Smart completes fiber optic cable for Boracay

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc., a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has completed the installation of its fiber optic cable network in the tourist island of Boracay.

PLDT-Smart head of technology group Roland Pena said in a statement that the completion of the project would benefit users of Smart’s mobile broadband service, including its high-speed long term evolution (LTE) service, as resorts in the island would be able to offer more reliable Wi-Fi service.

 â€œWe made sure that the new facility would be in place before the onset of the summer season.  Boracay visitors can now really get away and yet easily stay in touch with high-speed broadband,” Pena stressed.

Smart’s new 2.8-kilometer underwater fiber optic cable link stretches from the Tabon Jetty Port in Caticlan, Aklan to the Tambisaan Jetty Port in Boracay Island and connects two different existing inland fiber optic cable loops – one on Boracay Island and the other on Caticlan mainland.

“We were able to complete our facilities quickly because we do a lot of preparatory work in advance.  Pre-work includes network planning, site surveys, permits from local government units, compliance certificates and clearances,” he added.

He said forward planning enables the company to implement network expansion that is environmentally safe and does not disrupt services to subscribers.

This latest cable expansion is going to further support the growing capacity requirements for Smart’s LTE sites in Boracay and Caticlan.

Smart senior manager for transport and facilities Edgardo Lazaro said the link-up would upgrade Smart’s inter-island interconnection and further strengthen network resiliency.

“This means that even if there will be a cut in one part of the loop, services will not be interrupted since there is an alternate route in the network,” Lazaro added.

Boracay Island was one of the first Philippine locations that received LTE connectivity which the island got as early as April 2011 – months before the service was launched commercially and even before there were LTE devices available in the market.

The completion of the facility comes in time for the 2013 summer season and the Holy Week break when tourist visits to the seven-kilometer-long Boracay Island are at their peak, and demand for wireless services also increases.