PLDT Launches Submarine Fiber Deployment Project To Upgrade Connectivity In Luzon, Visayas Areas

Philippines operator PLDT has launched a project to deploy additional submarine fiber links to upgrade connectivity in Luzon, particularly in the southern Luzon provinces of Sorsogon, Quezon, Albay and Occidental Mindoro, and some parts of Visayas, such as Samar and Aklan. The project, which involves laying over 600 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cable, is designed to replace old domestic fiber optic network (DFON) links and enhance the resiliency of PLDT’s network, as it provides additional new fiber routes.

Representatives from PLDT and NTT World Engineering Marine (NTT We Marine) recently inspected the loading of the submarine cables onto the sea vessel ‘Subaru’, which was docked in Bauan, Batangas. This took PLDT a step closer to deploying this fiber to the seabed as additional submarine fiber links to improve connectivity in Luzon and some parts of the Visayas.

Once completed, the project will fiber up for the first time Lubang island in Mindoro, Semirara island in Antique and Burias in Masbate, and is expected to eventually enable PLDT to offer fiber-to-the-home services to customers there, as well as enhance PLDT’s mobile arm Smart Communications’s mobile network services in the islands, particularly for LTE and 5G.

The project will also fortify existing aerial cables with underground inland cables, which is essential in ensuring network resiliency, particularly in typhoon-prone provinces.