PLDT steps up rollout of fiber-to-the-home

PLDT Inc. is stepping up the rollout of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) facilities in strategic urban centers in the country through the launch of its first ever “Fibr City” project in Toledo City in Cebu, to enable families and enterprises in that area to experience world-class internet service.

The deployment of FTTH facilities is being made possible by PLDT’s partnership with the Toledo City government.

“Fitted with the country’s most powerful broadband, Toledo City will now have access to fiber-fast internet speeds of as much as one Gigabit per second (Gbps),” Oscar Reyes Jr., PLDT first vice president and head of home business said in a statement.

“This will allow family members to download movies in sec- onds, play games without any lags and install security applications inside their homes,” he said.

PLDT’s decision to make Toledo the first Fibr City is in line with the firm’s expansion plans in Central Philippines where it is currently accelerating the rollout of fiber.

Apart from the deployment of FTTH facilities, PLDT is also opening a sales and service center on D. Macapagal Highway to cater to the needs of its customers in Toledo City.

Through PLDT’s FTTH plans starting at P1,899, subscribers can get access to entertainment and gaming content from providers including iflix, Netflix, Fox+ and iWant TV.

As of end-2016, PLDT’s FTTH network covered around 2.8 million homes.

By the end of this year, PLDT wants to expand the reach of its FTTH service by about 80 percent to cover 4.4 million homes.

PLDT is further extending the reach of its fiber-speed internet service with the deployment of hybrid fiber technologies such as Huawei Technologies’ G.fast, which can boost data speeds up to 600 to 700 Mbps over existing copper lines.

The telco envisions all of its subscribers to be in “smart homes” by end-2018 through its FTTH and fiber-fast services.

Over the last 10 years, PLDT has poured in P300 billion or $6 billion to have the most extensive transmission and distribution network infrastructure in the country.

At present, PLDT has 150,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables which cater to the growing data traffic of its fixed line and mobile networks.