{"id":127431,"date":"2025-09-10T11:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T11:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/127431\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T11:20:10","slug":"fiber-without-cables-pldt-globe-advance-laser-internet-pilots-in-remote-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/127431\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiber Without Cables: PLDT, Globe Advance Laser Internet Pilots in Remote Areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philippines\u2019 leading operators,\u00a0PLDT\u00a0and\u00a0Globe Telecom, are moving forward with trials and initial deployments of\u00a0Taara, a laser internet system developed at Google\u2019s X Moonshot Factory and spun off as an independent Alphabet company in March 2025. The technology, formally known as\u00a0free-space optical communication (FSO), uses invisible light beams to transmit data across the air instead of relying on underground fiber cables.<\/p>\n

Laser internet, sometimes called \u201cfiber without the cables,\u201d uses concentrated light beams as \u201clight bridges\u201d to move data between terminals. Each terminal can cover up to\u00a020 kilometers, and longer connections can be extended by placing terminals in sequence. Taara\u2019s\u00a0Lightbridge system\u00a0employs mirrors, sensors, and precision optics with smart software that actively tracks and locks beams between terminals. Once aligned, the system can deliver speeds of up to\u00a020 Gbit\/s, offering fiber-like performance while avoiding the high cost and time required to lay cables across rivers, rugged terrain, or island provinces. However, like other optical systems, it is vulnerable to weather conditions<\/a> such as fog.<\/p>\n

Read More: No Cables Required: Google\u2019s Next-Gen Chip Delivers Internet through Light<\/a><\/p>\n

PLDT<\/a> announced it is preparing to activate three Taara sites:\u00a0Talim Island in Rizal,\u00a0Dipaluda in Isabela, and\u00a0Bagong Pag-asa in Quezon City. On Talim Island, the link spans\u00a011.8 km across Laguna de Bay, connecting the island to the mainland. In Isabela, the system covers a\u00a013-km mountainous stretch\u00a0where fiber rollout would be costly. In Quezon City, the deployment will serve as an alternative route to address\u00a0single-point-of-failure (SPOF)\u00a0risks in its metro network.<\/p>\n

Butch Jimenez, PLDT Chief Operating Officer and Head of Network, said:<\/p>\n

This is a game changer for us in connecting remote areas. It makes it easier to provide fiber-like internet to new areas. And we\u2019re excited for the people of Talim Island and Dipaluda to enjoy the benefits of FTTH connectivity.<\/p>\n

Erick Santiago, PLDT-Smart Head of Network Strategy, added:<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve evaluated this technology for over a year. We\u2019re proud of our network team, who made it possible for us to launch this while others are just announcing their testing phase.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0Globe Telecom<\/a>, through its subsidiary,\u00a0Fiber Infrastructure and Network Services Inc. (FINSI), reported successful results from a pilot run of the Taara system across\u00a0Laguna Lake. The trial spanned\u00a011 kilometers, with 80% of the connection crossing open water, and achieved\u00a010 Gbit\/s wireless optical connectivity. The system was tested under the\u00a0Enhanced RFC 2544 test suite\u00a0for throughput, latency, jitter, and frame loss, along with a\u00a024-hour bit error rate test (BERT). Globe confirmed that all results met its technical standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philippines\u2019 leading operators,\u00a0PLDT\u00a0and\u00a0Globe Telecom, are moving forward with trials and initial deployments of\u00a0Taara, a laser internet system…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1638,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-127431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}