The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said it would come up with a memorandum for President Marcos to address the concerns of telecommunications and towers companies, particularly in energizing the country's telco towers.

Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) director-general Secretary Ernesto Perez (ARTA photo)

ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez said this following ARTA's telco workshop with representatives of major telco companies such as GLOBE, PLDT, Converge, and DITO, and telco towers in the country.

In a press conference with industry bigwigs following the workshop, Perez said ARTA would continue the momentum of partnerships with the private sector and strengthen the coordination of all government agencies with the whole-of-government approach.

"Today, at this workshop, after the sharing of their experiences, at the end of the day, we will prepare a Memorandum to the President, sharing all the information gathered and address those concerns immediately," he said.

Through a Bayanihan initiative, ARTA gathered the country's telecommunications and major tower companies last week in a bid to fast-track the process of energizing telecommunication towers In the Philippines.

According to Perez, the workshop was important as there was a need to get the companies' insights given the growing market.

"This is the first time that we are having this workshop under the Ease of Doing Business Law and we see the enthusiasm of the company presidents, CEOs (chief executive officers), and COOs (chief operating officers) of telco and tower companies working together, sharing information," he said.

"The market now is too big and we need to collate the recommendations to improve the current state of the energization of telco towers," he added.

PhilTower Consortium Inc. President and CEO David Guidani praised ARTA's efforts in the permitting process of tower construction and stressed the need to hasten the energization of erected towers.

Guidani explained that aside from the permitting process of building a tower, one of the additional burdens in having a fully operational tower is the energization of its sites.

"The success of what has been done to the permitting stage can be replicated with the effort of ARTA and the President (Marcos) so that we could see sites coming on the air much faster; connectivity gets much faster, providing much better services, and all of these creates more efficiency in the industry," he said.

Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc. COO and Director Abhishek Mishra expressed support and appreciation for the agency and the administration’s agenda for digitalizing bureaucratic processes in the country.

“It has been a huge effort from the government; from what was a very cumbersome process being brought down to almost 80 percent. Now we have to eye for the remaining 20 percent so that it becomes the fastest," he said.

In the next one or two years, we’ll cover the Philippines and make the lives of Filipinos beautiful, because today, everything is digital,” he added.

EDOTCO Philippines President Suraj Narayanan Kutty said energization was important in improving the country's telco services.

“Energization is the key. Without energy, there's nothing that we can do," he said.

"A lot of work needs to be done in the energy sector, and we look forward to having a similar improvement as we see in the permitting, which is the start of the tower construction,” he added.

Meanwhile, EdgePoint Towers Inc. COO Peter Beutler admired the unity of different companies in pushing for a more streamlined and faster energization of telco towers.

“I find it unique that there is such a strong collaboration between the various parties - the four competitors, a government unit with the customers to drive this initiative and the improvements in the country,” he said.