Telecommunications company BayanTel announced it has started expanding its BayanTel's fixed-line DSL broadband services and has signed a contract with a foreign vendor for the project.
Tunde Fafunwa, BayanTel chief executive consultant, did not disclose the actual amount of the contract, saying only that the deal is worth 'tens of millions of dollars.'
The executive said while BayanTel still generates most of its revenues from its fixed-line services, its data services, including DSL broadband 'continues to grow' and 'is actually outpacing the growth of BayanTel's voice services.'
Fafunwa said BayanTel plans to focus on broadband services as a key revenue generating venture.
He said that the carrier is looking at hitting more than 35,000 DSL subscribers by the end of the year.
BayanTel currently has 20,000 broadband subscribers, most of which are individual consumers and small businesses operating cyber cafés and Internet shops.
'BayanTel is seeing increasing demand for the service as more people enjoy the DSL experience,' Fafunwa said. 'In fact, the take-up volume is almost equal between Metro Manila and the provinces.'
Fafunwa said that estimates on the growth of broadband in the country vary from 50 percent to 100 percent.
'But one thing is for sure. We see the demand to continue growing as more and more people shift from using slower dial-up services to faster DSL broadband,' he said.