Converge more than doubles fiber network in 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Listed broadband service provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc.'s its fiber footprint in its Luzon base more than doubled last year despite the pandemic disrupting construction work and normal course of business.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, Converge said the network added more than 28,300 kilometers of fiber optic cables last year, expanding existing fiber reach by 107% year-on-year to over 55,000 kilometers.

Despite the feat, investors dumped Converge shares on Wednesday, shedding 4.91% to close at P17.80 each.

“We have been accelerating the expansion of our fiber optic network because we wanted to reach the underserved and unserved areas in the country which are longing for fiber-fast internet service,” Dennis Anthony Uy, company chief executive, said.

“The community quarantine regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic that made people to rely more on their internet service for work and study at home have only made our mission to deliver fiber-fast broadband to a greater number of Filipinos more urgent,” Uy added.

Converge was among few businesses that got a boost last year when lockdowns triggered a massive shift to work-from-home arrangements that, in turn, pushed up demand for broadband services. As of end-December 2020, Converge residential subscribers reached over one million, nearly double from around 529,000 the previous year.

The company's services is currently limited in Luzon where it had periodically been at the receiving end of complaints from dismayed netizens over fluctuating broadband connection. Converge, in listing to the stock market last year, said the company plans to tap into the Visayas and Mindanao markets soon.

Converge is yet to release full-year financial results for 2020 but in the first 9 months of last year, the firm reported profits of P2.2 billion, up 64% year-on-year. 

“We are well on track to meeting our goal of reaching over 15 million or 55% of Philippine households by 2025 and ready to serve the high-speed broadband requirements of the majority of our people,” Uy said.