In the wake of 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the Tagbilaran City, Bohol of Philippines last year, the island province has been trying to recover its economy by several means, such as empowering its tourism and information and communications technology (ICT) industry. To support this cause, Telecommunication giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT (News - Alert)) has launched a P700-million domestic fiber optic network (DFON) in the region, reports Malou M. Mozo from Manila Bulletin.

It is envisaged that the new DFON will augment connectivity across the island province and make it more attractive for investments in outsourcing, tourism, agro-industry and ICT.

According to PLDT, the new DFON encompasses installation of 328 kilometers of submarine and inland fiber optic cable that is designed to provide high-speed Internet network and resilient routes to Mindanao, with an initial transmission capacity of up to 40 Gbps (gigabytes per second).

PLDT and Smart Communications president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said in a statement, “Fiber will hasten the growth of the outsourcing industry here and bolster the development of the province’s already flourishing tourism business…PLDT’s new fiber facility will enable the development of more IT Parks, drive more growth for tourism as well as small and medium enterprises in Bohol.”

The project, which is slated for completion in the next two to three years, will also help turn the potential of the outsourcing industry to realize high-income employment in Bohol, while empowering BPOs that depend on high-speed Internet and high-bandwidth private connectivity, cited Eric Alberto, executive vice president and head of enterprise, international and carrier business, PLDT.

Arvin Siena, group head for network planning and engineering, PLDT, said in a statement that the company has initiated the infrastructure deployment in Tagbilaran City, and the municipalities of Baclayon, Dauis, Corella and Valencia. Siena also reveled other developments of the company in Bohol, which will include enabling 3G mobile connection in all municipalities in the province, rolling out eight long term evolution (LTE (News - Alert)) sites, seven FTTH (fiber to the home) sites and 37 sites for DSL broadband.

Currently, PLDT and Smart Communications have a subscriber base of approximately 5,000 households and 600,000 mobile users respectively, across the island province.

On the heals of this announcement, Asteria Caberte, Director at Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visaya, said that a number of top BPO companies have already expressed strong interest to locate in Bohol. Eventually, this move will create more job and business opportunities thus improving the economy of the island province.