The Philippines' PLDT is expanding its LTE network with the rollout of 5,000 new base stations across the country.
The company said it aims to bring 4G connectivity to nearly all cities and municipalities in the Philippines in the next few months.
PLDT's mobile unit Smart Communications launched its FDD LTE network in August 2012, initially in metro Manila.
In April this year, PLDT launched fixed wireless broadband services based on the TD-LTE standard, and revealed it had spent around 2 billion pesos ($45.8 million) on the TD-LTE rollout over the preceding 12 months.
PLDT CEO Napoleon Nazareno told the Philippines Star that the operator aims to increase its LTE coverage from the current 30% to around 50% by the end of the year.
The operator has earmarked a total capex budget of 32 billion pesos for 2014. The budget will also be spent on continuing to expand the operator's fiber network, which already spans around 85,000km.
“This aggressive expansion of our LTE network is part of our thrust to provide broadband connectivity to the whole country,” Nazareno said in a statement. “It complements our efforts to provide connectivity to all Filipino homes through fixed line services [including] FTTH.”