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PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and
Bayan Telecommunications Inc. separately received regulatory
approvals for their respective expansion plans in Visayas and
Mindanao.
The National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) approved the expansion plans in a bid to support
the government objective of providing greater access to cheaper
Internet and communication services.
With the approval, PLDT may
install its next generation network (NGN) infrastructure in the
biggest cities of Misamis Oriental province. NGN is the latest
technology for voice and multimedia communications based on open
architecture design made possible through Internet protocol (IP)
technology.
PLDT will provide telephone and
Internet service in the main business areas of Cagayan de Oro and
Gingoog cities.
PLDT said the two cities account
for 59 percent of the estimated telephone market and 70 percent of
the estimated digital subscriber line market in the area. It also
said that 80 percent of business establishments in Misamis Oriental
are located in these cities.
PLDT has allocated P25.4 billion
in capital expenditure this year, of which P15.2 billion will be
used for its wireless business, P8.8 billion for its fixed line
service, and P1.4 billion for information and communications
technology.
Last year, the telecom company
was supposed to install 600,000 to 700,000 NGN lines nationwide from
an initial rollout of 150,000 in 2005.
The company expects NGN to
contribute more to revenue by 2009.
For its part, Bayan secured a
certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to construct,
install, operate and maintain a local exchange carrier (LEC) service
in the province of Leyte.
Bayan plans to offer LEC in
Borogan City and Guiuan in Eastern Samar; Abuyog, Baybay City,
Carigara, Hilongos, Isabel, Dulag, Polompon in Leyte; Maasim City,
Southern Leyte; and Catbalogan City and Basey in Western Samar.
The Lopez-led telco had said last
year’s net income shot up 319 percent to P2.2 billion from P526
million in 2006.
Revenues rose 15 percent to P5.5
billion from P4.8 billion the previous year.
Bayan said the revenue growth was
driven by a 10-percent gain in voice services to P3.37 billion, with
its wireless landline business contributing more than 20 percent.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
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