PLDT Inc. and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. expanded their fiber and wireless networks to serving more barangays across the country.
PLDT said Monday it had rolled out its fiber-to-the-home network to 17,000 barangays as of end-September, up 24 percent from end-2021. This represented about 40 percent of the total barangays in the Philippines.
The PLDT Group is also looking to further ramp up its network rollout in Mindanao. PLDT is adding around 6,000 fiber ports particularly in Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Davao City and more Smart wireless sites within the year.
Smart said that in the first nine months, it beefed up its network in Northern Mindanao, rolled out additional sites and base stations in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and additional LTE base stations in the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental and Lanao del Norte.
“Our stepped-up rollout in Mindanao and across the country is aligned with our commitment to deliver leveled-up services to more Filipinos nationwide,” said PLDT Network head Eric Santiago.
Smart said it had deployed 77,200 base stations, including 7,300 5G base stations and close to 40,000 4G/LTE base stations as of end-September. Smart’s network covers 97 percent of the population with 3G, LTE and 5G.
Smart’s mobile network is supported by PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, the most extensive in the country. PLDT had expanded its total fiber footprint to about 1,091,000 kilometers, consisting of over 231,000 kilometers of international fiber and almost 860,000 kilometers of domestic fiber as of end-September.
