PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (), is a Philippine

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

and digital service company. PLDT is one of the Philippine's major telecommunications providers, along with

Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates one of the largest mobile, fixed-line and broadband networks in the Philippines. As of November 2023, ...

and startup

DITO Telecommunity Dito Telecommunity Corporation (stylized as DITO), formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. or Mislatel, is a telecommunications company in the Philippines which is also engaged in the business of multimedia and information te ...

. Founded in 1928, it is the oldest and largest telecommunications company in the Philippines, in terms of assets and revenues. The company's core businesses are

fixed-line A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...

telecommunications, mobile telephony services,

broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...

, and

internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...

services under various brands. It also has investments in

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

print media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

, and

direct-to-home Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

satellite services, among others. It is listed in the

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Including previous forms, the exchange has ...

and

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

and is being controlled by

First Pacific First Pacific Company Limited () is a Hong Kong–based investment management and holding company with operations located in Asia. It involves telecommunications, consumer food products and infrastructure. Businesses Indonesia: * Indofood Suk ...

, a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

–based

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

company,

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) is a Japanese telecommunications holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked 55th in ''Fortune'' Global 500, NTT is the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of revenue, as well as the third largest pu ...

, through its subsidiaries, and

JG Summit Holdings JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGSHI) is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines with business interests in air transportation, banking, food manufacturing, hotels, petrochemicals, power generation, publishing, real estate and property ...

. Throughout the past decades, PLDT has received numerous complaints from the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate regarding slow internet connections.

History

GTE era

PLDT was established on November 28, 1928, by a Philippine Government act. Philippine legislature and approved by then

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and Demo ...

by means of a merger of four telephone companies under operation of the American telephone company

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

. Known as Act 3436, the bill granted PLDT a 50-year charter and the right to establish a Philippine

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

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 A radiotelephone (or radiophone), abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to ''radiotelegraphy'', which is radio transmission of telegrams (messag ...

services, connecting the Philippines to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and other parts of the world. Telephone service in the Philippines was interrupted due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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.

Ramon 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

. 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 Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

(known today as the Ramon Cojuangco Building) was opened, and PLDT's expansion programs began, 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 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...

mission and the funeral of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

in 1968.

Martial Law

PLDT was permitted to operate during

Martial Law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

. During the 1970s, PLDT was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

by the government of then-president

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

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 A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

. 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 founding

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

and then incumbent Minister Mentor

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

referred to the situation when visiting the Philippines during the term of President

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

. He said quoting the

AsiaWeek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a ...

magazine, albeit in jest, “It (PLDT) has a monopoly of 64 years...The joke in the Philippines is that 89% of the population are waiting for a telephone and the other 2% are waiting for that dial tone. ... worst service in Asia.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm3l3mHBGDo&t=466

Tonyboy Cojuangco Era

After President Marcos was overthrown in 1986, the company was re-privatized and Cojuangco's son, Antonio "Tonyboy" O. Cojuangco, Jr. became chief executive. On March 16, 1988, PLDT launched the country's first

cellular phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radi ...

system in Sampaloc,

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

to enable the public use of mobile phones. 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 AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

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 A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone or pay telephone or public phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic public areas. Prepayment is required by inserting coins or tel ...

services; and magnetic prepaid telephone cards. By 1997, the company, through

Mabuhay Satellite Corporation Mabuhay Satellite Corporation (MSC) was a Filipino aerospace corporation responsible for operating communication satellites and before 2009, the only Philippine company to do so. It was later renamed as Mabuhay Investment Corporation (MIC) and b ...

, launched the Philippines' first local communications satellite,

Agila II Achila II (also spelled Agila, Aquila, or Akhila; died ' 714) was the Visigothic king of Hispania and Septimania from 710 or 711 until his death. The kingdom he ruled was restricted to the northeast of the old Hispanic kingdom on account of the ...

(It was later divested to

Asia Broadcast Satellite ABS is a global satellite operator and has offices in United Arab Emirates, Asia and United States. Operating 5 Communications satellite, communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the ...

in 2009).

First Pacific Era

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 Manuel Velez Pangilinan (born July 14, 1946), also known as Manny Pangilinan or by his initials MVP, is a Filipino people, Filipino businessman and sports patron. He is the managing director and CEO of First Pacific, a Hong Kong–based invest ...

became the new president and CEO of PLDT, replacing Cojuangco, who assumed the post of chairman until 2004. An additional investment was added in 2000 through a share-swap agreement; where

NTT Communications is a Japanese telecommunications company owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. It operates an international network across over 190 countries and regions, with locations in more than 70 countries and regions. The company has ...

, a subsidiary of

, acquired a share in PLDT in exchange for its co-owned wireless telecom company

Smart Communications Smart Communications Inc., commonly referred to as Smart, is a wholly owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary of PLDT Inc., a telecommunications and digital services provider based in the Philippines. As of November ...

. PLDT acquired 51.55% of the shares of Digitel from

in March 2011 at the cost of ₱69.2 Billion. Because of this, the shares of Digitel and JG Summit in the PSE surged while PLDT's remained unchanged. The deal resulted in JG Summit having a 12% share in PLDT. It was finalized by the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; ) is the telecommunications regulator of the Philippines. It is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication ...

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 eventually consummated 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. 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. On March 16, 2023, it was announced that PLDT was to acquire the broadband business of

Sky Cable Corporation Sky Cable Corporation, doing business as Sky, is a Telecommunications in the Philippines, Filipino telecommunications company based in Diliman, Quezon City. A subsidiary of the media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation, the company offers broadba ...

. Earlier, there was already a deal where Cignal Cable Corporation was set to acquire a minority stake in Sky Cable Corporation but it was terminated due to alleged political pressure. On March 9, 2024, PLDT obtained a P1 billion green Loan facility from

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

Philippines to partially finance the modernization and expansion of its fiber network supporting internet delivery platforms such as fiber fixed

, Mobile database, mobile data services and carrier grade WiFi. In a 38-page Judgment (law), decision penned by Rodil Zalameda and promulgated on February 14, 2024, the Philippine Supreme Court ordered the Endo contractualization, regularization of 7,344 "contractual employees" of PLDT engaged in line installation, repair, and maintenance. It dismissed the consolidated petition for review on certiorari filed by Silvestre Bello III and the company's [rank-and-file] employees' union Manggagawa Sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (Workers in the Philippine Communications [Industry]), affirming a Court of Appeals judgment that found PLDT and its contractor committed labor violations. It however clarified that "labor contracting is not per se illegal, following Article 106 of the Labor Code expressly allowing an employer to engage in legitimate labor contracting, which the DoLE implements through DO 18-A and DO 174-2017." The high court finally Remand (court procedure), remanded the case to the Office of the Regional Director of Dole NCR "to review and determine the impact of the regularization of the workers performing installation, repair, and maintenance services and to review, compute, and properly determine the monetary award on the labor standards violation, to which petitioner PLDT Inc. and the concerned contractors are solidarily liable."

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

, IPTV, and Triple play (telecommunications), triple play packages with devices from TP-Link and Roku.

Wireless

PLDT operates its wireless cellular services through its brands, namely Smart Communications, Smart and TNT (cellular service), TNT Smart, its flagship brand, offers commercial wireless services through its 2G, 3G, 3.5G HSPA+, 4G LTE (telecommunication), LTE network, and 5G in the key areas in the Philippines. Smart also offers terrestrial Satellite phone, 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.

Investments

PLDT currently invests in media through Kapatid TV5, 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. 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.

Ownership

The company's ownership is divided among the public (41.55%), Philippine Telecommunications Investments Corporation (12.05%), Metro Pacific Resources, Inc. (9.98%); non-Philippine subsidiaries of First Pacific, First Pacific Company Limited (3.54%), NTT Communications Corp. (5.85%), NTT DoCoMo, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (14.5%), and JG Summit Holdings, JG Summit Group (11.27%).

Criticisms

Bandwidth caps

In October 2015, PLDT introduced so-called "volume boosters" (instead of 30% bandwidth throttling in 2014 and 256 kbit/s bandwidth throttling in 2015) when exceeding monthly 30 GB to 70 GB bandwidth cap for TD-LTE connection plans (Ultera). "In case your usage exceeds your monthly volume allowance, you can still enjoy the internet by purchasing additional volume boosters. Otherwise, connectivity will be halted until your monthly volume is refreshed on your next billing cycle." Globe followed the suit with a similar "volume boost" arrangement. This practice has since been weaned off for fixed broadband such as DSL and fiber optic, particularly with capped rates being silently retired. Globe, who previously retired all their unlimited data rates to capped ones, have reintroduced uncapped rates too.

Lock-in period

In 2015, PLDT increased lock-in period for TD-LTE connection plans from 24 to 36 months (3 years) with the pre-termination fee equal to the full balance for the remaining period. Unless the subscriber explicitly manifests otherwise (i.e. don't want to be locked-in again) in writing 30 days prior to end of a contract, the lock-in period is automatically renewed for another 36 months. As of now the Globe lock-in period is still 2 years with no pre-termination fee outside of the lock-in period. The PLDT TD-LTE contract allows PLDT to change the terms and conditions at any time with the only way left for subscribers to opt out of the altered service through paying the full pre-termination fee: "8.3 Modification. SBI reserves the right at its discretion to modify, delete or add to any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement at any time without further notice. It is the Subscriber’s responsibility to regularly check any changes to these Terms and Conditions. The Subscriber’s continued use of the Service after any such changes constitutes acceptance of the new Terms and Conditions." Even as the Consumer Act of the Philippines states "Unfair or Unconscionable Sales Act or Practice ... the following circumstances shall be considered ... that the transaction that the seller or supplier induced the consumer to enter into was excessively one-sided in favor of the seller or supplier", the practice of inducing extremely long-term contracts with the ultimate pre-termination penalty has not been legally challenged yet.

Subsidiaries and affiliates

Sports teams

*PLDT Volleyball Club, PLDT Home Fibr Hitters (men's team) *PLDT Home Fibr, PLDT Home Fibr Hitters (women's team)

Esports

* Omega (esports), a professional esports team launched by PLDT and its mobile arm, Smart Communications, Smart for ''Dota 2'', ''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'', and ''Tekken 7''

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control PLDT, Companies based in Makati Telecommunications companies established in 1928 Companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange NTT Communications NTT Docomo Philippine companies established in 1928 1998 mergers and acquisitions Internet service providers of the Philippines Conglomerate companies of the Philippines Companies in the PSE Composite Index