The Philippines' Globe Telecom has announced that its board of directors have approved the plan to spin off its tower assets in advance of a full or partial sale.
The proposal, first announced in February and approved [PDF] by the board last week, will see Globe's 8,000 towers transferred to a separate tower company.
Globe has been in talks with unnamed third parties to create an independent tower company, and is looking to divest all or part of its tower assets as part of a network expansion and optimization plan, the company said in its February announcement [PDF].
An independent tower company will allow Globe to monetize its tower assets, and will support the government's goal of introducing a third telco into the market by ensuring the towers are open for lease by new and existing players.
This is in line with the Philippine government's planned telecoms infrastructure sharing initiative, which will seek to establish at least two independent tower companies by early next year that will be expected to build around 50,000 new towers over a seven year period.
As part of the initiative, the accredited tower companies may also potentially acquire the tower assets of Globe and rival PLDT.