Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp (PT&T) is the latest telco to jump on the 5G bus, announcing plans to undergo Proof of Concept (PoC) trials on Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services using the next generation technology. In its annual stockholders meeting held (virtually) on 25 September 2020, PT&T confirmed it holds a 200MHz block of ‘High Band Spectrum’ from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and will look to deploy FWA having witnessed a 22% rise in broadband connections – helping drive a 23% year-on-year increase in revenue in 6M20 to PHP207 million (USD4.3 million), as EBITDA increased 209% and net losses shrank from PHP88 million to PHP49.5 million.
‘We are now benefiting from having spent the past two years transforming both PT&T’s operations and product offerings to be relevant in the digital age,’ said President and CEO James Velasquez.
Publicly listed PT&T holds a 25-year franchise which allows it to establish, maintain and operate both wired and wireless telecoms systems for domestic and international communications. Currently, its fibre network spans 13,500km, primarily in high-growth areas and covering almost 40% of the Philippine population.