Despite conflicting signals from Globe, PLDT and Globe agree to resolve pole attachments issue

TELECOMS leader PLDT and Globe Telecom Inc. have agreed to address issues surrounding the use of each other’s facilities, particularly poles and overhead cables, across the country.

“Our operations executives sat down with their counterpart in Globe last Tuesday, February 5, and agreed that we will maintain the status quo with respect to all disputed attachments currently  installed on our respective poles and outside-of-plant facilities,” PLDT Spokesperson and Public Affairs Group Head Ramon Isberto.

He added that both parties agreed that they would no longer require the removal of these attachments and instead focus efforts on establishing a process on how to resolve current disputes and to avoid future ones.

“Apparently, some quarters in Globe are unaware of this agreement. We were surprised when Globe served us a notice last February 7 and issued a press statement on the same day that they will be removing PLDT facilities that they claimed were attached to Globe poles in Baguio and Batangas if no action was made by our contractors by February 8. This was two days after an agreement had been reached to maintain the status quo,” Isberto noted.

He also said that another agreement reached during the February 5 meeting was that PLDT and Globe would conduct a joint pole inventory in the second week of February to establish the number of poles owned by the two companies across the country.

Officials of the  two companies sat down to resolve the issues after PLDT notified Globe last January that it will start to remove fiber optic cables (FOC) of Globe that were illegally attached to PLDT poles and overhead cables in various locations in the provinces of La Union, Ilocus Sur and Ilocos Norte in northern Luzon.

Globe was given until January 25 to remove the unauthorized installations that included FOC facilities attached to PLDT or Smart poles and lines in various points such as Sudipen and Bangar, La Union, and, in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.

“We want to resolve this issue as we believe that the safety of the general public and continued quality service to our customers are paramount. We hope that, despite the conflicting signals, Globe will honor these agreements done in good faith between authorized representatives of the two companies,” Isberto said.

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