“We are further fortifying our fiber advantage which is critical to our ability to handle the expected explosion of data traffic in the coming years,” said PLDT President & CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno.
“Our changing revenue mix underscores that our future clearly lies in data and fiber, driving our strategic investments in technical infrastructure in recent years and giving us a decisive advantage in today’s data-driven world.”
He added that, “The PLDT Group’s integrated fixed and wireless network remains unrivalled in its ability to provide high-quality voice, data and multimedia services to our customers who would benefit most from this fiber expansion because more places in the country will have superior high-speed internet service which customers can access using their PCs, laptops, tablets, androids or smartphones wherever they are – at home, in the office, in school, or in the malls. Devices can only be good as the network.”
By the end of the first quarter of 2014, PLDT has expanded its fiber optic network to 85,000 kilometers, five times more than its competition. The aggressive expansion of PLDT’s fiber optic network will continue this year, according to Nazareno.
Last year’s fiber expansion program covered the domestic fiber optic network (DFON) used for long haul applications, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-in-the-loop (FITL), and other inter-office fibering systems. The FTTH project made PLDT’s high-speed internet services available to about two million homes in different parts of the country, such as Metro Manila, the regions of Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and the provinces of Panay, Negros Occidental, Cebu, and Davao.
Early this year, PLDT has completed the installation of over 150 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cables that linked the island of Bohol to the major network centers in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, boosting the telco’s services in the fast-growing tourism and BPO hubs in Central Philippines. It has also accomplished the rollout of 620 kilometers state-of-the-art fiber optic inland and submarine cables that now connect tourist-rich Palawan province in Western Philippines to the PLDT network and to the rest of the country and the world.
In Northern Luzon, PLDT is scheduled to achieve the strengthening of almost 600 kilometers of fiber this year.
According to PLDT Network Group Head Rolando Peña, “The ongoing fortification program for our Northern Luzon DFON will make our network more resilient and less susceptible to fiber breaks that could result in the disruption of our services, the areas being vulnerable to fiber cuts due to typhoons, landslides, and public works diggings.”
Peña said the fortification program will benefit the estimated 11 million subscribers of PLDT mobile subsidiaries Smart and Sun Cellular and around 450,000 customers of PLDT HOME, as well as enterprises in Northern Luzon.
