
The signing was held during the 5th annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum held in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday (January 12).
The LOI formalizes the partnership between the US government through the USTDA, a foreign assistance agency of the U.S. government that connects the U.S. private sector to infrastructure projects in developing and middle-income countries, and Now Telecom, which is the telecommunications unit of listed company NOW Corp.
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The partnership involves the USTDA providing a grant on behalf of NOW Telecom to fund a technical assistance and 5G pilot network launch to support NOW Telecom’s 5G deployment.
According to a news release from NOW Telecom, the technical assistance “will provide NOW Telecom with the necessary analysis, designs and plans for phased implementation of the project and conduct a 5G pilot network at multiple sites in Metro Manila to validate network performance, test 5G use cases, and provide data to inform larger scale deployment.
“Likewise, the TA includes examination of available various financing schemes including grant, equity, and debt financing from potential donors, investors and financial institutions and assessment of the level of interest of funding organizations, the amount and terms of potential financing, and any specific financial requirements for the full-scale implementation of the project.”
NOW Telecom has long planned to roll out its own 5G network in the country. In September 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted NOW Telecom an extension of its provisional authority to install, operate, and maintain a nationwide mobile telecommunications system. Back then the company said it had allocated as much as $713 million (about P34.5 billion) for its five-year 5G fixed wireless access business plan. This plan involved deploying a 5G network in the National Capital Region and offer a broadband plan of up to 10GB per second service.
NOW Telecom had earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest telecom provider to help design the company’s 5G network,” as well as with Singapore-based HyalRoute Group, through local subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network, Ltd. (PFOCN), in connection with shared fiber infrastructure assets nationwide.
The LOI was signed by USTDA Director Enoh T. Ebong along with NOW Telecom Chairman and CEO Mel Velarde, during a ceremony at the Annual IPBF co-hosted by the Governments of Japan and the United States, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the US-ASEAN Business Council. The IPBF is a business forum aimed to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation between the United States and Indo-Pacific nations including the Philippines.
"Our goal is to deliver a clean and secure 5G network that will help achieve social and financial mobility, reduce inequality, improve health and education, and spur economic growth for the Filipino people,” said NOW Telecom Chairman and CEO Mel Velarde. “Our partnership with USTDA will help us achieve this important mission.”
