PLDT deploys first commercial SRv6 in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. is enhancing its network’s efficiency to deliver 5G, home broadband, and enterprise services with the successful deployment of Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) on its commercial network.

PLDT said it has piloted SRv6 to serve customers in selected portions of Metro Manila, becoming the first Philippine telco to achieve this milestone.

Deployed by a number of major global operators with large-scale commercial networks across the world, SRv6 is an upgrade to and a key part of the company’s massive transport network transformation project which began in 2017, according to PLDT.

“The rollout of SRv6 is part of PLDT’s transformation journey to make our network future-ready,” PLDT and Smart Communications head of technology Mario Tamayo said.

“This initiative is crucial as we support the country’s digital pivot in the new normal and elevate the internet experience of our fixed, wireless and enterprise customers nationwide,” he said.

SRv6 enables advanced features like network slicing, and makes the network more scalable, agile and reliable.

With these improvements in place, mthe company’s network is better-positioned to enable future network capabilities, as well as the delivery of best-in-class 5G and fiber-to-the-home services to individuals, families, communities, and businesses across the country.

“Aside from delivering high-bandwidth and low latency services, these enhancements will further strengthen the automated operation of the existing SDN or Software Defined Network, and allow the network to support the efficiency and scalability needed by 5G, home broadband, cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) for individual, home, and enterprise customers,” said Meinardo Opiana, head of transport network planning and engineering at PLDT and Smart.

PLDT’s transport network transformation initiative forms a large part of the group’s sustained investments in its network.

The telco’s total capex over the last 10 years had reached P518.5 billion.

Network-related initiatives made up the bulk of the telco’s P89 billion spending in 2021.

For this year, PLDT is expected to invest between P76 billion and P80 billion for capex.