Globe Telecom has obtained a PHP15 billion ($263 million) loan from Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company to fund its network upgrade and debt refinancing.
In a statement, Globe said that it had invested PHP37.7 billion ($662 million) in capital expenditures (capex) in the first half of 2023. This was 25% less than the same period last year and was in line with the operator's strategy to return cash flow to "more sustainable levels."
In order to significantly meet the growing consumer demand for connectivity services, approximately 90% of capex spending was devoted to network deployment.
As of June, Globe had established 542 new cell sites and upgraded 5,087 mobile sites to LTE. It also deployed 148,000 fiber to the home (FTTH) lines, which was lower than last year’s deployment to maximize the utilization of its existing fiber inventory.
Globe further stated that it had expanded its 5G network, with its footprint currently covering 91% of the major Visayan and Mindanao cities as well as 97.44% of the National Capital Region.