MANILA, Philippines, October 14, 2013 – Leading telecoms company PLDT is investing more than P1 billion to expand its fiber network in Bohol to meet increased demand for telecoms and data services due to the expected expansion of the call center and outsourcing industries and the implementation of major development projects in the province, such as the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao island.

The fiber optic cable (FOC) expansion projects in Bohol include the roll-out of two legs of inland and submarine cables that will add more than 280-kilometers of fiber to PLDT’s network.

One leg of the FOC expansion that will run across Bohol’s southwest coastal corner is set to be completed by March 2014 while the northeast corner leg is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of next year.

These will boost the existing 90-kilometer fiber network in Panglao Island and Tagbilaran City that supports the ICT upgrade projects for the proposed international airport in Panglao.

“This fiber expansion program will enable PLDT to fully serve the growing communications requirements of the tourism and other industries in the province,” said PLDT President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno.

“This will also enable business processing and call center companies to set up shop in Bohol because they can rely on robust data networks supporting heavy bandwidth applications,” he added.

PLDT Group Tecnology Head Rolando Pena noted the Bohol fiber expansion project will provide PLDT's Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON) a  third leg link between Tagbilaran and Cagayan de Oro that will also make the Mindanao network more resilient and less susceptible to outage.

He said the new fiber optic cable facilities will also let PLDT provide fiber-to-the-home services and support the operations of its wireless subsidiaries Smart Communications and Sun Cellular, particularly in providing the ultra-fast LTE connection to its subscribers in the area.

PLDT’s current infrastructure in Bohol – which runs along Tagbilaran, Baclayon, and Dauis – already serves more than 500,000 wireless subscribers and about 2,000 fixed wireless broadband subscribers, with more than 4,000 fixed lines that could increase to more than 5,000 by 2014 after completion of the project.

“PLDT is partnering with Bohol’s local governments to better serve the various industries that the region is currently developing,” said PLDT Vice President and Visayas Mindanao Customer Service Operations District Head Jess Tañedo.

“The province has for example been keen to develop the outsourcing industry to take advantage of the large pool of graduates produced by its colleges and universities,” he added.

PLDT continues to fortify its fiber advantage as it expects to further extend its fiber assets to over 71,000 kilometers by yearend, far ahead of competition.

“This gives us a decisive edge not only in the traditional fixed and mobile business, but more importantly, in data and video services,” Nazareno said.

The P1 billion fiber expansion program in Bohol is part of PLDT's P29 billion capital expenditures programmed for 2013.