formerly GMCR, Inc. - Globe

Item 2. Properties
On a consolidated basis, Globe Telecom and Islacom increased its headcount
from 3,887 in 2001 to 3,931 in 2002, 28.7% of which are covered by the 2001-
2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) concluded in 2001.
In January 2003, Globe began the Wireline Staff Rationalization Program in line
with the Wireline SBU's efforts to ensure business viability, driven by the
business' financial state and the landline market's maturation. These efforts were
hinged on ensuring competitiveness and efficiency of services rendered to
customers. The Globe Telecom Workers Union (GTWU) decided to file a Notice
of Strike in February 2003 with the National Conciliation Mediation Board
under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) against Globe
Management. Following a series of conciliatory talks between Management and
GTWU, where issues were discussed and resolved, the strike was averted.
On-going strategic initiatives are being undertaken to explore a new corporate
structure that will enable the company to fully focus on its strategic business
units. These will enhance shareholder value, improve corporate agility, and
stimulate improvements in operational efficiency and effectiveness for better
customer service.
Globe purchased several floors of Pioneer Highlands Towers 1 and 2 to serve as its business
headquarters which was renamed Globe Telecom Plaza. Globe Telecom Plaza is located at
Pioneer corner Madison Sts. in Mandaluyong City. It leases the premises for most of its
business centers and cell sites. By end-2002, the Company had over 80 business centers and
2,190 cell sites nationwide.
Globelines has a total of 28 switching exchanges all over the country. 15 of these switching
exchanges also function as toll switches to support long distance service between provinces
where these are located as well as connect subscribers to other switches in other parts of the
country. In addition to the 15 switches of Globe and Isla, Globe has two switches in
Batangas and Bacoor that handle toll calls within its areas only.
The infrastructure for its Globelines fixed telephone service now includes 6 telephone host
exchanges in Makati, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Batangas, Bacoor, Cavite, and Iligan, 10
remote switching units (RSUs) and seven public calling offices (PCOs). The Company also
has installed more than 1.4 million fixed lines.
For its international telephony business, Globe has five toll switching systems in its Ermita,
Mandaluyong, Cavite, Batangas and Iligan host exchanges. The Company operates three
international gateway facilities. The two international gateway switches are located in Metro
Manila while the third is in Cebu. Globe has also invested in several submarine cable
systems, in which it either owns or leases a share of the systems’ total capacity.
In November of 2001, Globe inaugurated its first cable landing station to land the City-to-
City Cable Network (“C2C CN”), a 17,000 kilometer long submarine cable network linking
the Philippines to Hongkong, Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan and Singapore. The C2C cable
network is one of the largest networks in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of design capacity.
This will enable Globe to lower its transmission cost for carrier services by enhancing its
capacity.
Phil SEC 17A 2002 22