MANILA, Philippines, February 18, 2018 – 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.