PLDT spending P2-B to expand fiber optic network

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s largest telecommunications firm, is spending P2.5 billion in 2013 to expand its fiber optic cable by 5,000 kilometers.

The expansion will take the telco’s fiber optic network to over 60,000 km, allowing it to improve its mobile and data services.

“Fiber is key to having the capacity to deliver next-generation, large-bandwidth data services,” said PLDT President and CEO Napoleon Nazareno.

The fiber expansion program for 2013 will cover 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 projects.

The FTTH project will make PLDT’s high-speed Internet services available to around two million houses in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and the provinces of Panay, Negros Occidental, Cebu and Davao.

“For our customers, this means that in more places in the country they will be able to enjoy superior high-speed Internet service using their PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones—whether at home, office or on the go.  Your devices can be only as good as your network,” said Nazareno.

The additional fiber optic cable links will also include submarine cables that would boost data connectivity of the islands of Palawan, Bohol and Panay, where demand for data services is rising on the back of booming tourism and business process outsourcing industries.

“Our DFON expansion program will directly support the economic development programs of these major islands,” Nazareno said.

PLDT is putting aside P29 billion for capital expenditures in 2013, a 20% drop from the P36.4 billion it spent in 2012.

The money will go to the expansion of PLDT’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth-generation mobile data network coverage, which at this point already has about 1,000 cell sites. It will also be spent for the installation and firing up of more Smart LTE cell sites and the expansion of the 3G coverage of Smart and Sun Cellular.

PLDT reported a net income of P35.5 billion in 2012, up 12% from P31.7 billion in 2011, as revenues rose 10% to P169.33 billion from P153.96 billion. Its total cellular subscriber base stood at 69.9 million. – Rappler.com