PLDT First Vice President and HOME Business Head Oscar Enrico Reyes, Jr. speaks during PLDT's press briefing for its 2017 first half results.

In its first half 2017 disclosure last week, PLDT said revenues of its Home business unit grew 12% year-on-year to P15.8 billion and its subscriber base increased 10% to 3.88 million versus the same period last year.

In the Home industry, PLDT accounted for around 66% of new residences connected with high speed internet, a clear indicator that it is fortifying its leadership in this market.

Data continues to power PLDT Home’s revenue growth, climbing 15% to Php9.7 billion in the first half of this year. Voice revenues also contributed, increasing 6% to Php6.1 billion.

“Along with our Enterprise business unit, PLDT HOME has continued to set the pace for service revenues, growing for at least six consecutive quarters already,” said PLDT President, Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan. “This springs from their success in executing their digital shift much earlier.”

PLDT Home began its shift to data and digital service in the early 2000s when it introduced its DSL home broadband service. In 2013, the company further boosted its data service business by launching its FTTH service. Data and broadband revenues now comprise 62% of the revenues of PLDT Home.

In its disclosure, PLDT reported that it is stepping up FTTH deployment via its PLDT Smart Fibr Cities program.

Working with local governments of these areas, PLDT set up in the first half of 2017 PLDT Fibr SmartCities in Makati, Pasay, Paranaque, Muntinlupa and Las Pinas in south Metro Manila, and, in Antipolo, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Caloocan in the eastern areas of Metro Manila.

Earlier, PLDT’s fiber expansion program started in Toledo City, Cebu; and then moved on to General Santos City, South Cotobato; Isulan, Sultan Kudarat; Naga City, Camarines Sur, and Legazpi City, Albay.

As a result, the footprint of PLDT’s fiber network covered 3.1 million homes passed as of end-June 2017, up from 2.8 million as of end-2016.

“The FTTH roll-out is being complemented by the deployment of hybrid fiber technologies like G.fast, used extensively in Germany and South Korea, to deliver fiber-like data speeds via copper lines in residences and offices,” said PLDT Chief Technology and Integration Advisor Joachim Horn.

“The initial target areas for G.fast are existing high-rise buildings that are wired up with copper and would be difficult to re-fit with internal fiber cabling,” he added.

According to PLDT First Vice President and HOME Business Head Oscar Enrico Reyes, Jr., PLDT Fibr enables subscribers to experience equal upload and download speeds of up to 1 Gbps, and gain access to compelling entertainment and gaming content from leading providers like CignalTV, iflix, Netflix, Fox+, and iWant TV, among others.

In June, PLDT launched its Roku-Powered TVolution box, an all-in-one, plug-and-play entertainment solution that delivers popular films from iflix and Netflix, as well as content from Cignal TV, YouTube, and over 100 other video streaming channels.

“This breakthrough service gives PLDT Home Fibr customers easy access to a wide range of hit movie, TV, and video streaming content via their web-linked TVs, with an easy-to-use remote control,” Reyes pointed out.

To amplify the WiFi signal of its Fibr service, PLDT also launched the Whole Home WiFi plan Router which extends wireless data coverage within residences.

For the second half of 2017, PLDT’s network initiatives include further widening the reach of its FTTH service to reach the target of 4 million homes passed by the end of 2017.