PLDT expected to rely on fixed-line business

PANGILINAN- LED PLDT Inc. - ness this 2018 given its sustained growth in the segment, Japanese think tank Nomura said in a report on Monday.

“PLDT has a strong positioning on fixed and if well executed, it could gain revenue momentum here— unlike what we have seen with its mobile,” it said in a brief report.

Nomura also noted that while PLDT’s P58 billion capital expenditure budget for this year was “surprising,” it stressed this was “necessary considering its fixed revenue ramp up and also given the expectations of a third entrant.”

More than half of the capex, or 53 percent, will be allocated to bolster the telco’s fixed network business.

The report mirrors PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan’s remarks in November 2017.

“I suspect that PLDT for 2018 will rely mainly on the fixed line growth because we want to keep pushing the envelope in terms of our advantage in the fixed line business,” he said at a press briefing.

“As you know, we will have close to 4 million homes passed and we will continue to install Pangilinan added.

- 4 million homes, up nearly 43 percent compared to the 2.8 million homes passed in 2016.

Pangilinan has said they are targeting to cover 6 million homes by 2020 with their ultrafast broadband coverage.

Last week, PLDT reported that lower revenues and a continued modernization effort led to a 33 percent drop in its 2017 net income to P13.4 billion.