PLDT to expand fiber service by 80%
The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is expanding its fiber-powered fixed line network by 80% to 4.4 million homes by yearend to make its ultra-fast Internet connection via fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service available to more areas nationwide.
“We are stepping up our efforts to deliver Internet services to more homes, from the Ilocos provinces in the North to Zamboanga in the South,” announced PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
After an aggressive roll out, PLDT’s fiber network covered 2.5 million homes in 2016. This year’s expansion plan will add 1.9 million homes to the list.
The FTTH service will be delivered through PLDT HOME Fiber which deliver Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) and allow browsing of multiple websites, uploading of hundreds of photos as well as downloading of a full-length movie in just seconds.
PLDT HOME Fibr also features the country’s first symmetrical speed service which provides equal upload and download speeds.
Hence, subscribers can better enjoy entertainment from digital partners like iflix, Fox Networks Group, Netflix, Roku, and iWant TV, and multiplayer online games like League of Legends, Vainglory, Super Mario Run and Dota 2.
“PLDT Home Fibr provides a more robust platform for a growing range of Smart Home services – home security such as FamCam so parents can watch over their family wherever they are, as well as FamZone which allows them to keep their children safe online,” noted PLDT FVP and Home Operations Head Oscar Enrico Reyes.
Fiber-powered Internet connections now cover Laoag, Baguio City, Vigan City, and Tuguegarao in Northern Luzon; Tarlac, Cabanatuan City, and San Fernando, Pampanga in Central Luzon; and, Puerto Princesa and El Nido in Palawan, down to the Bicol region cities of Sorsogon, Naga and Legazpi.
Major urban areas in the Visayas region are likewise fiber-ready – from Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, to Tagbilaran. In Mindanao, PLDT’s fiber has y reached key provinces and cities, including Cotabato, Davao, General Santos City, Koronadal and Zamboanga.
To complement its accelerated rollout of FTTH services, PLDT is deploying hybrid fiber technologies through regular phone lines in buildings and residences.
PLDT uses the hybrid fiber technologies of KT Corporation (formerly Korea Telecom) called GiGa Wire and Huawei Technologies’ G fast to provide data speeds of up to 600-700 Mbps per user.
Both technologies work by connecting buildings and dwellings with fiber optic cables and using special equipment to enable their internal copper wiring to deliver fiber-like data speeds.
So far, PLDT has invested R300 billion (USD $6 billion) over the last 10 years to roll-out the country’s most expansive network infrastructure.
In 2016, the telco set aside R48 billion or about $1 billion for capital expenditures, a significant portion of which was allocated for the domestic fiber infrastructure.