PLDT Inc. is bolstering its domestic fiber optic network (DFON) across the country by adding more than 500 kilometers of submarine fiber cable links in Palawan, the telco announced Wednesday, October 26.
The additional submarine cables fortify PLDT's existing fiber backbone and enhance the network's resiliency by providing alternate routes for data traffic.
Furthermore, they hasten PLDT's delivery of fiber-powered services to individual customers, families, and businesses in El Nido and the rest of Palawan.
The cables also allow Smart Communications, Inc. to level up its mobile services, particularly for Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G, in the area.
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The latest cable landed at Barangay Sibaltan, connecting El Nido to Salvacion in Roxas, Palawan.
The other segments connect Brgy New Agutaya in San Vicente to Brgy Napsan in Puerto Princesa, and to Brgy Teneguiban in El Nido.
"With improved internet in our barangay, we will be able to do live selling and promote our handicrafts to a larger market outside our tribes," says indigenous people leader Apo Remedios Cabral.
This continuous expansion of PLDT's nationwide fiber infrastructure also includes recent submarine cable landings in Bantayan and Camotes Islands in the Visayas and in Siargao, Socorro, Dinagat, and Dipolog in Mindanao earlier this year.
"This milestone demonstrates our commitment to connect more Filipinos with the continued expansion of our fiber infrastructure nationwide despite the inherent challenges of rolling out our network across an archipelago," stated PLDT Network Head Eric Santiago.
"With reinforced fiber links in El Nido and the rest of Palawan, we are able to boost the province's tourism programs as travel returns and the economy reopens in the post-pandemic next normal," he added.
PLDT operates the country's most extensive fiber infrastructure, which was at 837,900 kilometers as of end-June 2022.
This fiber infrastructure also supports Smart's mobile network, which provides 3G, 4G/LTE and 5G to customers from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.