Digital infra monitoring set up

The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) yesterday unveiled a digital infrastructure monitoring system called Tower Watch PH that will streamline permit processing time and accelerate the rollout of towers and fiber networks to expand connectivity particularly in unserved and underserved areas in the country.

“Through the Tower Watch PH, we endeavor to future-proof our common tower initiative by ensuring that our streamlining efforts in the previous years will not go to waste and continue to contribute to building a more far-reaching and robust ICT infrastructure in the country, regardless of changes in national leadership. The case is when a new administration sits in, some projects of the previous admin are sidelined to give way to the projects of the current administration — we don’t want that to happen,” said Gregorio Honasan II, DICT secretary.

Tower Watch PH, a monitoring mechanism for tower construction, \ will cover applications submitted by independent tower companies and telecommunications companies (telcos) for the building or installation of passive telecommunication tower infrastructure or common towers, fiber optic cables and Installation of in-building solutions.

This will allow telcos to self-report their applications through the system, including the date and time the requirements were submitted to the concerned local government unit (LGU) or national government agency. The system then records and transmits this information to the concerned LGU or agency, wherein the system can monitor pending applications and tag those that are delayed.

This would also allow oversight agencies to have access to the overall status of pending and completed applications, enabling them to monitor the compliance of the LGUs or offices and to ensure their cooperation with the prescribed processing times.

In related development, Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc., a joint venture between Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) and Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, is poised to become a market leader in the local common tower industry, as it looks to aggressively support the government’s drive to roll-out 50,000 towers by 2030.

“With Aboitiz and Partners Group’s track record, strong partnerships, nationwide presence, and expertise, we are more than ready to deploy thousands of towers in the next five years to ensure better connectivity for everyday Filipinos,” said Robin Sarmiento, Unity chief executive officer.

Reference Link:  MalayaPH