Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) announced Tuesday that it will launch later this year what it claims to be the most advanced broadband delivery platform.
Called Fiber to the Home (FTTH), PLDT said the new service will be able to deliver voice, video, and data services simultaneously at much higher speeds and larger capacities than digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable technologies.
Instead of copper, PLDT said FTTH uses fiber optic technology to transmit data via light signals through hair-thin strands of pure glass.
Initial tests done by PLDT showed that a FTTH-enabled computer posted download speeds of up to 94.86 megabits per second (mbps) and upload rates of 69.39 mbps.
"At those speeds, it would take only one second to download a 5-mb mp3 file, 3 seconds for a 35-mb video clip and only one minute to download an 800-mb movie," PLDT network head Rolando Peña said in a statement.
"Depending on how we'll design the product, we can provide gigabit speeds to homes, not just megabit speeds," PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno added.
PLDT said FTTH will be initially marketed to high-bandwidth residential customers such as households in high-income subdivisions and condominiums.
Pilot areas for PLDT's new service will include Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Forbes Park, Urdaneta Village, and Dasmarinas Village in Makati City, Ayala Heights in Quezon City, Wack Wack in San Juan, Valle Verde in Mandaluyong, and certain areas covered by PLDT in Subic and Clark free ports.
“We’re targeting 1,000 customers this year and expand to 10,000 later on,” PLDT senior manager Virgilio Ofina said.