PLDT to hike capex spending in ’15

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s biggest telecommunications provider, is looking at a bigger capital spending next year as it continued to expand its network capabilities and coverage, a company official said on Friday. AFP FILE PHOTO / Jay DIRECTO

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s biggest telecommunications provider, is looking at a bigger capital spending next year as it continued to expand its network capabilities and coverage, a company official said on Friday.

PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno said that capital spending in 2015 was targeted at P30 billion to P35 billion, which would amount to about 18 to 20 percent of service revenues.

The figure could top capital spending this year, which PLDT estimated at between P31 billion to P32 billion as announced in its latest financial report.

PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said on Friday that fresh investments were necessary as the company aims to expand services, especially in broadband and mobile Internet.

PLDT announced that same day that it was offering a two-month free Internet promo for its 66 million prepaid mobile subscribers, a move the company believed would drive up Internet subscriptions even after the offer lapses. Pangilinan said PLDT’s network was ready to handle the expected surge in usage.

“To put our Internet service in the hands of more Filipinos nationwide, we’ve been making significant investments in network infrastructure for many years,” Pangilinan said.

Specifically, the company has invested P150 billion since 2010, with spending expected “to grow in the coming years as we transition more into the digital space,” Pangilinan said.

“Apart from our investment in our fixed and wireless network, we’ve invested substantial amounts in nationwide digital fiber optic network, international cable linkages and, of course, our fiber to the home,” Pangilinan said.

Nazareno also said that PLDT was keen on offering Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services to the United Kingdom and Italy after sealing a deal in Canada as it targets Filipino populations in those countries.

Under an MVNO, PLDT would provide mobile wireless and data services through commercial accords with licensed mobile network operators in OFW host-countries. The service is already available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, San Diego and Las Vegas.

“In the second half of next year we will be very aggressive in moving toward trying to reach outside the country,” Nazareno said.

He added that PLDT was set to meet its yearend core profit target of P39.5 billion, which is higher by 2 percent from 2013.

The telco earlier announced that core profit in the first half was up 2 percent to P19.8 billion while total service revenues also rose 2 percent to P82.5 billion.

PLDT noted that its wireless business was up 5 percent to P57.9 billion, although it noted an 11-percent decline in text messaging revenues to P2.6 billion. Its total broadband, data and Internet revenues, on the other hand, rose 22 percent to P15.4 billion, accounting for 19 percent of service revenues.