Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. is on its way to completing its national fiber backbone network as the submarine cables to link the islands in the Visayas and Mindanao are ready for installation this month.
“We started Converge nine years ago with a dream to bring the world’s best broadband technology to majority of our people, and that is fiber optics. Our mission is to reach and connect underserved and unserved areas all over the country. Now we are one step closer to fulfilling this mission as we connect the VisMin areas through our fiber backbone,” said Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge CEO and Co-Founder.
Converge subscribes to a ‘Go-National’ strategy which aims for nationwide expansion of the company’s domestic backbone to reach millions of households and businesses in further regions of the country by 2021. Guided by this roadmap, the company has remained steadfast in extending the fiber footprint in areas such as Visayas and Mindanao that have yet to be covered by fiber technology.
“Converge’s expansion to the Visayas and Mindanao regions has been progressing as planned. By targeting to substantially complete our backbone by the first half of 2021, we hope to commercially launch by the second half of the year so that we can reach more provinces in need of world-class fixed broadband services,” said Converge Chief Operating Officer Jesus Romero.
The VisMin expansion includes 1,800 kms of submarine sea cables, connecting over 20 landing stations throughout the country. According to Romero, the cable stations have already been substantially completed and they are now awaiting the vessel that will execute the submarine cable-laying operations. These submarine sea cables are the same fiber optic cables found on land-based stations but will be laid on the seabed to bridge the geographical challenges.
Despite the country being an archipelago, Converge is keeping its promise to reach unserved and underserved areas. As a result, Converge can continue to offer high-speed fiber internet for a hyper connected Philippines. Presently, Converge has started pilot testing in Cebu, with promising take up. The expansion aims to cover other provinces including Davao, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, starting with Bacolod City and Cagayan de Oro.
Apart from the regional expansion, Converge is dedicated to improving the quality of their end-to-end fiber services in Luzon which covers existing coverage areas. The company has invested in hardening the network to increase redundancy and network quality.
At the end of 2020, Converge has completed and activated approximately 55,000 fiber route kilometers in an effort to expand the domestic backbone and distribution network. Due to aggressive network expansion, Converge was able to reach an additional 149 cities and municipalities by the end of 2020, covering more areas in Rizal, La Union, San Juan, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, and many more, and now reaching a total of 316 cities and municipalities.
“Only about 10% of the market has been covered by high-speed broadband fiber internet. The completion of the company’s national backbone will steadily increase residential subscribers and enterprise segments,” adds Uy.
Converge continues to be the country’s largest pure end-to-end high-speed fiber broadband provider as they reached the 1M-mark on residential subscribers as of last year. Converge aims to reach 55% of household coverage by 2025.
