The founding of a telecommunications empire

For nearly a hundred years, PLDT has established itself as the leading telecommunications service provider in the Philippines, proving itself a venerable national institution that has stood the test of time since its creation in 1928.

Starting out as a means by the government to merge four different telephone companies under the operation of the American telephone company GTE, the formerly-known Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company was brought to life by Act No. 3436. The legislation granted PLDT a 50-year charter and the right to establish a Philippine telephone network linking major points nationwide, which provided the groundwork for its eventual growth into what it is known today.

At the time, a typhoon had just ravaged Eastern Visayas, Bicol Peninsula, and Samar. The national crises necessitated the ability to communicate amongst loved ones and across the country that were not available through the disconnected systems of the time. When the new law enacting the creation of PLDT passed, the hope was to interconnect the present “intercom” systems and transform them into a seamless nationwide network that would facilitate communication and delivery of services to the people, as well as spur economic development in the countryside.

The company acquired small rural phone companies to facilitate the establishment of this network and speed up the rollout and connection of the different phone systems all over the country. Through the challenging task, the management of PLDT soon accomplished laying the groundwork for what was going to link Filipinos to each other and to the world

On Nov. 24,1998, near PLDT’s 70th anniversary, First Pacific Co. Ltd., led by Manny V. Pangilinan, acquired a stake in the company and brought in a new culture and enterprise. The following year, PLDT forged a strategic partnership with NTT Communications Corp. (NTTCom), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. of Japan, the world’s leading telecommunications company in terms of revenues. What swiftly followed was the acquisition of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), at the time the country’s largest mobile phone operator.

Coming into the new millennium and under new management, PLDT undertook a number of investments in information and communication technology (ICT), one of which was the formation of ePLDT, the PLDT Group’s principal vehicle for investments in ICT.

Innovation kept the company in top form, with investments in both established and revolutionary systems becoming PLDT’s bread and butter. Brains — an acronym for Broad and Robust ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) and Internet Networking Solutions — was launched in 2000 and made PLDT the only telecommunications company with the fastest, most reliable and cost-efficient voice, data and video transmission services running through a single multi-service network.

DSL, or digital subscriber line, was also introduced in the same year. It is a broadband access technology that allows for high-speed access to the Internet via copper wire lines.

The Next Generation Network was introduced in 2005, which refers to emerging computer network architectures and technologies that can encompass voice, data and video where all information is efficiently transmitted via digital packets of data just like over the Internet, providing greater efficiency, cost savings and more innovative services for subscribers.

In 2006, PLDT saw the rapid growth of its broadband business on the back of its wired and wireless infrastructures. PLDT MyDSL and SmartBro broadband subscribers more than doubled to 265,000 by yearend.

Another notch on the list of PLDT’s many innovative ventures is MediaQuest Holdings — a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. Alongside Smart, the companies conducted test broadcasts of a mobile TV service using the Digital Video Broadcast-Hand held (DVB-H) standard. This was made possible through MediaQuest’s subsidiary, Nation Broadcasting Corp., which operates a network of radio and TV stations.

As the current largest telecommunications and digital services in the country, PLDT now offers a wide range of telecommunications services across the Philippines’ most extensive fiber optic backbone, fixed-line and cellular networks. The company’s principal business groups involve the offering of fixed-line and wireless services, among others.

Grouped with its subsidiaries such as Smart, and Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., the company is indisputably a telecommunications empire.

Smart Communications, Inc. now serves approximately 95% of the country’s cities and municipalities with its combined 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE network, providing mobile communications services, high-speed Internet connectivity, and access to digital services and content to over 58.7 million Filipinos as of 2017, through its commercial brands Smart, TNT, and Sun. Smart also offers satellite communication services under the brand Smart World.

As part of PLDT’s massive digital transformation program, Smart has committed to giving more than 90% of the population access to its most advanced LTE network by the end of 2018 in order to support the country’s growing digital economy, as well as provide the best customer experience for an increasingly digital Filipino lifestyle.