PLDT’s fiber network expands after P15-B capex in 9 mos

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) spent close to P15 billion for its capital expenditures in the first nine months of the year.

The amount accounted for 52 percent of the full-year budget of P29 billion representing 17 percent of total revenues.

The capital expenditures in the first nine months of the year was 23 percent lower than the amount spent in the same period last year.

PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the amount further expanded PLDT’s fiber optic network to approximately 75,000 kilometers by end-September this year to support its rapidly growing broadband data services business.

PLDT’s fiber network, which includes around 7,200 kilometers of international submarine fiber and over 4,000 kilometers of domestic undersea fiber cables, is the country’s most extensive high-speed data transmission and distribution network.

“We are fortifying our already formidable fiber advantage as we cover more areas in the country and install enhanced redundancies to strengthen the resiliency of our infrastructure,” Nazareno said.

“This will enable us to deliver high-speed broadband services via our fixed and mobile networks to more people, homes and enterprises all over the country and better support the country’s development efforts,” he added.

PLDT’s fixed and mobile data services from both retail and enterprise clients make up the fastest growing segment of its business and accounts for P25.9 billion or 21 percent of its total revenues in the first nine months of the year.

At the end of 2012, PLDT had over 54,000 kilometers fiber optic cables in its domestic fiber optic network (DFON) which at that time was already more than four times that of competition.

PLDT Technology Group head Rolando Pena said PLDT continues to lay down fiber optic cables nationwide to step up its fiber-to-the-home rollout and hit 2.2 million “homes passed” by the end of 2013.

PLDT’s ultra-fast Fibr service now covers more than 800 high-end residential subdivisions across the country. PLDT Fibr provides subscribers with connection speed of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) that allows seamless streaming of high-definition movies and other high-bandwidth multi-media services.

Peña added that PLDT mobile subsidiary, Smart Communications, has also equipped over 1,200 base stations in Metro Manila and key urban centers and towns all over the county with its high-speed LTE service which is supported by fiber networks of PLDT and Smart.

Smart’s LTE network, which provides mobile data services with speeds of up to 42 Mbps, is the most extensive in the country.

Moreover, Smart has begun conducting tests of LTE-Advanced, the next stage of development of LTE, which is capable of support data services with speeds of from 100 to 400 Mbps.

“As we start rolling out technologies capable of even higher data rates, our extensive and resilient fiber infrastructure will become even more important in delivering improved high-bandwidth, multimedia services to customers,” Peña said.