Leading telecoms and digital services provider PLDT has accelerated the expansion of its fiber-fast internet connection to reach four million homes passed nationwide at the end of 2017, up nearly 43% from the previous year.
Along with greater coverage, PLDT has also increased the capacity of its fixed broadband network to over one million ports by end-2017, double the number two years ago.
“Because of this rapid expansion of fiber-fast world-class connectivity, PLDT customers are able to enjoy seamless viewing of their favorite movies, listen to their music playlist, play online games without any lags, or simply visit and engage on their social networking sites,” said PLDT SVP and Head of Consumer Market Development Oscar Reyes Jr. said.
PLDT is deploying fiber-fast connectivity through the installation of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) facilities and the “fibrization” of its existing copper-based network through hybrid technologies such as VVDSL and G.fast which are used extensively in Germany and South Korea, respectively. FTTH can deliver speeds of up to 1 Gbps while hybrid fiber can provide data speeds ranging from 100 Mbps (for VVDSL) up to 500 Mbps (for G.fast) over copper lines.
PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier said PLDT will be spending over P50 billion every year until 2020 to supercharge both its fixed and mobile networks.
“By 2019, virtually all of PLDT’s 1.2 million copper-based DSL subscribers will enjoy fiber-fast Internet. PLDT will further expand its ultrafast broadband coverage to 6 million homes passed by 2020, reaching more areas of the country," Pangilinan said.
In 2017, the biggest increases in the number of ports or actual broadband lines were posted in the provinces of Cavite, Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Cebu, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Laguna.
With the cooperation of Local Government Units (LGUs), PLDT is converting entire areas into "smart cities" with its extensive fiber coverage. The first “Smart City” was set up in Toledo City, Cebu in March 2017, followed by General Santos City in Mindanao, Naga in the Bicol Region, South Metro Manila which includes Paranaque and Las Piñas, East Metro Manila which includes Pasig and Antipolo, and central business districts like Rockwell Makati and Bonifacio Global City. Cavite became the first “Smart province” late last year.
Pangilinan said the net result is that “within the next 12-18 months, world-class internet services on PLDT’s super-charged fixed and mobile networks will be available to more Filipinos in more parts of the country."
Fiber-fast connectivity will enable more customers to enjoy the growing portfolio of digital services and solutions that PLDT will offer even richer packages of entertainment, security, games, and other products.
"With PLDT Fibr connection, our families at home can fully enjoy high-definition (HD) channels such as HBO HD, CNN HD, and Fox HD on their Cignal TV as well as the TV box TVolution Powered by Roku that not only streams Cignal HD TV Channels, but also video-on-demand streaming from iflix, Netflix, Youtube, and one hundred other services available in the box, as value added services on their Fibr plans," Reyes said.
