28 Sep PT&T eyes foray into 5G broadband

Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) will soon test 5G fixed wireless broadband “on a proof of concept basis,” making use of the 200 megahertz (MHz) of high band spectrum that was allocated to it by the government, its president said.

James Velasquez, the company’s president, said “this is in line with the company’s initiative to get into 5G broadband services in the near future.”

He did not elaborate.

Velasquez noted that his group is now in a better financial position, after it booked a 22-percent growth in broadband connections, which boosted revenues by 23 percent in the first half.

“We are now benefiting from having spent the past two years transforming both PT&T’s operations and product offerings to be relevant in the digital age. This makes us even more resilient during these times as the requirement for high speed internet and digital services becomes a priority,” he said.

Velasquez added that his group has partnered with Go Philippines, a community-driven social enterprise, to help in the distance learning initiatives in the country. Through the tie-up, the partners will offer broadband internet solutions for the academe.

Currently, PT&T has a network reach of 13,500 fiber kilometers in high-growth areas and covering almost 40 percent of the total Philippine population.

The company reported in August that its revenues in the first half rose by nearly 23 percent to P207.67 million, from P169.29 million during the same period last year.

This has allowed the company to narrow its net losses to P19.5 million during the period, from last year’s P35.7 million, which it said was mainly due to the depreciation of fiber network-based investments PT&T made in recent years.

The company noted that demand for wireless connectivity surged during the lockdown period as Filipinos stayed home and engaged in online activities like telecommuting, e-commerce, digital play, online learning, and online banking.

News source: Business Mirror