PLDT, Smart building fiber optic backbone to Palawan

PLDT and its mobile subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. are jointly building a P1.4-billion fiber optic cable (FOC) transmission backbone to Palawan, scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2013. The new transmission network will have an initial capacity of 400 gigabits per second which, said PLDT network and IP systems head Rolando G. Peña, will “make possible high-speed, large-capacity fixed and mobile internet services like Smart’s [Long Term Evolution] and PLDT’s Fiber to the Home service.” Nearly 300 kilometers of undersea FOC cable will be laid from Iloilo to northern Palawan, and another 364 kilometers of cable will be laid inland to Puerto Princesa City. This system will connect Palawan to PLDT’s nationwide domestic fiber optic transmission network. “Fiber optic networks are absolutely vital if you want to provide reliable advanced communication services,” said Peña, adding that the PLDT Group has the most extensive fiber optic network in the country. PLDT and Smart currently have about 54,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable laid nationwide. — BM, GMA News