The Tower Facility Maintenance Company (TFMCo)

ABSTRACT:

It is our wish to create and make available to willing and capable industry partners an effective
and sustainable business+technical process model to cater to the peripheral needs and
operational issues connected to operation and maintenance of tower facilities built under the
Shared Tower Program of the DICT.

We believe that Tower Facility Maintenance is a separate yet complementary line of business
that should take on it’s own terms of engagement, systems, requirements, and best practices.
This delineation and definition of tasks and undertakings should provide the underpinnings of a
new industry with the opportunity to bring gainful, sustainable employment to Filipinos in our
underserved cities and provinces.

Henceforth, entities/companies with intent to participate in this new industry shall be called
Tower Facility Maintenance Companies (TFMCo’s).

RATIONALE:

A standardized model for a new industry such as Tower Facility Maintenance shall be used for:

a. The effective and timely roll-out support for the Shared Tower Program. ITC’s (Independent
Tower Companies) can consolidate their resources towards the building and propagation of
towers nationwide without the burden of ramping up competencies and manpower for the
peripheral, maintenance concerns.

b. The authoring and dissemination of Learning Modules to participating cities and provinces
to aid in the creation of local employment opportunities. This creates a positive
engagement with the participating communities and strengthens ties with Service Providers
and Local and National Governments.

c. The authoring and dissemination of industry policies and standards designed to help
ensure the maintenance of robust internet infrastructure in the Philippines through the
integrity of it’s physical transmission sites.

d. The enlistment of industry partners and new stakeholders in the drive for Digital Inclusion
and Free Access to Information in our underserved provinces.

This push for the establishment of this new industry framework works directly in-line with the
DICT’s mandate to advance the ICT agenda under RA 10844.

Attached for reference:

Connecting people for development: Why public access ICTs matter

Global Impact Study of Public Access to ICTs Final research report
Sey, A., Coward, C., Bar, F., Sciadas, G., Rothschild, C., & Koepke, L. (2013). Connecting people for development: Why public
access ICTs matter. Seattle: Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington Information School.
This model shall cover, but not be limited to the following:

I. Legal and technical prerequisites for involved entities

II. Recommended commercial terms between industry stakeholders

III. Definition of competencies and skillsets for industry workers

IV. Development of a technology enabled overall monitoring system for the DICT

SUGGESTED ACTION AND DISCUSSION POINTS

I. Legal and technical prerequisites for involved entities

1. Initiate the discussion of the relevance of DOLE DO 174 and the concensus on the
“necessity and desirability” of the following services in the context of Independent Tower
operations:

a. Airconditioner maintenence (Level 1: inspect, minor trouble-shoot, report)

b. Generator Maintenance. (Level 1: inspect, minor trouble-shoot, report)

c. Electro-Mechanical inspection and maintence of fixtures and implements (door and window
mechanisms, light bulbs, walls and roofing, electrical conduits and outlets, mounting
hardware, general environmental concerns, etc.)

d. On-site measurement taking and diagnostic activities using generic, commercial testers
and implements (volt/amp testers, thermometers, signal testers, etc.)

2. Develop OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) Guidelines for working in and around Tower
Facilities.

3. It is highly recommended that potential TFMCo’s have in-house capacity to train their own
employees and submit them for accreditation using a common, prescribed training syllabus.

4. Develop a common, prescribed training manual to be used across the country. (Discuss the
viability of separate learning institutions apart from the

II. Recommended commercial terms between industry stakeholders

Essentially, a cost-plus pricing model should be discussed between Tower Co. and TFMCo.
Over the contract charging and penalties should also be outlined within the SLA’s.

(Insert SLA Sample Here c/o TSI)

(Insert costing sample here c/o TSI)

It should be noted that both the Tower Co. (contracting party) and the TFMCo. (contractor) are
solidarily liable under labor law for any breach in labor law compliance. Standardizing
contracts, SLA’s, and other engagements will help protect stakeholders within the industry.
This holds especially true for the actual workers.

III. Definition of competencies and skillsets for industry workers

a. Remote Monitoring / Dispatch Supervisor

b. Inspection/Response Team Leader

c. Inspection / Response Personnel

(Insert TSI version here)

IV. Development of a tech-enabled overall monitoring system for the DICT

The ICT industry as a whole should develop certain performance and delivery standards both
for the Telco’s and ISP’s as well as the ITC’s. This will ensure a certain level of reliability,
effeiciency, and productivity for the end-users.

A consolidated monitoring system with at-a-glance performance statistics can be developed

and monitored from the end of the TFMCo’s. It may be as simple as downtime reporting all the
way to the generation of statistics regarding QoS (Quality of Service) Protocols from the ISP’s
and Telco’s themselves. Monitoring these metrics from the TFMCo’s end allows a certain level
of impartiality. It should be noted though that very high levels of data security awareness
should be injected into the training programs if this route is to be chosen.

QoS has generally been a LAN or WAN tool used by network managers but Tower level QoS
has been proposed and used in several instances to allow fair distribution of bandwidth or the
assignment of bandwidth to certain groups of users deemed a priority. It assures transparency
in the delivery of service of the ISP’s and Telco’s. (Note: Considering Tower Level QoS merits
very detailed discussions with all stakeholders and concurrence from all parties)