TELECOMMUNICATION giant PLDT-Smart assured an expansion of its capacity as it recognizes the importance of the technology during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
This following an earlier statement of Baguio City Congressman Marquez Go seeking to ask telecommunications companies to improve interconnectivity being the only source of information technology related to communications leading to the new normal.
Jose Rosete, External Affairs head of Smart Communications, explained the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of telecommunications as it enabled the public to work from home and access critical information vital in the time of the pandemic.
“We recognize the important role of telcos in society. People spend most of their time at home. There’s a bigger increase in the suburban areas which is why he MVP Group, through PLDT and Smart Communications, would have to boost capacity to meet growing demand,” Rosete said.
Go stated earlier that the Telecommunications sector will now have to make sure that their interconnectivity will be improved as they being very important will be looked at by the public being the consumers.
“We need to increase the capacity on two levels. We need to expand access on the suburban areas and access because a lot of people are accessing the Internet. We need more broadband capacity. The traffic has been more than double the past few months,” the External Affairs Head stated.
The Telco giant recorded that with the imposition of the a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine since March 15 that forced the public to adopt a work-from-home scheme, the data traffic use increased with more Filipinos at home instead of the office, using internet for work and even for entertainment through digital access.
Another problem now being looked into by the telco is when school opens and public school students would not be able to access the internet due to lack of devices that are internet-capable.
The MVP Group would help subsidize the cost of internet-capable devices to be used by public school students.
“The Department of Education really needs the digital infrastructure and our group is committed to continue helping the government respond to the onslaught of the pandemic.
This would be done by advancing tax payments, expanding investments in the health sector and continuing donations even beyond the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine,” Rosete added.
One of the biggest conglomerates in the country, the MVP Group is in a wide array of businesses ranging from power, water and infrastructure through MPIC; telecommunications through PLDT and Smart; mining through Philex Mining and broadcast and print media through MediaQuest.