MANILA – More than 2,000 permits and clearances to build cell towers filed by telecommunications companies have so far been approved by local government units (LGUs), Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said.
In a televised Cabinet meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night, Año said for the past two weeks, an additional 815 applications for cell tower construction have been approved.
“So total po, 2,082 na ang na-approve natin na mga telco tower (applications) mula po noong ipinag-utos niyo ito. At mayroon pong 637 pending applications. So ito po ‘yung aasikasuhin namin (In total, we have approved 2,082 telco tower applications since you have ordered this. There are 637 pending applications. We are now working on these),” Año told the President.
Earlier, Año said the LGUs have complied with the order of Duterte to fast-track the process for the construction of cell towers to boost the telecommunication companies’ cellular and internet services.
He said the application process had already been shortened to 16 days and the required permits were also cut down which made it for the telecommunication companies easier to comply.
Año said the telecommunication companies no longer have a reason for the delay in improving their capacities.
The Philippines currently has 17,850 cell sites according to the 2019 3rd Quarter Report by TowerXChange, an informal network advisor in the market tower industry worldwide.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology earlier said the country needs at least 50,000 more cell towers to improve services.