PLDT, its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom have vowed to establish more cell sites and expand their fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure in Bohol to improve connectivity in the island province.
PLDT-Smart and Globe plan to erect a total of 54 cellular sites across various localities in the province in 2021, executives from both telecom giants reported during the Bohol Interconnectivity Online Forum held last Monday and was attended by industry stakeholders, mayors, and provincial government officials led by Governor Art Yap.
According to PLDT Enterprise business head Kent De la Calzada, they intend to build 31 cell sites in Bohol this year with one already completed last Friday in Guindulman.
The new sites will be established in Tagbilaran, Dauis, Panglao, Talibon and 17 other municipalities.
“This will definitely improve coverage capacity and better consumer experience. Smart also has an ongoing upgrade of all existing cell sites to accommodate more users, further improve internet speed and enhance user experience,” said De la Calzada.
Smart is already present in all 47 municipalities of Bohol with its existing sites having 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE technologies.
De la Calzada added that 12 municipalities already have the 5G technology.
According to Globe senior vice president for program delivery Joel Agustin, Globe will be completing the construction of 23 cellular sites across the province in 2021.
This figure is double the number of new sites erected by the telco in 2020.
“We have increased our efforts to acquire sites needed to address the requirements for Bohol. We know where to go, we know what areas where we need to build the sites based on the inputs that we’ve gathered from the constituents of Bohol,” said Agustin.
Globe last year built 10 new cellular sites in Bohol raising their total number of sites to 121 as of 2020.
Globe is also focusing on improving its FTTH services amid the pandemic which has required more people to go online from their homes.
Agustin said Globe is building 20,000 fiber lines in 2021 which is “200 percent” more than the lines set up in 2020.
Meanwhile, PLDT already has “fiber footprint” in 38 municipalities with 10,000 new fiber ports.
According to De la Calzada, PLDT plans to continue its FTTH rollout through the establishment of 6,000 new fiber lines in 2021.
“We intend to lay out fiber in all of Bohol by 2022,” he said.
For its part, third telco Dito Telecommunity which also joined the forum noted that it continues to secure permits for the establishment of its infrastructures in the province. (with AD)