Globe Telecom unveiled plans to cut its capex budget in 2023 by 30 per cent, with network spending expected to peak at about $1.9 billion this year following a ramp over the past two to take advantage of streamlined processes for deploying infrastructure.

The company’s board approve a reduction to $1.3 billion.

Globe Telecom president and CEO Ernest Cu stated after investing heavily, “we now have a significant backbone for our network, which allows us to shift our focus towards capital efficiency and optimisation”.

He said it targets bringing capex down to $1 billion by 2024.

By end-September, the operator said it upgraded 10,600 sites to LTE, deployed 1,887 5G sites nationwide and installed 1.4 million FTTH lines.

Globe Telecom raised capex 54 per cent to PHP92.8 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2021.

Earlier this year, it earmarked PHP89 billion. The operator raised funds for the capex increase through a stocks rights offer and selling-off tower assets.

The Philippine government introduced rules to simplify complex infrastructure building processes in 2020.