Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Philippine Internet Metrics

Michael Alan Hamlin, managing director of TeamAsia, wrote in a Manila Bulletin article about Philippine Internet metrics. Highlights:
  • The Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia will account for almost 90% of growth in online ad spend in Southeast Asia in the next five years
  • The value of online advertising in the Philippines is expected to reach P1 billion this year
  • 80% of an estimated population of 98 million – equivalent to some 72 million individuals – use mobile phones.
  • The Philippines has the sixth highest number of mobile phone subscribers in Asia Pacific
  • Filipinos send two billion SMS messages a day, more than anywhere else in the world
  • Mobile telephony has clearly been embraced by economically challenged socioeconomic classes as an affordable and reliable way to interact with family and friends.
  • Internet users – estimated at between 24 and 35 million – are disproportionately young, single, and surprisingly, poor.
  • over 70% of Philippine Internet users go online at Internet cafés.
  • 35% of Filipinos living in Cagayan de Oro accessed the Internet in the past month at the time of the survey.

Full story at Philippine Internet by the Numbers

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

PLDT Expands Network, Increases Capacity, Enhances resiliency

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) announced completion of another phase of its Digital Fiber Optic Network (DFON) expansion program. PLDT recently activated an additional 320 Gbps across six network loops nationwide to serve the rising demand for bandwidth as more customers increase their usage of broadband Internet and multi-media services. This increased the operating capacity of PLDT's DFON to more than 1,000 Gbps at a total cost of P600 million.

PLDT has also embarked on a P2.6B DFON network fortification program through establishment of loops within the loops to enhance network resiliency to protect the existing businesses of PLDT and to drive new businesses nationwide.

To date, PLDT already completed the third fiber optic cable leg to Baguio while the 1,220 Km third fiber optic cable leg between Lucena and Cebu traversing through Bicol, Masbate, Panay and Negros islands is expected to be completed middle of this year.

PLDT President and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said:
"We are adding capacity to serve the fast growing needs of our customers for bandwidth. We are improving resiliency to ensure uninterrupted service, and adding density so that the network will be able to serve more communities in its footprint. These projects will spur growth in local economies by making these locations more attractive investment areas, especially for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) locators. Moreover, this will expand broadband coverage so that more Filipinos including those in the rural areas can connect to the world through the Internet."

PLDT Customer Service and Marketing Group Head and SVP Eric Alberto noted that the completion of the latest DFON expansion program will strengthen PLDT's leadership in the increasingly competitive broadband market.

Alberto said:
"Our superior backbone network will enable us to offer our customers the best possible user experience of broadband, particularly in such high-bandwidth services such as video and multimedia."

He added that PLDT's fiber optic transport network is augmented by the nationwide terrestial microwave backbone being operated by SMART.

With a total capacity of more than 120Gbps, SMART's microwave network is utilized to reach remote areas -- such as Tawi-twai in the South to Batanes in the North. On the West sode, it reaches Palawan from Batangas in Luzon and from Panay Island in Visayas. Bohol is also reached through multiple routes of SDH radio going to Cebu.

Aside from serving as an aggregate note to carry traffic to the nearest fiber optic node, microwave radios are also used as alternate routes for the crtical circuits passing through the major fiber-optic networks. Major backbone areas with both high-capacity fiber optics and high capacity microwave network covers Regions 1 and 2, Baguio to Bulacan, Bicol Regions, Panay to Negros to Cebu islands, Zamboanga to Ozamis and Cagayan de Oro to Davao up to Gen. Santos City.

These microware networks complement the higher capacity fiber-optic networks and are vital in delivering reliable SMART services across the country.


Source: PLDT Press Release Feb 25, 2010
 

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