PLDT to spend P825.6M to rollout telephone service in Bicol region

MANILA, July 27 (PNA) -- The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. will spend nearly a billion pesos for a five-year period to roll out landline telephones and Internet services in Bicol region.

PLDT’s project to install and operate a local telephone service that integrates information communications technology in Legaspi City, Tabaco City, Municipalities of Polangui, Bacacay, Oas, Guinobantan and Daraga, all in the province of Albay, was approved by the National Telecommunications Commission on July 17.

PLDT’s CPCN is valid 18 months from date of the order.

PLDT will use the Next Generation Network (NGN) solutions to serve the areas covered in the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application.

The NGN is the latest technology for voice and multi-media communications based on open architecture design made possible through Internet protocol (IP) technology.

The technology will support both existing telephone devices such as analog telephone sets, fax machines, digital service line, data services, among others.

For its first year rollout, PLDT will spend P796,772,505 and would increase to P825,606,318 in year five.

PLDT said the sources of funds would come from internally-generated funds and income from the company.

The company projected about 22,273 subscribers in its five year of operation with estimated revenue of P45.59 million.

The company plans to impose a rate of P1,037,78 for business subscribers and P598.80 for residential users. For trunkline subscribers, PLDT will charge between P1,787.33 and P1,841.75.

The NTC added that PLDT’s local-exchange carrier (LEC) service in the approved areas should commence within 12 months from the date of order.

Partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, PLDT said net income at end-March dropped eight percent to P9.6 billion from the P10.4 billion in the same three-month period last year.

Excluding foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income, its core profit, however, rose to P10.2 billion from P9.3 billion last year.