Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company prepares for next-generation services

Cisco Systems, Inc. will provide the equipment to build a new backbone network that will enable it to offer these new innovative value-added integrated data, voice and video services.

Data, voice and video integration is achieved through Cisco's multiservice switching technology, which enables IP to be run over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) or Frame Relay. This paves the way for PLDT to provision 'New World' communications services such as Voice over IP, IP Virtual Private Networks (IP/VPNs) and Unified Messaging over a single, integrated infrastructure.

"The partnership of one of the region's leading service providers and the leading networking company makes for a powerful combination that will be able to deliver superior integrated data, voice and video services to our customers," said George Lim, Senior Vice-President, PLDT.

He added that the new revenue-optimized packet network is a huge technological leap over PLDT's time division multiplexing (TDM) network, which is more costly and inflexible to manage. The new network will enable PLDT to provide the most cost efficient and highly reliable services to its corporate and consumer clients and position the company for long-term revenue and profit growth. "The upgrade of our infrastructure was timed to take advantage of the latest technology advances. With Cisco's technology, we will now have superior product offerings that will put us in the same class as the biggest telecommunications providers in the world," said Lim.

Said Noel Rivera, Country Manager of Cisco Systems Philippines: "PLDT has long been one of Asia's leading carriers in terms of customer base and service offering. The addition of cutting-edge value-added services such as IP/VPNs and Unified Messaging, will certainly place them among the world's elite. More importantly, for PLDT's customers in the Philippines and the region, they will be among the first to benefit from the cost-efficiency and variety of New World telecommunications services."

PLDT's new OC-12 network, based on Cisco BPX 8650 IP+ATM switches, MGX 8220 Multiservice Access Concentrators and AS5300 Remote Access Servers, is being deployed by Cisco Systems partner, Fujitsu Philippines, Inc. It is capable of speeds of 622 megabits per second, orders of magnitude faster than the networks of competitors. Cisco and Fujitsu are also providing comprehensive training for PLDT networking employees.

"Negotiating and anticipating demand in the fast-paced communications industry is tough and PLDT has selected a good partnership in Cisco and Fujitsu. Telecommunication carriers need leading-edge solutions and strong systems integration support especially as demand for Internet-related services grow. That is where we come in," said Felipe Manalang, President, Fujitsu Philippines.

About PLDT
PLDT is the largest among 82 telephone service providers in the Philippines. Its lines number 1,702,918, representing some 71 per cent of all telephone lines in service throughout the archipelago. The company's current Integrated Voice and Data Services include Diginet (domestic leased line), Fibernet (international leased line), DataPac (international and domestic packet switching), PhIX (Philippine Internet Exchange) and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). The Voice and Messaging Services include VideoCon (video conferencing) among others. PLDT is part-owner of 30 existing international fiber optic submarine cable systems. Three of which, the Guam-Philippines-Taiwan (GPT), the Brunei-Philippines-Malaysia (BMP), and the Asia Pacific Cable Network (APCN) terminate in the country.