Asia Express - Data Communications
WiMAX Development in Asia May 17-23
May 22, 2010
New Philippine carrier STI (Schutzengel Telecom, Inc.) has planned a five-year capital expenditure of 4.37 billion Pesos (US$94.0 million; US$1=46.5 Pesos) in deploying WiMAX, according to an ABS-CBN News report on May 20. In a filing with the Philippine telecom regulator NTC (National Telecommunications Commission), STI said that the funding will come from equity infusion, supplier's credit, loans, and other forms of financing, and 28.0 million Pesos (US$602,151) will be spent on the start-up alone. STI has set a target of 912,000 subscribers by the fifth year of operations. Currently the company is waiting for the NTC to approve its application for a 3G operating permit.