MANILA - The success of the broadband-over-power-lines project of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) will be determined before the year ends, or after a few months of pilot testing to start next month. “We are giving it two to three months before it can really be done on a wide scale,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said when asked last week about the preparations being done by both firms. Broadband Internet service will be delivered over Meralco’s power lines in Malabon starting August.
“It takes time to find out whether it can be done but we are quite optimistic it can be done,” added Pangilinan. From PLDT’s perspective, this could be a means of providing wired broadband services in areas not currently reached by PLDT facilities or in areas where such facilities are already exhausted. PLDT president Napoloen Nazareno said teams representing both PLDT and Meralco have been formed to collaborate and implement the synergies between the country’s largest phone firm and the power distributor.
“It was stipulated in the beginning that [among] the many synergies is broadband over power lines,” he said. The possible synergies arise because the phone giant is now the largest shareholder in listed Meralco.
“That’s one of the major, but I think there is a whole rush of a possible synergy within the Meralco group and PLDT that we will explore,” added Pangilinan. PLDT had earlier said it would have to shell out P8 billion, excluding right of way and maintenance, to put up its own poles. Now owning a substantial stake in Meralco, PLDT will surely save on costs.
Meralco-PLDT broadband test seen by Dec | ABS-CBN News Online Beta
Meralco-PLDT broadband test seen by Dec. 2009
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