The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that local broadband services provider Converge ICT Solutions has secured a PHP12.8 billion (USD250 million) cash injection from US-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus to bolster its network rollout plans. Although details of the deal are limited it is understood that Warburg Pincus, which has been increasing its exposure in the region, will support Converge ICT’s ongoing plans to roll out fixed broadband high speed internet across the Philippines – a USD1.8 billion initiative that was launched in August 2018.
Converge ICT hopes to become a major player in the Philippines’ burgeoning fibre broadband sector and last year announced its intentions to raise funds from a number of sources – including the sale of equity and debt – to fund the drive. Employing a technique called microtrenching, which it says is less disruptive than traditional open trench deployments, Converge ICT has been working with partners KT Corp (South Korea) and Filipino-Korean joint venture LSI-Fibernet Konstruk to roll out its fibre infrastructure. By the end of its five-year plan, it hopes to capture a market share of 40% of the roughly 22 million households across the country.