-- PLDT will be first in Philippines with 100-gigabit technology
network
-- Ciena project part of PHP67 billion PLDT network upgrade
-- Technology will put Philippines on par with Japan,
Singapore
(Adds comments from PLDT and Ciena executives from 3rd
paragraph.)
By Cris Larano
MANILA--Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (TEL.PH) on
Tuesday signed a 1.3 billion peso ($30.9 million) deal with Ciena
Corp. (CIEN) to upgrade PLDT's domestic fiber-optic network.
The project will give PLDT the Philippines' first 100-gigabit
network, offering increased bandwidth capacity and much faster
downloads, and comes as the company been investing heavily in
upgrading its network capacity since last year in the hope that
broadband services will help drive revenue growth.
The deal with Ciena, which makes products and services used to
deliver voice, video and data communications, is part of PLDT's
planned PHP67 billion of capital spending on network improvements
in the 2011-2012 period, PLDT President Napoleon Nazareno told a
news briefing, adding the improvements will also help PLDT's mobile
telecommunications units, Smart Communications and Sun
Cellular.
When completed, the fiber-optic network project with Ciena will
allow PLDT to offer next-generation services such as
fiber-to-the-home, which will permit much faster downloads than
conventional telecommunications infrastructure, and internet
television. The upgrade is expected to be completed in
November.
Mr. Nazareno said the project will put its services on par with
those available in Japan and Singapore.
Anthony MacLachlan, Ciena vice president and general manager for
Asia-Pacific, said PLDT's deployment of 100G technology will put
"the Philippines in a leadership position in Asia-Pacific" and
allow PLDT to meet growing demand for high-speed data services from
both fixed and wireless broadband users.
PLDT's revenue from broadband services rose 34% in the first
quarter from a year earlier to PHP5.8 billion. Such services
accounted for 13% of the company's total service revenue during the
period, up from 11% a year earlier.
Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires