Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said it invested P6 billion to migrate its legacy network into a purely Internet Protocol-based next generation network that will enhance the delivery of various services to customers.
The network transformation program, covering the PLDT Group’s 271 offices in 48 provinces nationwide, involved the migration of 782 switches and nearly 1.3 million lines.
“This is an achievement for PLDT because it is one of the very few carriers in the world that has completely transformed its legacy network,” PLDT president and chief executive Napoleon Nazareno said.
The legacy network is a public switched telephone network composed of electronic switches that have now been decommissioned to give way to the digitally enabled NGN.
“With an IP-based system, we can improve customer experience in terms of better service quality and reliability. It also enhances our capacity to offer more relevant and customized services to our subscribers,” Nazareno said.
“With the ceremonial shutdown of our legacy landline network, we are now going full throttle in making our various networks fully digital. We are rolling out our fiber network and strengthening our mobile network. We are building the digital infrastructure that will power the future growth of our companies and our country,” he said.
PLDT has the most expansive and resilient fiber transmission and distribution network, spanning over 100,000 kilometers, that serves both fixed and cellular networks.
PLDT fixed network migration head Angelito Lorena Jr. said the NGN system would significantly improve customer experience as it ensures a more reliable and robust service.
“It is an all IP-based network and is therefore capable of delivering new digital services, such as high-quality voice, data and multimedia services to customers,” Lorena said.
“We have always considered our customers during the migration process, constantly communicating with them and making sure that PLDT’s services are not disrupted during the cut-over from the electronic legacy switch to NGN,” he said.
Lorena said because of the network migration, PLDT reduced trouble indices from around 10 percent to as low as 0.49 percent.