With a looming deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Pangilinan-PLDT strengthened its presence in the home broadband market and is continuing to increase network capacity for further planned expansion.
The listed telco said in a statement over the weekend its home broadband service already reached 46 percent of the total cities and municipalities in the country as of the end of third quarter.
By the end of this year, PLDT is looking at bolstering its fiber and copper ports to 4.15 million.
“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,” its president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.
PLDT Chief Revenue Officer and Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio, meanwhile, said the group also started migrating customers from copper cables to fiber.
The number of home broadband subscribers was not disclosed, but PLDT is set to hold a briefing this week to discuss its performance for the past nine months.
Duterte earlier expressed his ire against Globe Telecom and PLDT over connectivity issues, threatening the telco giants of possible shutdown if they fail to improve their service by December of this year.
If the two telcos fail, President Duterte said he “will find a way” to shut them down.
“The next two years will be spent improving the telecommunications of this country without you,” the top government official said during his State of the Nation Address last July.
The duopoly, however, had long explained that the existence of red tape was keeping them from deploying more towers at a faster pace.
Alfredo M. Yao is the chairman of the 12-man board of Macay Holdings Inc. (MHI), according to the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). The regular directors, led by Antonio I. Panajon, who is also MHI president, are Armando M. Yao, Jeffrey S. Yao, Carolyn S. Yao, Mary Grace S. Yao, Roberto A. Atendido, Albert S. Toribio, Gerardo T. Garcia and Rinaldi C. Aves. Jesus G. Gallegos Jr. and Roberto F. Anonas Jr. are independent directors.
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