The PLDT Group said on Monday it bolstered its fixed and mobile networks across the Philippines in 2021, helping “power hybrid workplaces, online learning, and businesses” to navigate through the new normal.
The group said it ended 2021 with a 73-percent increase in its fiber footprint to 743,700 kilometers with 14 million homes passed. The figure is “significantly higher” than the 9 million homes passed the year prior.
Aside from this, the company built 1.7 million ports bringing its ports to 5.77 million to date, claiming to be the “largest number of ports in the Philippines.”
Smart, meanwhile, beefed up its wireless network with new 3G, 4G, and 5G base stations, which total to 75,400 as of end-December.
“Nearly two years into this pandemic, more activities continue to shift online. This requires us to be unrelenting with our network initiatives despite pandemic restrictions and natural disasters, such as the recent Super Typhoon Odette,” Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT Inc and Smart Communications President and CEO said in a statement.
“Our network has, in turn, enabled more Filipinos to access the internet to stay connected to their families, keep their livelihoods and businesses, engage in online learning, and participate in e-commerce.”
In November 2021, PLDT said its home and enterprise verticals will continue to drive the company’s growth, as it expects to ride on the persisting effects of the pandemic as well as the rising demand for solutions from so-called hyperscalers.
Manuel V. Pangilinan, the company’s chairman, said the group expects both business segments to “figure as major revenue growth drivers” for the company in the next three years.
PLDT’s home broadband business was its fastest growing segment for January to September 2021, with total revenues reaching P35.3 billion, a 25-percent increase from the year prior.
The growth is attributable to the steady demand for broadband connectivity in the country, as Filipinos continued to work and study at home.
The enterprise business booked P31.1 billion in revenues, representing a 2-percent increase. The group, however, is banking on the demand from global hyperscalers for data center services.
As such, PLDT is investing P5 billion to develop a data center that will dwarf its 10 existing data centers even when they are combined.
The amount will be spent within the next three years.
PLDT recorded a telco core income of P23.1 billion in January to September, a 10-percent increase from P21 billion the year prior.
