Globe signs a new P2B term loan facility

LEADING telecommunications company Globe Telecom (Globe) has signed a P2-billion term loan facility with The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company, The Insular Life Assurance Company Ltd. and Sunlife of Canada (Philippines) Inc. Proceeds of the loan will be used to refinance a portion of the company's debts, as well as to fund capital expenditure requirements for 2013. The 10-year, fixed-rate term loan facility was arranged by Insular Investment Corporation. "We want to take advantage of the current low interest rate environment to fund capital expenditure requirements for next year and refinance our loans, allowing us to generate savings for the company,” said Albert De Larrazabal, Globe's chief financial officer. Globe Telecom's ongoing network modernization has an estimated total cost of US$700 million. Once completed, the new network will have an all-IP architecture, as well as 12,000 additional kilometers of fiber optic cable capacity to handle the expected increase in voice and data traffic and the capability to upgrade to more advanced technologies. The new network is also designed to reduce the costs of operating, maintaining, and upgrading as the company shifts towards more power-efficient equipment and adopts more green solutions that will further reduce its carbon footprint and energy consumption. (PR)