Globe Telecom, Inc. said it expects to have 1.4 million fiber lines by yearend, as demand for fiber connection soared during the pandemic.
“We built only 50,000 ports in 2019. We built 600,000 ports in 2020. In 2021, we expect to build about 1.4 million ports and that pivot was largely driven by the change of habit in the home,” Ernest L. Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe Telecom, said in a webinar on Friday.
As most Filipinos continue to working from home nearly two years into the pandemic, Mr. Cu said the demand for faster internet connection remained high.
“That’s bringing tremendous load on the networks that wireless can no longer deliver. Everybody wants fiber and that’s why we are doing it,” Mr. Cu said.
As of September this year, Globe has already achieved its target of building one million fiber lines.
Mr. Cu said Globe currently has 641 newly built cell towers, 1,759 5G sites across the country, and 8,175 mobile sites that have been upgraded.
Shares of Globe Telecom at the stock exchange on Friday declined by 3.88% or P130, closing at P3,220 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte