Globe supports emergency powers to address traffic situation

MANILA—Globe Telecom is pushing for the passage of emergency powers that would address the traffic congestion in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas.

Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu said that the emergency powers would help promote telecommuting as an alternative working arrangement in order to improve the traffic condition in the country.

“We have to improve the efficiency of telecommuting and Internet connectivity in the country as a means to address the current traffic situation,” Cu said in a press briefing on Globe’s financial performance for 2016.

Telecommuting is a work arrangement in which employees do not need to commute or travel to their workplaces. They often use mobile telecommunications technology such as Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or tablet computers and smartphones for remote working and is seen to reduce traffic.

Senate Bill 1284 or “An Act Compelling the Government to Address the Transportation and Congestion Crisis through the Grant of Emergency Powers to the President” encourages the use of alternative forms of working such as telecommuting, carpooling and ride-sharing schemes, flexible working hours and school days and staggered schedules of attendance.

Globe has been seeking the streamlining of permitting process by local government units to expedite the construction of additional cell sites in the country.

Currently, the company has a cell site backlog of around 3,000 sites owing to difficulties in securing permits from various local government units, homeowners associations, and other government agencies, causing considerable delay in the construction of such facilities.

The construction of additional sites is critical in improving Internet services in the country as this will provide more bandwidth for Internet users.