Another fiber ISP expands in Visayas

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

MANDAUE CITY— Another fiber internet services provider, Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has officially launched its high-speed fiber broadband service in Visayas with the opening of its regional corporate office and the ceremonial launch of its Mandaue business center, Monday, June 7 in Mandaue City.

According to Converge ICT COO Jesus Romero that Converge wants to make Cebu as the hub in the Visayas/Mindanao for home fiber backbone and the dream is to reach and connect 55 percent of the country’s households by 2025.

Romero said that Converge has already completed connecting Visayas and Mindanao to the backbone.  It has added 9,600 km of fiber in the first quarter of 2021 resulting in Converge’s nationwide backbone network of 64,600 km or 69,000km by April 2021.

Romero added that where Converge passes, it will put fibre backbone.  It has already reached 440,000 households in the Visayas, in 48 cities/towns and 1,246 barangays.   In the next few weeks, Converge is also set to open its business center in Cebu City, as well as begin serving Talisay, Cordova, and Lapu-Lapu City in one of the most developed provinces in the country.

Romeo bared that it is all part of the broader ‘Go National’ strategy which is essentially our nationwide expansion plan.  With Converge’s fiber optic cables having already landed in Cebu in April, and with three landing points in the island - in San Remigio, Bogo, and Naga, Converge domestic fiber backbone is firmed up and ready to take on the pent-up demand for fiber connection in central Philippines.

Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony Uy said the company has already hit the ground running when it had its soft launch in Cebu in November 2020. 

“Considering that we’ve only been operating in Mandaue and Cebu cities on a limited basis, we’ve already signed on thousands of subscribers and established partnerships with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Enterprise clients,” Uy said.

This strong subscriber take-up is promising, and Uy expects a groundswell in subscriptions as the company targets commercial operations in the other areas in the next two months, Uy added.

Converge can now offer innovative products such as the FiberX Time of Day plans to the Visayas market. The Time of Day plans offer speed boosts ranging from 70mbps to 800 Mbps at pre-set times of the day depending on the preference of the customer, Uy said.

“At such price points, Converge is offering the best value for money broadband service in the market,” he added and for 2021, Converge is targeting to deploy at least 250,000 fiber ports in Visayas.

The launch on Monday was attended by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Steven Yu, and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Felix Taguiam.

Converge splashed the city with FiberX purple activities including a set-up of its business center in wheels, roving billboards, and sales blitzes featuring its mascot Conrad.