Philippine Telegraph and Telephone (PT&T) aims to regain its status as one of the nation’s major telecoms operators, and is considering partnering with a major foreign player to achieve this goal.
PT&T was established in 1962, and was a major rival to incumbent PLDT until it fell into hard times during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, forcing it to file for rehabilitation.
The company was acquired by a group of investors last August, and now wants to ultimately grow to become a third telco in competition with the current duopoly of PLDT and Globe Telecom.
PT&T chair Salvador Zamora, who co-led the investment in PT&T, toldthe Philippine Daily Inquirer that the company plans to hold talks with foreign partners once its voluntary trading suspension is lifted.
The company is looking at partners including China Telecom and India’s Reliance Jio Infocomm. PT&T plans to focus on the fixed broadband market.
The operator has a 700km fiber footprint in Metro Manila, and aims to cover the entire nation with broadband services within three years, potentially by negotiating to use the government’s nationwide fiber assets owned by the state-run National Transmission Corporation. This corporation is reportedly considering a foray into the telecoms market.