07 April 2022

PLDT of the Philippines and global satellite operator Telesat of Canada have successfully conducted the Asian country’s first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband connectivity with Telesat’s Phase 1 Low

A first for Telesat with any operator in southeast Asia, the testing was conducted from Feb 11 to Feb 19 by PLDT’s Technology Strategy and Transformation Office using an 85-cm Intellian parabolic antenna stationed at the PLDT office in Greenhills, San Juan to connect to the LEO satellite.

The live test and demonstration saw broadband download and upload speeds of 100.46 Mbps and 95.62 Mbps, respectively, and roundtrip latency of 26.53ms, which enabled a seamless meeting experience over Microsoft Teams, as well as mobile online gaming without lag, video streaming without buffering and Facebook Live, via LEO satellite.

This successful test signals opportunities for PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications (Smart) to use innovations in the satellite industry to expand their high-speed mobile and Internet services to more hard-to-reach communities across an archipelago like the Philippines.