PLDT takes out P4 billion green loan for expansion

MANILA, Philippines — Telco leader PLDT Inc. has doubled down on its strategy to acquire sustainable loans as it took out P4 billion in green financing from Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. to fund its network expansion.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, PLDT said it landed a green loan worth P4 billion from Metrobank, the first of this kind secured by the telco from a local creditor.

Last March, PLDT borrowed P1 billion from the green loan facility of HSBC Philippines, making it the first Philippine telco to avail itself of the program.

Similar to the HSBC loan, PLDT will use the P4-billion loan from Metrobank to roll out its broadband assets across cities and municipalities. Primarily, the project seeks to narrow the digital divide by improving connectivity quality.

However, PLDT is also tasked to minimize its carbon emissions for the duration of the project in compliance with the green loan. For context, creditors approve a green loan only after assessing that a project is friendly to the environment.

PLDT chief financial officer and chief risk management officer Danny Yu said the telco will use fiber optics for the network expansion.

Yu noted that fiber cables require less energy than their copper-based counterparts, making them a greener alternative for data transmission over long distances.

Further, Yu said the project is aligned with the decarbonization targets of PLDT, as it aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 from the 2019 baseline.

PLDT chief sustainability officer Melissa Vergel de Dios said the telco is committed to employ responsible business practices across its network. She also underscored the crucial role played by the financial industry in supporting sustainable projects.

De Dios said PLDT would exhaust all options in greening the business. In line with this, the largest Philippine telco plans to explore the integration of green solutions and renewable energy to further its decarbonization strategy and achieve its environmental goals.

To date, PLDT manages a fiber network of 1.1 million kilometers here and abroad, with 900,000 kilometers placed locally and 200,000 kilometers laid overseas.

PLDT leans on this fiber infrastructure to deliver connectivity services, from fixed broadband to mobile data, to its subscribers.