PLDT Inc. said Thursday it expects broadband installations to reach at least 100,000 a month as more people are working and studying from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLDT said broadband installations grew to around 72,000 new connects per month in the third quarter from an average of 40,000 each month in 2019.
“As demand continues to outpace capacity, with service applications having doubled, we are meeting this surge in demand by ramping up installation capability,” said PLDT senior vice president and head of Home business Menardo Jimenez.
“Installations are expected to spike to at least 100,000 homes per month, moving forward,” he said.
PLDT said that in areas where its fiber service was not yet available, it continued to deploy wireless Home WiFi service powered by mobile subsidiary Smart’s 4G/LTE network.
“With this broadband network, PLDT is ramping up its capabilities to be able to serve more Filipinos nationwide by rolling out more fiber and more ports in different parts of the Philippines than it has ever done before because we want to connect as many Filipino families as we possibly can to our fiber network which is, by far, the most extensive and advanced digital transport network in the country,” PLDT chief revenue officer Al Panlilio said.