PLDT pioneers 1st ‘Fibr City’ in Cebu

PLDT, Inc. is further expanding its fiber rollout in central Philippines, as part of efforts to deliver “ultra-fast” Internet connection to over four million homes by the end of the year.

The telecommunications giant said on Tuesday it stepped up the rollout of its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) facilities in Toledo City, Cebu, making it the first “Fibr City” project of PLDT, where homes and enterprises are expected to experience “super-fast” connectivity.

With a footprint of around 2.8 million homes passed as of end 2016, PLDT said it is further expanding the reach of its FTTH network by about 80% to 4.4 million homes passed by end 2016, making available the “ultra-fast” Internet connection nationwide.

“Fitted with the country’s most powerful broadband, Toledo City will now have access to fiber-fast Internet speeds of as much as 1 Gigabit per second. This will allow family members to download movies in seconds, play games without any lags, and install security applications inside their homes,” PLDT First Vice- President and Head of Home Operations Oscar A. Reyes, Jr. was quoted as saying.

PLDT’s move to pioneer its first Fibr City in Toledo is part of its expansion plans in central Philippines, he said, servicing the mining industry and growing tourism sectors.

PLDT sees its fixed line business — Home and Enterprise — driving its growth this year. It will focus on its broadband business, as well as dominating the mobile Internet space, particularly longterm evolution (LTE) through continued expansion in data- related infrastructure and services.

To further extend the reach of its fiberspeed Internet service, PLDT has also started deploying hybrid fiber technologies such as Huawei Technologies’ G.fast which can boost data speeds up to 600700 megabits per second over existing copper lines.

“PLDT envisions that all of its subscribers will be in smart homes by end 2018 enabled by PLDT’s combined FTTH and fiber-fast services,” the telco giant said.

PLDT has invested P300 billion over the last 10 years to roll out the country’s most extensive transmission and distribution network infrastructure which now has 150,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables that transport the growing data traffic of its fixed line and mobile networks.

PLDT Chief Revenue Officer and ePLDT President and CEO Eric R. Alberto earlier said PLDT Enterprise and Home already generated over P30 billion in revenues each as of end 2016, with expectations these two units will drive the company’s growth starting this year.

In particular, revenue from both segments could hit P70 billion this year, amid double-digit growth projection.

PLDT has been hit by shrinking revenues amid a rapid rise in adaptation to mobile Internet and broadband from the traditional voice and text services, which remain its biggest business. Nonetheless, 2017 “should look positive” for PLDT as earlier investments are seen bearing fruit for the telco giant.

It recorded a P27.9 billion consolidated core income in 2016, 21% lower than the previous year, due to lower EBITDA ( earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) and higher costs from its capital expenditures, which was used to fund ongoing expansion in its fixed, mobile business.

The company’s recurring core income, which excludes asset sales, depreciation, one-time provisions and subsidies, reached P20.2 billion, in line with expectations but 26% or P7 billion lower than 2015’s level.

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. — Imee Charlee C. Delavin