Seeking to ?future-proof? its telecom infrastructure in the years ahead, dominant carrier PLDT announced on Thursday, July 11, the completion of a P1-billion network expansion program.
Top executives from PLDT, as well as those from equipment suppliers Cisco and Ciena, said in a press briefing at the company?s Makati headquarters that the expansion program is meant to fortify PLDT?s core Internet protocol (IP) backbone, and international and domestic networks.
PLDT president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said the P1-billion budget spent for the upgrading is part of the P29 billion which the company has allocated for network expansion in the last two to three years.
The company did not divulge the breakdown of the P1 billion between Cisco and Ciena. Cisco provided the gears needed for the core IP backbone, while Ciena took care of the international network systems.
“This ensures our core system can support new generation enterprise services that are largely driven by a combination of video, social networking, and advanced collaborative applications,? said Ernesto Alberto, PLDT EVP and head of enterprise, international and carrier business groups.
Through an international intelligent optical mesh network, PLDT is able to offer companies a Managed Ethernet International Private Leased Circuit (ME/IPLC) that enables auto-switching of optic cable transmission in milliseconds in the event of an international cable system breakdown.
?This translates to near-real time restoration of any potential cable system faults for our customers in the Philippines transacting with their counterparts in the United States or Hong Kong due to the self-healing quality of the international network,? said Jovy Hernandez, PLDT FVP and head of PLDT Alpha Enterprise.
Hernandez noted that PLDT?s IP backbone is now designed using the latest intelligent networking technologies to bring redundant and resilient network services.
It is the same platform, he said, that achieved Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE 2.0) global certification from the Metro Ethernet Forum. PLDT, he added, now holds the distinction of being the first and only Telco to be CE 2.0 certified for six services in the entire Asia Pacific region.
Along with the upgrade, PLDT technology group head Roland Pena said they now employ the biggest number of engineers who specialize in the latest network technologies.
?If others want to compete with us, they have to have bigger resources,? Pena said, obviously hurling the challenge to fierce rival Globe Telecom. ?This expansion is also the strengthening of our domestic capability,? he added.
Alberto also pointed out that the network expansion has also enabled PLDT to offer end-to-end solutions up to US soil as he revealed that the company just recently reinforced its US presence.
?We’ve ?overdesigned? this ICT architecture to meet the needs of BPO firms, which is a vital industry of our country,? Alberto said. ?The main beneficiaries of this expansion are the BPO firms who depend on international connectivity.?
