PLDT targets 80,000 broadband DSL subscribers by yearend

Telecommunications industry leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is targeting 80,000 broadband DSL (digital subscriber line) subscribers by the end of the year as it focuses on the small and medium scale enterprises (SME) market.

As of March 9 this year, the company has about 55,000 subscribers and this number is growing by about 1,000 subscribers per week. In order to reach the goal of 80,000 subscribers, the PLDT retail business group has launched an aggressive campaign to extend its dominance by focusing on the SME market.

"Our objective is not only to dominate the SME market, but also to support the business needs of the SME," according to Butch Jimenez, PLDT senior vice-president and retail business group head.

"More and more we see the importance of broadband access to the growth of an SME’s business, and we want to be a part of their success," Jimenez said.

Among PLDT’s different broadband offerings, its packages for the SMEs have the second highest subscriber take-up following its Plan 1995 for the residential market.

"We are encouraged by the strong demand for broad-band by the SME market. This means that our small and medium scaled enterprises see the need to get wired to the Internet world," he pointed out

Presently, PLDT controls nearly 70 percent of the SME market nationwide. The campaign gives SME broadband subscribers faster speeds at low rates, plus various office equipment bundled into the service to support productivity and efficiency.

PLDT’s Small Biz Lite, priced at only P4,400-per month, has an upgraded speed of 768 Kilobits per second (kbps). The offer comes with bundled office equipment such as fax machines, scanners, cordless phones, printers and webcams.

PLDT’s Small Biz Jr., priced at P8,800 per month, has an upgraded speed of 1 Megabits per second (Mbps) and is bundled with the same showcase of equipment as the Small Biz Lite plus a free computer.