Power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) will be providing the electricity needs of the common telco towers being set up by Malaysian firm edotco Towers, an independent tower company (ITC) licensed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

According to Meralco, it already energized the initial 50 tower-installations of edotco; and their continuing partnership will strategically position the utility firm as the power provider to the additional 50 towers that the Malaysian firm will also install for the rest of the year.

Further, Meralco noted that it will “facilitate the seamless transfer of service of approximately 700 telco assets within Meralco’s franchise area that edotco acquired from PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co),” which is also an affiliate company of the power firm.

Meralco said it will carry out “systematic handling of future service applications to ensure their timely energization.”

As emphasized by edotco Acting Country Managing Director Suraj Narayanan Kutty, “one of the immediate things we want to do is upgrade the service for our cellular sites. This is where we look forward to Meralco supporting this because the speed of energization enables our customers to deliver excellent internet connectivity services for the Filipinos.”

Electricity is a very critical support to the efficient operation of the telco towers; especially so since key components of their installations are the ‘live equipment’ that underpin the service provisions of the telco companies – including those on broadband, mobile calls or short messaging service (SMS), among others.

Meralco similarly indicated that it will “provide strategic and technical support to enhance edotco’s operational efficiency and offer value-added services such as automatic payment arrangements, enrollment to peak/off-peak program and Meralco online, power puality consult, and contract right-sizing.”

The utility firm explained that such suite of service package would be “vital in ensuring that edotco’s facilities will have stable and reliable electricity service and cost-efficient operations, which is crucial to its success.”

Kutty asserted given the ‘new normal’ brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, “it has become more apparent that internet is essential and strong connectivity can be made possible when powered by a stable and reliable electricity service,” adding that “we are one of the working instruments that will help support the livelihood of the people.”

Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Partners Ma. Cecilia Domingo conveyed that the utility firm “is very well committed to supporting the current and future power supply needs of edotco.”

She qualified that “this partnership with edotco is a testimony to Meralco’s commitment to our customers and our nation, ensuring that we continue to deliver excellently to our customers, anchored on our purpose and mission to put customers at the core of our business.”

It was pointed out that the common telco tower development paradigm “would allow all telecommunications companies to collocate in a single tower, thereby eliminating dead spots and reducing the number of cellular sites.”

At the same time, it is perceived that this business set-up will “level the playing field for all telcos and networks in terms of coverage and open opportunities for other players to improve network reliability.”