PLDT says fibre-optic network to have 1Tbps capacity by end-2008

Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) says the capacity of its domestic fibre-optic network (DFON) is expected to reach one terabit capacity by the end of this year. The company’s vice president for corporate business Nerissa S Ramos told attendees of the eServices 2008 conference that the DFON is configured to provide eight self-healing rings encompassing Davao in Mindanao and Cagayan province in the north. The telco is upgrading its network infrastructure as part of a wider PHP25 billion (USD610 million) CAPEX plan for 2008 that will also see its internet gateway capacity doubled to 50Tbps. To further support the increased demand for broadband services, PLDT is expanding its wireless networks with the deployment of an additional 7,000 GPRS/EDGE-enabled cell sites and 1,000 more which will support 3G/HSPA technology. Meanwhile, the operator’s fixed wireless access network, which is used to provide PLDT’s SmartBro service, will benefit from an upgrade to more than 2,000 sites in more than 500 municipalities, Ramos said.