PLDT unit to deliver P25-billion promised revenue this year

MANILA, Philippines - A unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is confident it could deliver P25 billion in promised revenues to its parent firm with the roll-out of fiber optic cables for PLDT Fibr.

Dan Ibarra, head of PLDT’s home marketing, said in a statement that the group’s broadband offerings would help PLDT Home meet its total target revenues of P25 billion this year.

Ibarra said the projected revenues include those from residential landline or voice as well as other value added services.

He pointed out that its broadband service is touted to bring the fastest connections via fiber optic cables directly to the home.

 “This is a clear differentiator for us. We are not just providing the fastest the most dependable broadband connection but we are also enabling customers to enjoy connected entertainment across devices that fit their lifestyle at home,” he said.

PLDT Fibr is targeting the upmarket residential customers of the current broadband subscriber base of the PLDT Group.

PLDT Fibr plans range from P3,500 a month for speeds of up to 8Mbps to P20,000 for speeds of up to 100Mbps.

PLDT vice-president and head of broadband Gary Dujali for his part said PLDT Fibr is currently available in over 70 exclusive villages in Metro Manila, including Forbes Park, Dasmarinas Village, Ayala Alabang, Greenhills, and Valle Verde.

 “In the next couple of months, we will have PLDT Fibr in around 100 villages to include luxury residences in Batangas, Cebu, and Davao,” he said.

PLDT’s Fibr provides subscribers high-speed Internet applications not available previously. With this technology, customers can stream HD content, play lag-free online gaming, and adopt seamless cloud computing.

For the broad market, PLDT is offering the myDSL bundled plans for as low as P990 and as fast as 10mbps. PLDT also recently offered MyBro plans with an initial monthly payment of P499.

The PLDT Group’s combined broadband subscriber base hit the 3.1 million mark as of end-June. SmartBro of Smart Communications Inc. had a wireless broadband subscriber base of over 1.63 million followed by PLDT’s DSL subscribers with 775,000, and Digital Telecommunications of the Philippines (Digitel) with 2.1 million.

The PLDT Group has completed its P67 billion network upgrade and modernization program way ahead of schedule tripling the company’s voice and data capacity.

The upgrade brought the PLDT Group’s total fiber assets to 54,000 kilometers that is more than four times the 12,000 kilometers of fiber network being built by Ayala-controlled Globe Telecom Inc.

 This gives PLDT the most extensive and advanced network in the country with over 48,000 kilometers of fiber assets with an additional 6,000 kilometers of Fiber-to-the-Home further expanding its long-term evolution (LTE) sites.