PLDT network expansion goes full throttle

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. has expanded the reach and capacity of its fixed and wireless networks across the country amid the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

PLDT said its fiber infrastructure, the most extensive in the country, now spans 382,500 kilometers as of August, up 19 percent from end-2019.

The coverage of its fiber-powered fixed network has also been expanded to 8.1 million homes, up 12 percent from end-2019, while available capacity grew eight percent to 3.78 million ports.

Wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. likewise ramped up its LTE rollout, increasing the number of LTE base stations on its network by 15 percent to 28,200 as of end-August.

Smart’s accelerated network rollout included the firing up of LTE sites in far-flung areas, including Pag-asa Island in Palawan and the town of Kawayan in the island province of Biliran.

Despite the challenges due to COVID-19 and lockdowns, PLDT said it was able to continue its nationwide network expansion program by combining the rollout of physical installations with software systems upgrades that can be done remotely.

“Our sustained investments in our network over the years have put us in a strong position to meet the surge in demand for our services amid the pandemic,” PLDT-Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering Mario Tamayo said.

“These investments likewise lay the foundation to support increasingly bandwidth-intensive applications which are driven by technological advancements such as 5G,” Tamayo said.

PLDT has raised its target capital expenditures this year back to P70 billion or more as it regained momentum of its network rollout efforts following the easing of lockdown measures.

Meanwhile, PLDT announced yesterday the completion of maintenance activities on the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) submarine cable ahead of its schedule.

The emergency maintenance activities on the AAG submarine cables, which started last Saturday, was supposed to be completed at 5 am today (Wednesday).

“We are happy to report that maintenance activities on the AAG submarine cable have been completed one day ahead of schedule,” PLDT said in an advisory.