SubicTel doubles speed of broadband connection

Subic Telecommunications Co. (SubicTel), a subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), will soon double the speed of its broadband Internet service at no cost as part of efforts to further improve its service to customers within the special economic zone.

"Aside from offering innovative services such as broadband Internet through DSL technology, we want our clients to enjoy the best of what our technology can offer through continuous service improvements," according to SubicTel general manager Henry Abes.

"Early last month, we just connected another 45 mbps bandwidth pipe from PLDT doubling last year’s bandwidth capacity. We intend again to significantly increase our Internet backhaul in the next three to six months to meet the growing demands of our customers," he said.

He added that SubicTel recently tapped Fujitsu Philippines, a leading provider of customer-focused information technology and communications solutions, to maintain SubicTel’s facilities and efficiently provide data services such as DSL, or digital subscriber line.

Due to its robust Internet backhaul facility, SubicTel’s Internet services remained on-line even during the recent Taiwan earthquake which caused a major downtime in the other telcos’ and ISPs’ services in the region.

"This is just the start. Existing and prospective clients can expect other innovative service offerings from SubicTel in the coming months. With this network upgrade, we can affirm our claim that we have the best Internet wireline value for money services in the region," Abes added.

SubicTel has already invested almost P1 billion since 1994 to develop the telecommunications infrastructure in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. It was created in 1994 after PLDT, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and AT&T of the US decided to form a joint venture to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities for the freeport.

At that time, officials said PLDT was the only telecommunications company who accepted former SBMA chairman Richard Gordon’s call for help in rebuilding Subic. Because of this missionary role, locators soon came in and contributed to the development of Subic.

They added that SubicTel continues to invest in the development of the telecommunications infrastructure in the freeport zone to meet the needs of locators and potential investors.

The other services that SubicTel offers to locators in the Freeport and retail clients include residential lines, private leased lines, and virtual private network (VPN).