PLDT allots P2B for hybrid fiber technology rollout

TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant PLDT, Inc. is investing about P2 billion over the next three years to roll out a hybrid fiber technology that can deliver “super-fast” broadband service through regular phone lines in buildings and homes.

In a statement, PLDT said the investment plan follows tests for the deployment of two advanced hybrid fiber technologies — “GiGa Wire” by South Korea’s KT Corp. and “G.fast.” by China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Both technologies are said to be capable of providing data speeds per user of up to 600-700 megabits per second (Mbps) per user, depending on the length of the local copper loop.

The initial plan calls for deploying Giga Wire and G.fast solutions in over 500 buildings in different parts of the country next year, PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Ernesto R. Alberto was quoted as saying, noting that it would be split between residential and office buildings.

Both GiGa Wire and G.fast work by connecting buildings and homes with fiber optic cables and using special equipment to enable the internal copper wiring of these structures to deliver fiber-like data speeds.

PLDT said an additional 1,600 buildings are being lined up for 2018 and 2019 with total investment in the 3-year plan amounting to about P2-billion.

“Hybrid technologies offer a way to take full advantage of the company’s extensive telephone network in order to deliver fiberpowered broadband services. The vast majority of office and residential buildings are currently wired internally with copper and it is difficult and costly to re-wire these structures with fiber... the majority of homes are still connected by regular phone lines,” it added.

The telco giant noted that PLDT’s regular phone lines can reach around six million homes nationwide.

“Hybrid fiber technologies break down barriers to fiber deployment. These enable us to extend more quickly superfast broadband services to areas where fiber deployment is difficult. We side step the challenge of having to re-wire buildings,” PLDT Chief Technology and Information Adviser Joachim W. Horn said.

The deployment of hybrid fiber solutions, he added, “complements very well the ongoing rollout of fiber- to- the- home ( FTTH) connections.” Currently, the number of “homes passed” by PLDT’s FTTH network is 2.5 million.

“With these two parallel and complementary rollouts, PLDT is well-positioned to bring highspeed broadband to more areas of the country more quickly and efficiently than anyone else,” Mr. Horn further said.

PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said the initiative is part of the firm’s efforts to make fiber- powered, highspeed connectivity more widely available to the public. He said this is a step towards building a “Gigabit Society” — where highbandwidth, low- latency digital services in homes, businesses, health care services, utilities and schools become an integral part of daily life.

PLDT shares were unchanged at P1,350 on Monday.

Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. —