CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. is targeting more customers in provinces as it connects more areas with low fiber penetration, its chief operations officer said.
Converge is “lighting up” customers in Masbate, Mindoro, Panay, and soon in Butuan, Converge Chief Operations Officer Jesus C. Romero told BusinessWorld in a virtual interview on Dec. 3.
“There is still a lot of work to be done, [especially in the] Visayas and Mindanao,” he noted. “Now that we have our own backbone, the backbone that we built ourselves, we are now in a position to fiber up our customers.”
Converge recently completed its P6-billion domestic submarine cable project that connects the Philippines’ major islands from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao to its national fiber backbone.
The company said the 1,800-kilometer subsea cable made its final landing in Coron, Palawan on Oct. 31.
“There is still a whole lot more demand that is unserved,” Mr. Romero said. “So for us, let’s make fiber available because if there is no fiber in the area, there can be no customers.”
Converge will soon launch its services in Palawan, according to Mr. Romero.
Meanwhile, the company has opened 23 business centers across the country as of the end of November.
“In regional areas, many people are still comfortable transacting face-to-face, and that’s why we are still rolling out business centers just so we can accommodate the needs of this particular segment,” Mr. Romero noted.
Converge also aims to increase the value of its offerings in addition to expanding its services across the country.
“As you know, last month, we increased the bandwidth allocation of our subscribers,” Mr. Romero said.
Previously, Converge’s 25 megabits per second (Mbps) was valued at P1,500 and 200Mbps at P3,500; but after reaching one million customers last year, its 25Mbps was upgraded to 35Mbps for free.
The company hit 1.5 million subscribers recently, so it rolled out new plans (FiberX plans) starting with Plan 1,500 for 50 Mbps with an add-on for 10Mbps for P99, Plan 2,500 for 300 Mbps, and Plan 3,500 for 800 Mbps. — Arjay L. Balinbin
