Converge ICT Solutions Inc. said Wednesday it signed strategic partnerships with foreign and local telecommunications companies to roll out high-speed broadband network nationwide over five years for $2 billion.
Under the partnership, Korea Telecoms, LSI-Fibernet Konstruk Corp., and TE Connectivity Subcom will help Converge ICT build and deploy the infrastructure necessary to provide pure end-to-end fiber internet connectivity at a nationwide scale.
“We have set our sights to bring the best internet connectivity by starting in Metro Manila and some key provinces in Luzon. By going nationwide, we can do more rollouts and more installations in other islands in the Philippines, helping more people connect with one another through our infrastructure” Converge ICT president and chief executive Dennis Anthony Uy said.
Miles Tonn Chua, chief operating officer of MetroWorks ICT Construction Inc. (a subsidiary of Converge ICT), said investments were estimated to reach $2 billion over the next five years.
Converge ICT will fund the project through borrowings and equity.
The rollout has the potential to reach more than 13 million of the 22 million households nationwide, particularly the major islands in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Chua said under the five-year plan, the network backbones were expected to be completed by 2021 and would be operational in different phases to enable the project to be completed before 2021.
The partnerships are slated to implement both full turnkey and semi-turn key approaches, according to Chua.
“With more projects to be completed, it will certainly contribute to the growth of Converge ICT, which is expected to be exponential,” Chua said.
Chua said Converge ICT was expected to sign more partnerships to further improve its service offerings.
“What the public is experiencing now as the best internet service, they can also expect that same kind in the next year or two,” he said.