MANILA – Leading telecoms and digital services provider PLDT has completed its domestic fiber optic network (DFON) expansion project in Mindanao to further improve its Internet services in the region.
The P1-billion fiber infrastructure which runs through the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur is expected to provide additional resiliency for the transmission backbone serving PLDT Home and Enterprise customers in Mindanao.
The fiber optic cables which span over 300 kilometers were installed underground to make them less vulnerable to damage caused by strong winds, falling trees and utility poles.
“Our sustained network investments are part of our commitment to deliver the best quality services, particularly Internet connectivity, all over the country,” PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.
“With the completion of this project, customers using our fixed and mobile phone networks in Mindanao will experience even more superior voice, data and multimedia services,” he added.
The newly installed fiber optic lines will reinforce PLDT’s existing network that spans from Cagayan de Oro to Malaybalay, Davao, Tagum, Bayugan, and Butuan.
This complements the boosted capacity in the DFON facilities in the area which has over 300Gbps (Gigabits per second) already installed in the local loop and is targeted to raise the capacity to 400Gbps by end of the year.
“This fiber redundancy project opens up the region for more investment and development projects that will be enabled by PLDT’s expanded network capacity, and improve the quality of services to industries and consumers located in Mindanao,” PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Eric Alberto said.
PLDT has invested P300 billion or US$6 billion over the last 10 years to roll out the country’s most expansive network infrastructure both for domestic and international.
Last year, it set aside P48 billion for capital expenditures allocating a significant portion in further expanding and fortifying its domestic fiber infrastructure.
PLDT recently announced the expansion of its fiber-powered fixed line network by about 80 percent to reach around 4 million homes passed by the end of the year enabling faster Internet connection through making its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services available to more subscribers.
