PLDT broadband installation seen to rise to 100K monthly

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. expects new broadband installations to grow to at least 100,000 per month as demand for its services continued to increase amid the pandemic.

PLDT senior vice president and head of Home business Menardo Jimenez said “installations are expected to spike to at least 100,000 homes per month, moving forward.”

In the third quarter, PLDT’s broadband installations saw a significant spike to approximately 72,000 per month from an average of 40,000 monthly in 2019.

“As demand continues to outpace capacity, with service applications having doubled, we are meeting this surge in demand by ramping up installation capability,” Jimenez said.

Demand for faster and reliable internet connection has been on the rise as more companies pivot toward work from home arrangements and educational institutions are shifting to online classes as a result of COVID-19.

As of end-September, PLDT’s rollout of its Home broadband services reached 46 percent of the total cities and municipalities nationwide, serving the data connectivity needs of more people working and studying from home.

PLDT said its expansion efforts and investments helped the group cope with the sustained growth in data traffic when COVID-19 lockdown began in March.

PLDT Home had initiated a program during the stricter community quarantine period until June to provide stronger connections at home and ensure continued services for its customers.

The program included giving Home Fibr customers a free speed boost to at least 25 Mbps and double-the-data packages for fixed wireless subscribers.

“We believe that in about a year or two, the ability of delivering fixed wireless services to the homes will increase significantly. PLDT is focusing on fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) which is considered future proof. We think FTTH will still remain the best platform to deliver services like entertainment, video, sports, and the like,” PLDT chairman, president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier said.

In areas where its fiber service is not yet available, PLDT said it continues to deploy its wireless home WiFi service powered by its mobile subsidiary Smart’s 4G/LTE network.