Singapore-based HyalRoute Group through subsidiary Philippines Fiber Optic Cable Network (PFOCN) has so far invested $500 million of its $3-billion investments for a 60,000-kilometer fiber cable network project in the Philippines described by as the single most extensive cable network project in the country to date,
Hendrick Huang, executive deputy managing director of PFCON, said cheaper rates and better access to the internet will be felt by yearend with the rollout of additional open access fiber optic cables in the country.
The company has completed over 9,000 kilometers of backbone fiber network nationwide with 5,000 kilometers ongoing plus the accelerated rollout of an additional 2,000 kilometers.
Huang said PFCONN’s total fiber network would reach around 16,000 kilometers by the end of 2021.
Under a memorandum of agreement inked between PFOCN and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Singapore-based company is allowed to engage in the installation and maintenance of optical fiber network as well as other activities that will help spur the government’s National Broadband Program and free public WiFi project to reach unserved and underserved areas.
Aside from providing a backbone to the government’s digitalization program, PFOCN will also help pave the way for operators to launch 5G network, cloud service, Internet of Things (IoT), AI services and other innovative technologies at prices that will be more affordable to Filipino consumers and Philippine companies.
“The first phase would be 20,000 kilometers, and I’m very confident that by the first half of next year, we would have finished the construction. That’s only three years, and it’s actually faster than we have planned,” Huang said.
The rollout plan of PFOCN is to finish 30,000 kilometers between 2019 to 2024.
