PLDT, Smart integrate to increase Internet speed

CEBU CITY – The Philippine Long-Distance Telephone (PLDT) and Smart Communications have integrated and expanded their systems to increase data speeds and company revenues for the first half of 2018.

Senior Vice President for network planning and engineering of PLDT/ Smart, Mario Tamayo in a media release shared that as of end-June, Smart has installed more than 3,900 LTE base stations increasing it to over 12,600 LTE coverage nationwide.

Tamayo said this enabled Smart to improve its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) coverage and its LTEAdvanced (LTE-A) for higher data speeds and capacity.

According to Tamayo, Smart had fired up LTE and LTE-A in Batanes, Sagada and Cagayan as well as in Palawan, Sorsogon, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Davao and Sarangani.

PLDT, on the other hand, increased its fiber-power fixed broadband network to 5.07 million homes boosting capacity to 1.86 million ports which is closer to its full-year target of 2.2 million ports, Tamayo said.

PLDT’s fiber optic transmission and distribution network it had increased its fiber footprint to 204,000 kilometers increasing its reach, capacity and resiliency of its fiber network which is transforming entire areas into fiber-enabled “Smart Cities,” he said.

With the rollout, Smart is on track to provide high-speed wireless data services in over 90 percent of the country’s towns and cities by end of this year.

In Cebu, Toledo City was the first to roll out full coverage of fiber-tothe-home, followed by General Santos City in Mindanao and Naga in the Bicol Region.

The complete roll out also happed in South Metro Manila that included Paranaque and Las Piñas; East Metro Manila which includes Pasig and Antipolo; and central business districts like Rockwell Makati and Bonifacio Global City.

Fiber has also been rolled out in major cities in Metro Manila, North, Central and Southern Luzon and some parts of Mindanao including Davao, South Cotabato, Cotabato, Koronadal, Zamboanga, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat.

Tamayo added fiber roll out to also expand in tourist-belt areas like El Nido in Palawan and in towns with local business and industries and growing number of tourists visiting the island.

According to Ernesto Alberto, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer data broadband and digital services are the main growth drivers for the company’s Home, Individual Wireless and Enterprise.

“It accounted for R39.6 billion in revenues for the first half of 2018. We