PLDT adding more fiber lines

MANILA, Philippines — Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. is rolling out additional fiber lines and providing 500,000 more ports nationwide over the next three to six months to serve the country’s growing demand for high-speed broadband and connectivity.

On top of that, PLDT  will also  expand  its 5G coverage   next year.

PLDT chief revenue officer and Smart Communications Inc. president Alfredo Panlilio said the company is ramping up its capabilities to serve more Filipinos nationwide.

Given the ongoing situation as a result of the pandemic, Panlilio said broadband connectivity is more important than ever as more people are told to work and study from home.

“PLDT is rolling out more fiber, more ports in more parts of the Philippines than it has ever done before because we want to connect as many Filipino families as we possibly can to our fiber network. We have now deployed more install and repair teams so we can connect more Filipinos to the most extensive fiber infrastructure in the country,” he said.

“What has emerged in recent months is the increasing importance of home, particularly as a consequence of the pandemic actually forcing people to spend more time at home, work from home, and get entertained at home. We believe that in about a year or two, the ability of delivering fixed wireless to the home will increase significantly. PLDT is focusing on fiber to the home which we think will still remain the best platform to deliver the full suite of services,” PLDT chairman, president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

But as PLDT continues to bolster its fiber infrastructure, it is also looking into expanding the reach of its 5G offering.

“We are in the middle of our budget planning for next year. We will propose to the chairman further expansion of our 5G coverage. But obviously we will work with our network team to make it happen,” Panlilio said.

PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart has become the country’s first telco to launch 5G services nationwide in September.

5G, the latest evolution in wireless communications, offers fiber-like data speeds on mobile and ultra-low latency which enable next-level customer experience in uploading and downloading large files, streaming high-resolution videos, playing online games, and benefitting from other cutting-edge applications.

Panlilio said the PLDT Group is looking into a number of use cases where it can implement 5G.

“If there’s any technology that will be close to fiber, it will be 5G in the future. So that is really something we are looking at, and today fiber is still our flagship brand, but as an integrated telco we’re able to offer a full suite of services to our customers. But on 5G, it will improve the mobile internet capacity and experience,” he said.

PLDT has increased its capital expenditures to P70 billion in response to the increased demand for digital connectivity.