PT&T to invest P7B in network expansion

Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T), among the companies seeking to become a new mobile player under the government’s third telco initiative, is looking to spend around P7 billion to bring its internet backbone nationwide in two years.

This plan, which will also use the spare fiber assets of the state-run National Transmission Corp., will help the company reach its initial goal of doubling its fiber footprint to 20,000 kilometers.

“We are a 100-percent pure fiber broadband company today. Our plan is to grow that,” James Velasquez, president and CEO of PT&T, said in a press briefing after the company’s annual meeting on Thursday.

The company is also preparing for new opportunities, including the government’s initiative to award a coveted set of mobile frequencies to a third telco player.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology expects to name a new major telco player within the fourth quarter of 2018, its acting secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. had said.

The new telco will need to shell out at least P200 billion over a five-year period, the latest draft rules from the government showed.