Globe Telecom Inc. on Monday said it build more cell sites and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) lines  in the first quarter of the year despite quarantine challenges. 

The Ayala-led telco said it has already installed 318 new cell towers in strategic locations all over the country and further boosted by 20 stand alone in-building solutions (IBS) in equally important sites.

On the 5G space, Globe’s bid to make 5G services more pervasive also remains on track expanding to 1,383 sites in NCR, Bacolod, Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Davao as of end-March.

“While our numbers are good for the first quarter of the year, there is still a lot more work to be done. We need to continue this momentum and rise above quarantine challenges to meet the growing demand of our customers,” Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for Program Delivery, Network Technical Group said.

The company has also completed the expansion of at least 4,210 sites and laying 274,000 high-speed lines — that’s more than a fourth of its target of one million FTTH lines for 2021.

In addition, Globe completed 34 site upgrades in Leyte and four more locations in Southern Leyte, or a total of 38 from January to March this year. 

This includes 12 site upgrades in the municipality of Abuyog, which now experiences improved calls, SMS and data browsing services.

Globe’s aggressive network rollouts and site upgrades have resulted in better call, SMS and data browsing services to its customers.

According to Ookla’s Q1 2021 data, Globe’s nationwide consistency score is now more than 70 percent.  Metro Manila registered the best score with more than 76 percent while high marks were also noted in Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu City and Davao City.

Consistency Score measures what percentage of a provider’s samples equals or exceeds both a download and upload threshold.

Globe likewise registered improved latency with an average of 33ms for the first quarter which is well below the 50ms winning standard set by gamers.