The Power of Fiber for Bohol
Napoleon L. Nazareno
President and CEO, PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc.
Launch of the PLDT Domestic Fiber Optic Network in Bohol
Tagbilaran City
July 22, 2014
 His Excellence Ambassador ZHAO JIAN HUA (of the People’s
Republic of China)
 Governor EDGAR CHATTO
 Vice Governor CONCEPCION LIM
 Representative RENE L. RELAMPAGOS
 Mayor JOHN GEESNELL YAP II (of Tagbilaran)
 Vice Mayor TOTO VELOSO
 Ms. DAHLIA TIROL-MAGNO (of the Bohol ICT Council)
 Atty. EMMANUEL TUMANDA (of the Bohol Chamber of
Commerce and Industry)
 Mr. ERIC ALBERTO (head of PLDT’s Enterprise and
International Carrier Group) and other colleagues at PLDT and
Smart
 Ladies and Gentlemen
Maayong buntag sa inyong tanan! A very pleasant morning to
everyone!
On behalf of our Chairman, Mr. Manny Pangilinan, allow me to
express our profound thanks and appreciation to Gov. Chatto, the
local governments and the people of Bohol for your kind invitation
to participate in the celebration of Bohol Day.
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We are even happier that this occasion gives us an opportunity to
formally launch in your presence the P700-million fiber optic
network project of PLDT in the province of Bohol. This is a game
changer for the people of Bohol. With the completion of the PLDT
fiber project, you can really say: “Bohol has it all!”
Our fiber project consists of 328 kilometers of submarine and
inland fiber optic cables that run from Cebu through Bohol all the
way to Misamis Oriental. With this, Bohol now has more reliable
and resilient high-speed Internet connectivity. What is it about
fiber optics that makes such a big difference?
Fiber is the backbone of high-speed Internet. Instead of copper
wires, you have long, long strands of glass inside the cables. Digital
information is transmitted through pulses of light running through
the fiber cable. So, the information you send literally travels at the
speed of light.
That is why fiber is so much more powerful than copper. Roughly
speaking, a single fiber optic cable is equivalent to a truckload of
copper wires. In terms of capacity, fiber is 10,000 times bigger than
copper. In terms of data speed, the maximum you can get from a
single pair of copper wires is 2 Mbps. A single fiber cable can give
you up to 1 terrabits per second.
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That is why PLDT is investing so much in building the most extensive
fiber optic network in the country. We now have nearly 90,000
kilometers of fiber cables throughout the country. And we are
building more. This is the infrastructure that the country needs in
the digital age.
With our fiber in place in Bohol, PLDT and Smart will offer more
extensive high-speed internet services here. We will offer fiber to
the home for households and fiber to the office for businesses. We
will expand our fourth-generation LTE networks for mobile and
fixed wireless Internet services. We will also bring mobile
broadband on 3G/HSPA to all the municipalities of the province.
For Bohol, fiber will help bring you more business and better jobs.
With PLDT’s fiber network, Gov. Chatto will be able to attract more
call center and outsourcing companies that can hire many more of
the graduates being produced by the universities and colleges of
Bohol. Tagbilaran can really become another ICT center of the
country.
With fiber, tourism establishments can run their operations more
efficiently using various cloud services offered by PLDT through high
speed Internet. They can also improve the experience of their
guests who can have come to expect that easy Internet access must
be part of their vacation experience.
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With fiber, Bohol can further improve its educational system
because schools and students can access rich learning material
available on the worldwide web. Government can further improve
its performance by providing citizens access to online government
services
Technology is important, but people are decisive. That is the
reason we are so happy to bring our fiber optic network to Bohol. I
say that because we are confident that the people of Bohol know
very well what to do with and how to maximize the value of the
Internet technologies that fiber now places in your hands. Certainly
your leaders are keen to take advantage of fiber to make Bohol a
thriving center for ICT businesses and this way bring more
development and prosperity to the people of this province. I can
assure you that PLDT is and shall remain your strong partner in this
great venture. On a more personal note, I am happy because Bohol
is the birth province of my late father. I am therefore myself a
Boholano by blood and by spirit. And, I am very happy that I have
this opportunity to be of service to our province.
Again, allow me to express our sincere thanks to the people of
Bohol! Maayong buntag ug Happy Bohol Day ! END