PLDT allots $550M for capex this year

Telecommunications industry leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has programmed $550 million in capital expenditures for 2008, to be used for the expansion of its network infrastructure and upgrading of its capacities in relevant areas across the country.

The expansion will cover what are called “new wave” cities to further enable the offshoring and outsourcing (O&O) industry to becoming more globally competitive, according to PLDT first vice president for corporate business Nerissa Ramos who spoke at yesterday’s eServices Event 2008.

Meanwhile, PLDT announced that Smart Broadband Inc. (SBI), a subsidiary of Smart Communications, has completed its acquisition of all of the assets of Cruz Telephone Co. (Cruztelco), a telecommunications company operating in Northeast Mindanao.

Since 2004, PLDT has been managing Cruztelco’s network infrastructure and facilities for the provision of local exchange services by Cruztelco in Northeast Mindanao, under a facilities management agreement (FMA).

SBI’s acquisition of the Cruztelco assets was approved by the National Telecommunications Commission on Jan. 21, 2008.

Also yesterday, Ramos pointed out that if this industry hopes to sustain the dramatic growth it has experienced over the years, relentless excellence should not only be a business imperative, but in fact, a way of life.

“As PLDT enters its 80th year of service to the country, we continue to be the industry’s partner in changing lives through steadfast commitment to excellence. The proof of which is that for 2008, we have allocated significant resources into further raising the bar of excellence in service quality, innovation, and infrastructure,” she said.

Ramos revealed that PLDT has invested in 17 international cable projects around the globe at a cost of approximately $238 million. Four of these systems – namely, APCN, APCN2, GP, and SEAMEWE 3 – are hosted by PLDT for their termination in the Philippines, the most among local carriers. 

As of 2007, PLDT operated a total of 90 gigabits per second in international cable system capacity over two landing stations via five major cable systems, the largest and the most diverse in the country. By the end 2008, international capacity will increase to 125 Gbps, she said.

“It is this diverse high-bandwidth international capacity as well as best-practice processes and systems that form PLDT’s competitive advantage and allowed PLDT to quickly restore major international links, most of them from the O&O segment, during the well-publicized cable breaks caused by the Taiwan quake in 2006. This prompt restoration has minimized business affecting downtimes and its attendant loses due to this fateful incident, “ Ramos emphasized.

Apart from international capacities, she noted that PLDT continues to grow its domestic networks to support the broadband internet and data explosion. By the end of 2008, PLDT’s domestic fiber optic Network or DFON will have near terabit capacity or 910 Gbps.

“This fiber optic network is configured in eight self-healing rings extending to as far south as Davao and as far north as Cagayan province.DFON, complemented with our domestic Ethernet and IP networks, will provide superior connectivity options nationwide, enabling O & O’s to expand into their desired “New Wave City” to as far as Ilocos and the Cordilleras in the north and Davao and General Santos in the south, without any worry of infrastructure availability,” she said.

To support the economy which has become more and more dependent on the power of the internet, PLDT is expanding its DSL capacity across the country to one million lines by maximizing existing technologies and introducing next generation facilities. 

The company will be complementing this by doubling its Internet Gateway to 50 terabits per second capacity, providing more Filipinos and Philippine businesses with high-quality access to the infinite wealth of information in the Worldwide Web.

Ramos added that to further enable broadband explosion, PLDT is growing its wireless network to more than 7,000 cell sites capable of delivering GPRS/EDGE and more than 1,000 delivering 3G / HSDPA and HSPA Internet speeds via mobile phones and other mobile data devices such as WeRoam. 

“Our fixed-wireless network, which enables our SMARTBro service, will also be upgraded to more than 2,000 sites, reaching more than 500 municipalities and moving the Internet closer to more Filipinos and Philippine businesses in even the remotest areas of the countryside,” she said.