The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is coming out with a new circular that will extend the validity of the licenses of independent tower companies (ITCs) from the current five years to at least 15 years or longer to match the lifespan of the facilities they are building.

“It does not make sense that they have a five-year license for facilities that have a lifespan of 25 to 50 years,” said DICT Secretary Henry Aguda during Globe Telecom Inc.’s 2025 Technology & Innovation Summit.

He said they have already drafted the new circular and are just finalizing how long the validity of ITCs’ certificates of registrations will be. He added that the circular will be issued soon, as it is no longer a matter of “if” but “when.”

Aguda said this is part of the DICT’s “Red Tape to Red Carpet” reforms to remove obstacles and instead welcome and facilitate the entry of new investments for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

Under DICT Department Circular No. 8 of 2020 governing common telecommunications tower infrastructure, ITCs’ certificates of registration are valid for five years and are renewable for the same period upon proper application filed within three months prior to the certificate’s expiration.

Aguda noted that this is just red tape and burdens ITCs by having to renew their registrations every five years when the facilities they are building lasts for up to 50 years.

“We need to align the validity of the licenses with the lifespan of the infrastructure they are building,” he pointed out, adding that the extended validity will apply once ITCs renew their five-year-old certificates of registrations.

Globe President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carl Cruz welcomed Aguda’s announcement since “we need to enable the viability of the tower companies in the Philippines... If the tower companies and the operators work well, it just is going to be good for the industry and the consumers.”

Because of the need for more infrastructure and the difficulty in deploying new towers, Cruz said they continue to build their own towers as well as make use of the common towers of ITCs. “Whichever comes first, we’ll go with that.”

Both Globe and Smart Communications Inc. have been selling off their telecommunications towers to ITCs so their use can be shared by all industry players and make their services more available to the public.