PLDT to roll out fiber optic internet technology in Cebu early next year

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) vowed to roll-out its fiber-optic-to-home Internet connection in Cebu towards early next year, depending on the opportunity for good demand.

PLDT president and chief executive officer (CEO) Napoleon Nazareno announced that the technology will be made available in Cebu soon, as the company has already offered this top-notch technology in Metro Manila just this year.

The introduction of “fiber-optic-to-home” technology will provide Filipinos with much reliable and faster Internet connection. Although this may cost a little higher compared to ordinary connection, it is considered as the “ultimate” in fixed line infrastructure.

At this point, PLDT is going to roll out at least 10,000 fiber-optic-to-home available connections primarily in high-end subdivisions in the Metro Manila, about a half are already taken.

This means, that this technology is already available to affluent residential Internet connection consumers, initially in Metro Manila.

This year, Nazareno said the fiber-optic-to-home technology roll out will be focused first in Metro Manila, next year, Cebu will be installed with the capability.

However, the company had already announced its P2.8 billion expansion of its Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON) technology in December last year, to boost Cebu’s bid to attract big ticket investors in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

PLDT announced the completion of the two-year DFON project which covers the third leg of DFON Loop 4 from Lucena to Cebu City, passing through 11 provinces nationwide.

“Our transmission backbone is now much more resilient, thus raising the quality and reliability of our services. We can also provide more communities with both basic and advanced broadband services, unlocking new economic opportunities for central and Southern Philippines,” said Nazareno.

The project, which is part of the company’s DFON Resiliency Improvement Program, involved the installation of 1,300 kilometers of new terrestrial and submarine fiber optic cables to carry voice, data and video traffic in Bicol and the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

The completion of the DFON Loop 4-Third Leg has added 1,300 kilometers of terrestrial and submarine fiber optic cables to PLDT DFON, bringing the total to 10,050 kilometers connecting 68 nodes and equipped with a total network bandwidth capacity of 1.56 Terabytes, or capability of accommodating a total of 24 million simultaneous voice calls or additional capacity of four million DSL connection.

In the past, accidental cable cuts have caused slowdowns in bandwidth speeds and even outages for some retail and corporate customers, especially the BPO sector, in the affected areas.

Natural disasters have also adversely affected the network, hampering vital communications to a certain extent. (FREEMAN)