Ramping up net capabilities

For two years’ now, most Filipinos have found themselves forced to work or study at home.

We were literally at the mercy of internet service providers. In order to attend work-related meetings, seminars and classes in the case of students, we needed to have not only internet connection, but a fast and reliable one at that.

I, for one, had to upgrade my internet package to make sure that I do not suffer from lag, especially when in the middle of my classes. Unfortunately, many of my students do not have the same luxury that I have, either because they are located in an area where the service is really bad or where one does not have much of a choice in terms of the ISP to subscribe to or simply because subscribing to a plan with a higher bandwidth can be very expensive.

But subscribing to an internet plan that can support up to 200 megabits per second (Mbps) is no guarantee that you will benefit from it most of the time. Issues like network congestion, local cabling issues, the kind of router that you have, your router settings, can affect and reduce your actual bandwidth. You can be subscribed to a 200 Mbps plan and actually get 200 Mbps, but for how many hours in a day? A faster internet package is not enough. A reliable provider is what we need these days.

For PLDT subscribers, Ookla again adjudged the fixed network of PLDT as the fastest in the Philippines during the first half of 2021, with top download speeds of 113.21 Mbps and top upload of speeds of 136.61 Mbps. It is also the undisputed speed leader in the cities of Makati, Cebu, and Davao. Those speeds are above global averages and helped lift the average of the Philippines.

For three consecutive years or from 2018 to 2020, PLDT has consistently been named the fastest fixed network in the country at the Ookla Speedtest Awards for achieving the highest speed score.

Impressive are the speed surges, indeed. But more amazing was the gain in fixed broadband, a space where the battle for dominance is between Converge and PLDT, whose fiber-to-the-home business is under PLDT Home and designated as PLDT Home Fiber.

Recent reports from Converge and PLDT show that in the first half of this year, PLDT Home Fiber added 478,000 new customers to raise its subscriber count to 1.77 million, while Converge added 317,000 new customers in the first half to push its total subscribers to 1.36 million at the end of June.

PLDT Home Fiber has added every quarter this year over 210,000 new customers, a customer count that has yet to be hurdled by Converge as of June.

In the third quarter, PLDT Home Fiber added 324,000 new customers to push its total customer count on fiber at 2.09 million. Converge has yet to release third-quarter results.

After completing the rollout of 1.7 million fiber ports in September, three months ahead of schedule, and with a plan to add more along with a record number of new customers in the third quarter, it is highly likely that PLDT Home Fiber could end the year with around 2.4 million customers.

PLDT Home Fiber has also extended its fiber infrastructure to reach 12.7 million homes passed in September, more than half the 25 million households in the country. At the rate of its expansion, PLDT Home Fiber will reach 15 million homes passed as early as the first half of 2022. Converge is aiming to reach that milestone only in 2025.

For 2021, PLDT has increased its backbone network capacity and allocated P88 billion to P92 billion of capital expenditure for its network build out, according to one news report.

Last September, PLDT announced that it is set to almost double its existing domestic network capacity by the end of the year. It is expanding its domestic network capacity by 92 terabits per second, almost double its existing total capacity of 55 Tbps and more than three times its 30 Tbps capacity last year.

It said the increase in its domestic network capacity will allow individuals, homes, business, and future subscribers faster connectivity and ready access to more bandwidth-heavy digital services such as video streaming and work collaboration tools.

PLDT and Smart Communications president Al Panlilio emphasized that the company continuously invests in expanding its network to ensure the best end-user experience and to empower increasingly-connected societies where customers’ digital lifestyle rely on strong connectivity.

PLDT’s domestic network capacity expansion complements its growing international capacity to help direct data traffic going in and out of the country.

This expansion is also brought about by increasing demand for digital services and data consumption. In terms of mobile data traffic alone, the telco experienced a 17 percent year-on-year increase to 1,579 pentabytes in the first half of the year.

PLDT’s Home business is expected to hit one million new fiber subscriptions for this year alone.

Max’s Group new COO

The country’s largest casual dining restaurant, Max’s Group, has named Ariel Fermin as its new president.

Previously the group’s chief operating office, Fermin will not only be responsible for the overall commercial and operational performance of the group, but will also be tasked with further growing the group’s brands, which include Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Dencio’s, Teriyaki Boy, and Sizzlin’ Steak, and with identifying new opportunities for expansion.

According to Fermin, the group’s local brands and industries have what it takes to shine on the global stage.

For his part, Robert Ramon Trota, former group president and now chief executive officer, noted that MGI has demonstrated an unmatched resiliency and flexibility even as the COVID-19 crisis continues to alter the global food industry. He said this would not have been possible without the leadership of Fermin, who accelerated three years of strategy into three quarters of execution through the pandemic, helping define new sources of wealth, streamlining operations, and building new-found agility into the organization.

Fermin used to be executive vice president and head of PLDT’s Home Business, country director of Nike Philippines, and held top posts in Jollibee Foods Corp., Chowking Food Corp., and Greenwich Pizza Corp. He was also on the board of Smart Communications.

MGI earlier reported a net income of P55 million in the second quarter of 2021 as compared to a P434 million net loss in the same period in 2020. From January to June 2021, the group realized a P392 million profit from a P603 million loss last year.

Trota said the group’s first half sales via its delivery channel nearly doubled pre-pandemic levels despite new dining-in restrictions. MGI ended June with a total store network of 657, of which 597 are located in the Philippines and 60 in various locations in North America, the Middle East, and Asia.

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