Philippines operator Now Corp reports that its Fiber Air business's gross revenue reached PHP 185.9 million in 2019 versus PHP 112.4 million in 2018, which represents an increase of 65 percent. Revenue growth was mainly boosted by higher demand in guaranteed broadband from the enterprise segment. Total gross revenues reached PHP 220.7 million, and net income jumped to PHP 11.3 million in 2019, up 39 percent year-on-year.
Now Telecom introduces 5G deployment plan
Now Corp’s unit Now Telecom has introduced its 5-year 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Business Plan. Over this 5-year period, Now Telecom plans to deploy its 5G FWA network in the National Capital Region (NCR), and North and South of NCR. The main product offering of Now’s 5G FWA will be a broadband plan of up to 10 Gbps, which represents a 10-fold increase to Now’s current offering.
Capex for the 5-year period has been set at USD 713 million, initially USD 152 million (USD 30 million for the first two years and USD 122 million for the third year). Much of this capex would be used for the acquisition of 5G New Radio equipment that has already been made available for de novo infrastructure network build-up, which suits Now Telecom’s needs as the operator has no 2G, 3G or 4G legacy technologies.
Now Telecom plans to raise capital through various fundraising exercises. In 2019, Now Telecom signed an agreement with South Korean operator SK Telecom, to help the company design its 5G network. It also has entered into signed agreements for various projects with Vietnamese operator Viettel.
