Philippines national carrier PLDT has announced plans to expand its fiber to the home (FTTH) coverage by approximately 80%. The carrier expects to pass 4.4 million homes by the end of this year.
PLDT's FTTH infrastructure passed 2.5 million homes last year, and expects to add 1.9 million to that total in 2017.
"We are stepping up our efforts to deliver unrivalled internet services to more homes in various parts of the country, from the Ilocos provinces in the North to Zamboanga in the South," said PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
PLDT offers its HOME Fibr service via the FTTH network, with speed tiers as high as 1 Gbps.
"PLDT Home Fibr also provides a more robust platform for a growing range of Smart Home services," added PLDT FVP and Home Operations Head Oscar Enrico Reyes. "For example, home security services such as FamCam, the monitoring device that makes it possible for parents to watch over their family wherever they are, as well as FamZone which allows them to keep their children safe online."
The operator also has begun to use what it calls "hybrid fiber technologies" to deliver services within multi-tenant buildings via copper connections. PLDT chooses from a pair of technologies in such applications. The options include GigaWire technology from KT Corp. (formerly Korea Telecom) and G.fast from Huawei. PLDT says it can deliver downstream speeds of 600 to 700 Mbps with these approaches.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher
Stephen Hardy has covered fiber optics for more than 15 years, and communications and technology for more than 30 years. He is responsible for establishing and executing Lightwave's editorial strategy across its digital magazine, website, newsletters, research and other information products. He has won multiple awards for his writing.
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