Joel D. Pinaroc
Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has completed a P210-million (US$ 5 million) fiber optic connection project expected to benefit foreign locators at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
In a statement released Wednesday, PLDT said the Subic fiber optic leg is part of the carrier’s plan to expand nationwide its domestic fiber optic network (DFON), spanning 286 kilometers across key cities outside Metro Manila.
PLDT unit Subic Telecommunications Company (SubicTel), will maintain and manage the network, the company said.
According to PLDT, this DFON expansion has also allowed SubicTel to upgrade and enhance its DSL network in the Freeport Zone, thus providing more reliable high-speed broadband services.
SubicTel general manager Henry Abes, in a statement, said "this is a welcome development for the locators in the area especially because of their critical communications needs."
"We committed to complete the project by December. We will now be able to address the needs of existing and potential customers much more quickly," he said.
The first leg of the new fiber optic connection was completed when the operations center of South Korean shipbuilding firm Hanjin, which is investing $ 1.7 billion for its shipyard, was connected from Redondo Peninsula in Subic to SubicTel in the Freeport Zone in late July.
The Hanjin fiber optic link spans about 25 kilometers, passing through Subic town and Olongapo City in Zambales province.
Hanjin is now directly connected to its headquarters in South Korea by way of PLDT’s international link.
PLDT further said the activation of the project is expected to address data connectivity and capacity issues for potential foreign locators.
The carrier claims that the DFON is the country’s most extensive and robust fiber optic network that has been a key enabler of PLDT’s cutting-edge services for retail and corporate customers.
The fiber backhaul connectivity has multi-loops to provide the redundancy in case of fiber breaks. IP Radio facilities for additional redundancy have also been installed.
Earlier this year, SubicTel connected another 45-Mbps bandwidth pipe from PLDT, doubling last year’s bandwidth capacity.
With the installation of the fiber optic network, this will further increase bandwidth capacity to 2.5Gbps to meet increasing demands of customers.
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