CONVERGE
“ WE ARE MAKING FIXED BROADBAND MORE ACCESSIBLE NOW TO PEOPLE WHO DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO IT BEFORE OR WERE USING ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET ”
JESUS ROMERO COO , CONVERGE
Taking a pragmatic approach In 2020 , Converge embarked on a nationwide expansion of its network to make broadband available to unserved and underserved communities , completing its nationwide backbone in November 2021 .
“ The Philippines is an archipelago , so connecting our islands would mean a combination of subsea and terrestrial cables ,” explains Jesus Romero , Converge ’ s Chief Operations Officer .
“ The existing infrastructure back then either did not have enough capacity or was uneconomical to use . So we took a more pragmatic approach .
“ No one really wants to spend billions to build another submarine cable backbone , but we did what we needed to do ,” Romero says .
Access to the national fibre backbone of other players came at a cost that was higher than the acceptable threshold . As a result , Converge had to take on the capitalintensive fibre roll-out nationwide , helping make broadband more available , and at a cost lower than alternative offerings .
“ Our data shows that more than 90 % of our subscribers are first-time fixed broadband postpaid users ,” adds Romero . “ This means that we are making fixed broadband more accessible now to people who did not have access to it before or were using alternative methods to connect to the internet .
“ And now , we have completed our National Digital Highway and are present on every major island in the Philippines .”
As the new player on the block , the pressure is high to offer something different , Romero acknowledges .
“ We decided early on that the network is the product ,” he adds . “ And that is our endto-end pure fibre network . We ’ re the only operator in the country that can claim that .”
86 November 2022