PLDT out to fortify broadband dominance

MANILA, Philippines — Who says the broadband market is saturated?

For the broadband segment of PLDT Inc., it looks to further build up its fiber network and cement its industry leadership this year, optimistic that the changing connectivity requirements would stimulate demand.

Based on its financial report, PLDT Home said its subscriber base in the fiber market has grown to more than 3.2 million as of 2023, retaining its title as the largest player in the broadband race.

PLDT Home also added around 234,000 subscribers to its customer base as it entered areas that used to be unserved or underserved by internet service providers.

In turn, PLDT Home raised its fiber revenue by nine percent to a record P53 billion in 2023, accounting for 88 percent of its total income. The business also improved its average revenue per unit to P1,493, meaning subscribers are paying more for their broadband connection.

PLDT head of consumer business Jeremiah dela Cruz said the telco would make fresh investments on infrastructure upgrades moving forward. The company plans to set aside as much as P78 billion for capital expenditures in 2024.

Dela Cruz said this capex guidance would support new projects of PLDT Home like the upgrade of submarine cables to facilitate data traffic.

Further, the budget will finance PLDT Home’s effort to expand its fiber reach nationwide, listing greenfield barangays as its target sites for the year.

Comparatively, PLDT Home’s data volume rose to 53,545 TB per quarter in 2023, from 27,445 TB in 2022, as Filipinos increased their internet usage to adopt a digital lifestyle.

In February, PLDT brought in a new set of broadband products that offer gigabit levels of speed. Gigabit Plans promise subscribers a connectivity speed of as high as 10 Gbps, the first of its kind in the Philippines.

For background, 10 Gbps amounts to a total of 10,000 Mbps, meaning downloading a 20 GB file like a movie or a software will take only seconds to complete. PLDT wants to capitalize on this market for high-speed internet to accelerate its growth.

As of 2023, PLDT has broadened its fiber footprint to over 1.1 million kilometers, consisting of 900,000 domestic lines and 200,000 international cables and passing through an estimated 17.5 million homes.

Apart from this, the largest telco in the Philippines covers about 18,600 barangays, or 44 percent, of the 42,046 barangays across the archipelago.