Osmeña to allow more cell sites if telcos improve signal
Unless they get rid off of black spots in the mountain barangays, the Cebu City Government will not lift the suspension imposed on pending application permits from telecommunication companies to put up more cell sites in the urban area of the city.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña made this clear during a meeting with executives from telco giants- Globe Telecom, Smart and PLDT, yesterday.
Osmeña revealed that black spots, or areas not covered by mobile phone signals, pose a hindrance to his plans on providing free bus transportation for college students residing in the hilly barangays of Cebu City.
“Because were are trying to start with the bus system in the mountain for college students so we need to have access to cell phones. By next year, maybe, we can start at Transcentral Highway,” said Osmeña.
The mayor has earlier announced in April that he will not be approving the applications to open more cell sites in the urban area of Cebu City unless the black spots in the mountain barangays will be addressed.
He added that there are over 30 applications for more cell sites in Cebu City pending his approval.
“And they told me they will work on it. It’s suspended until they start. They’re going to give a concrete timetable and the moment they don’t follow it, and if there’s slippage, we stop it again,” Osmeña explained.
Coordination is Key
The mayor also suggested that for Globe and Smart not to spend too much on putting cell sites in the hinterland area of Cebu City, they should coordinate with each other.
For their part, Jessie Alano, director of Globe’s New Projects Development department, said they have started identifying black spots.
“We were able to identify a couple and we already have the plans. As suggested by the mayor, we will just collaborate with Smart. And we’ll come up with plans, too, on how to do it better,” said Alano.
She added that they found out six mountain barangays which do not have a mobile phone signal.
“There’s a lot according to the mayor but we only identified a couple where there’s no Globe signal. We identified six of them,” Alano said.
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