PLDT

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PLDT, Inc.

Logo used since 13 June 2016

The Ramon Cojuangco Building in Makati City, the

headquarters of PLDT.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone
Formerly
Company
Type Public
PSE: TEL
Traded as
NYSE: PHI
ISIN PHY7072Q1032
Industry Telecommunications
Philippine Long Distance Telephone
Predecessor
Company (1928-2016)
 Manila, Philippine Islands
Founded
(November 28, 1928; 91 years ago)
Ramon Cojuangco Building, Makati
Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street,
Headquarters
Legazpi Village, Makati City,
Philippines.
Area served Worldwide

 Manuel V.
Pangilinan
(Chairman of the Board and
President & CEO)
Key people

 Anabelle L. Chua
(SVP, CFO & Chief Risk
Management Officer)

Cellular telephony
Digital Services
Fixed-line telephony
Internet protocol television
Products
Information technology
Satellite communications
Electricity distribution
Mass media
Revenue ₱171.1 billion (2015) [1]
Net income ₱35.2 billion (2015) [1]
Number of
17,496 (2014) [1]
employees
Parent First Pacific
Smart Communications
Digital Telecommunications
Philippines (including Sun Cellular)
Subsidiaries
MediaQuest Holdings
PLDT Communication and Energy
Ventures
Website pldt.com
PLDT, Inc.,[2] (PSE: TEL, NYSE: PHI), formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Company (Filipino: Kompanya ng Teleponong Pangmalayuan ng Pilipinas), is a
telecommunications, internet, and digital service holdings company in the Philippines.[3] It is one
of the country's major telecommunications providers, alongside with Globe Telecom. Founded in
1928, it is the oldest and largest telecom company in the Philippines, in terms of assets and
revenues.[4]

Its core businesses are fixed-line telecommunications, mobile telephony services, broadband, and
internet of things services under various brands. It also has investments in broadcasting, print
media, utilities, and direct-to-home satellite services, among others. As of 2019, PLDT is listed
in the Philippine Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange (the only Philippine company
to be listed in NYSE) and it is being controlled by First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment
management company; Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, through its subsidiaries; and JG
Summit, a major conglomerate that operates airliner Cebu Pacific and food manufacturer
Universal Robina.

Contents
 1 History

o 1.1 GTE era

o 1.2 Cojuangco Era

o 1.3 First Pacific Era

 2 Operations

o 2.1 Fixed Line

o 2.2 Wireless

o 2.3 Investments

 3 Ownership

 4 Criticisms

o 4.1 Bandwidth caps

o 4.2 Lock-in period

  5 Subsidiaries and affiliates

 6 Sports teams

o 6.1 Esports

 7 See also

 8 References

 9 External links

History
GTE era

PLDT was established on November 28, 1928, by a Philippine Government act. Philippine
legislature and approved by then Governor-General Henry L. Stimson by means of a merger of
four telephone companies under operation of the American telephone company GTE.[5] Known
as Act 3436, the bill granted PLDT a 50-year charter and the right to establish a Philippine
telephone network linking major points nationwide. However, PLDT had to meet a 40-day
deadline to start implementing the network, which would be implemented over a period of one to
four years.

By the 1930s, PLDT had an expansive fixed-line network and for the first time linked the
Philippines to the outside world via radiotelephone services, connecting the Philippines to the
United States and other parts of the world.

Telephone service in the Philippines was interrupted due to World War II. At the end of the war,
the Philippines' communications infrastructure was in ruins. U.S. military authorities eventually
handed over the remains of the communications infrastructure to PLDT in 1947, and with the
help of massive U.S. aid to the Philippines during the 1940s and 1950s, PLDT recovered so
quickly that its telephone subscribers outpaced that of pre-war levels by 1953.

Cojuangco Era

On December 20, 1967, a group of Filipino entrepreneurs and businessmen led by Ramon
Cojuangco took control of PLDT after buying its shares from the American telecommunications
company GTE. The group took control of PLDT's management on January 1, 1968, with the
election of Gregorio S. Licaros and Cojuangco as chairman and president of PLDT, respectively.
A few months later, PLDT's main office in Makati (known today as the Ramon Cojuangco
Building) was opened, and PLDT's expansion programs begin, hoping to bring reliable telephone
services to the rural areas. It was also during that time that PLDT was able to use Intelsat II F-4
communications satellite to beam international events such as the Apollo 8 mission and the
funeral of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

PLDT was permitted to operate during Martial Law. During the 1970s, PLDT was nationalized
by the government of then-President Ferdinand Marcos and in 1981, in compliance of then
existing policy of the Philippine government to integrate the Philippine telecommunications
industry, purchased substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Republic Telephone Company,
becoming the country's telephone monopoly. Under this monopoly, service expansion were
severely curtailed or practically nonexistent. In the Martial Law years people would apply for
phone service only to wait for years and years on end behind an impossibly long application
backlog. It is not unheard of for people and small businesses back then to barter for a single
telephone line in the black market for tens of thousands of pesos. The incumbent Singaporean
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew referred to the situation when visiting the Philippines during the
term of President Fidel V. Ramos. He said, albeit in jest, “In the Philippines 95% of the
population has no telephone, while the remaining 5% are waiting for that dial tone.”[6][7]

After President Marcos was overthrown in 1986, the company was re-privatized and Cojuangco's
son, Antonio "Tonyboy" O. Cojuangco, Jr. became chief executive.[8] By 1995, with the passage
of the Telecommunications Act and the subsequent deregulation of the Philippine
telecommunications industry, the company has been de-monopolized.

In 1992, PLDT partnered with AT&T Corporation to expand its services into rural communities;
including USA Direct Roving Van Service, a mobile van equipped with cellular phones, to
provide toll service to some previously unserved rural communities; point-to-point international
digital leased line service; payphone services; and magnetic prepaid telephone cards. By 1997,
the company, through Mabuhay Satellite Corporation, launched the Philippines' first local
communications satellite Agila II (It was later divested to Asia Broadcast Satellite in 2009).

First Pacific Era

4th PLDT logo (1996–2016)

In 1998, Hong Kong-based First Pacific Company Ltd. acquired a 17.5% controlling stake in
PLDT for approximately P29.7 billion. Following the acquisition by the First Pacific group,
Manuel V. Pangilinan became the new president and CEO of PLDT, replacing Cojuangco, who
assumed the post of Chairman until 2004.[8] An additional investment was added in 2000 through
a share-swap agreement; where NTT Communications, a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone, acquired a share in PLDT in exchange for its co-owned wireless telecom company
Smart Communications.

PLDT acquired 51.55% of the shares of Digital Telecommunications Philippines from JG

Summit Holdings in March 2011 with the cost of ₱69.2 Billion. Because of this, the shares of
Digitel and JG Summit in the PSE surges while PLDT's shares remained unchanged. In the deal,
JG Summit will have a 12% share in PLDT. It was finalized by the National Telecommunications
Commission on October 26, 2011. In exchange of the transaction, PLDT's subsidiary Smart
Communications surrendered the mobile frequency and spectrum being used by its service Red
Mobile to the government, which was finalized in 2016.

In April 2016, the company, then known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company,
dropped the "long distance telephone" from its corporate name and was renamed PLDT Inc.[9] Its
board of directors approved the new corporate name to reflect on the company's new range of
services, mainly focusing on data services. On June 13, 2016, PLDT and its subsidiary Smart
unveiled their new logos and identity as part of the company's continuing digital pivot.[2]

Operations
Fixed Line

PLDT's fixed line business offers services intended for enterprises, small and medium
enterprises, and corporate consumers - including corporate data, ICT solutions, data networking,
and cybersecurity solutions. PLDT also offers local exchange telephone services for Subic Bay
Freeport, Clark Freeport Zone, Bonifacio Global City, and selected cities in Mindanao through
its subsidiaries.

PLDT's retail fixed line services are branded under PLDT Home brand. It offers home
broadband, IPTV, and triple play packages with devices from Google Wifi and Roku.

Wireless

A store of PLDT's flagship wireless brand Smart Communications in SM Megamall,

Mandaluyong City.
Main articles: Smart Communications, TNT (cellular service), and Sun Cellular
PLDT operates its wireless cellular services through its brands, namely Smart, TNT, and Sun
Cellular.

Smart, its flagship brand, offers commercial wireless services through its 2G, 3G, 3.5G HSPA+,
and 4G LTE networks, with LTE-A and 5G currently being tested and deployed in key areas in
the Philippines. Smart also offers terrestrial satellite communication services and wireless
complimentary offerings.

TNT provides a wide range of offerings in low-cost call, text, and mobile internet packages, as
well as other value-added services. Sun Cellular, on the other hand, offers unlimited call, text and
internet data services.

Investments

The headquarters of broadcasting company TV5 Network in Mandaluyong City. TV5 Network is
funded by PLDT through MediaQuest Holdings.

PLDT currently invests in media through Pilipinas Global Network and MediaQuest Holdings,
funded through its Beneficial Trust Fund. MediaQuest's assets include broadcasting firms TV5
Network and Nation Broadcasting Corporation, direct-to-home satellite operator Cignal TV, and
major newspaper companies The Philippine Star and BusinessWorld, among others. [10]

PLDT also has investments in energy utility (Meralco, through PLDT Communication and
Energy Ventures), business jet transportation (Pacific Global One Aviation Company), and e-
commerce and financial technology development (Voyager Innovations), among others.