By Lorenz S. Marasigan
DOMINANT telecommunications firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has acquired a public telecommunications carrier in Mindanao to capture three quarters of the fixed-line market down south.
PLDT President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno said the acquisition of Metro Kidapawan Telephone Corp. (Metro Phone) was made through wholly owned subsidiary PLDT-Philcom Inc., the biggest local exchange carrier operating in Mindanao.
“With this acquisition, PLDT will be able to better serve a greater number of customers with its expanding multimedia and digital services that are powered by its unparalleled fiber-optic network,” he said.
Metro Phone is currently serving not just subscribers in Kidapawan City but also in three other municipalities in the province of North Cotabato.
“We are within the Soccsksargen region, which is considered a development corridor in Mindanao. And we are pleased to have the opportunity to support the region’s growth and other provinces in southern Mindanao through services that are backed by PLDT’s expansive network,” PLDT-Philcom and Metro Phone President Jesus Tanedo said.
Soccsksargen which is also known as Region 12, stands for the region’s four provinces and one of its cities: South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, and General Santos City.
“With its extensive fiber-optic network, the PLDT Group remains unmatched in delivering high-quality voice, data, multimedia and digital services to its customers. And we are delighted to bring that high-quality service to our Metro Phone customers in Mindanao,” Tanedo said.
PLDT spent over P34.8 billion in capital expenditures in 2014 as it expanded its fiber network to nearly 100,000 kilometers, making it the most extensive, robust and resilient network in the country. Such network is needed for reliable broadband services that can simultaneously deliver voice, video and data offerings at faster speeds and larger capacities through various devices from computers, tablets and cell phones, to television sets.
In anticipation of greater data usage, PLDT is planning to spend another P39 billion in capital expenditures in 2015.