Digitel to invest P3.8B over five years on landline upgrade

Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel) will invest P3.8 billion over a five-year period for the installation of its wireless local loop (WLL) network, which will give landline subscribers outside Metro Manila access to high-speed Internet and allow them to make IDD and NDD calls, aside from the basic telephone services.

Digitel has been aggressively rolling out its WLL network which can support high-end services including 3G or third generation mobile communications technology.

Company officials said among the benefits that this technology provides include high-speed mobile Internet access faster than those offered by digital subscriber line (DSL) and wireless fidelity (WiFi), more affordable voice calls, video calling and streaming, other services including SMS or text messaging and MMS or multimedia messaging service, IDD and NDD calling, and call forwarding and conference calls, among others.

"The WLL access network saves Digitel in capitalization cost and allows us to do quick deployment of service even in remote areas,"said Digitel senior vice-president for legal William Pamintuan said.

Pamintuan said the installation of the network equipment and facilities will be finished in five years and will have a capacity of 370,000 lines.

Subscribers can choose the type of terminal they want and enjoy mobility within the particular base stations coverage. These terminals can either be handsets or fixed wireless phones.

Digitel is one of the first local telecom companies to invest on broadband wireless infrastructure.

Pamintuan disclosed that Digitel currently has around 400,000 landline subscribers. Its Sun Cellular brand of mobile phone services reportedly has 1.7 million subscribers.

Digitel was among four companies granted 3G frequencies by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Other operators that were given 3G bandwidths are Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, and CURE.

According to the NTC, Digitel has allocated around $240 million for the roll-out of its 3G network.

Pamintuan earlier said the company has started laying the groundwork for its 3G roll-out. "We are confident that Digitel will be a major player in offering the 3G technology to mobile phone users."