GLOBE Telecom Inc. (Globe) on Sunday said the country's telcos had presented a blueprint to Malacañang to increase connectivity in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs).

In a recent meeting of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), its Connectivity Plan Task Force (CPTF), headed by Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu, proposed the construction of new towers in GIDAs via public-private collaborations from 2025 to 2028.

Current estimates put GIDAs as comprising 7,063 barangays with nearly 25 million residents.

Aside from building new telecom towers, the proposal includes the provision of government-subsidized subscriber identity module (SIM) cards with data plans to Filipino households. The SIM cards will include an automatic monthly load of 50 gigabytes for a year, which can cover the average usage of a five-member household.

"The telco industry is fully dedicated to leveraging our partnership within the industry and with the government to reach underserved areas where the private sector has been unable to build because of the negative cost to business," Cu said.

"Once the government lays a bigger stake in our push for inclusive connectivity and invests in our proposal, this will mark a milestone in our collective aspiration for a more connected Philippines. Together, we will create pathways to opportunities and essential services that can significantly improve lives," he added.

Cu explained that by maximizing the use of existing sites while strategically building new ones in underserved areas, the project will minimize overlaps among providers and optimize coverage across the country.

The proposal allows each barangay in GIDAs to receive telco support from one provider to avoid unnecessary competition and duplication of efforts in a single area.

Cu added the CPTF is advocating for critical legislative support to strictly enforce the streamlining of the permitting process for new cell sites, ensure consistent energization for telco towers, and rationalize spectrum user fees.

These policy reforms are essential for the efficient deployment of new infrastructure and will enable telcos to serve GIDAs without encountering unnecessary regulatory hurdles, Cu said.