CORPORATE EXCELLENCE CATEGORY
Converge ICT Solutions Inc.
Telecommunications & ICT Industry
www.convergeict.com
Information about the Company
Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is a home-grown technology company that began in Angeles City. Unlike entrepreneurs in the 1990s that set their sights in Manila, Converge Founder and CEO Dennis Anthony H. Uy started the business to first serve the community that nurtured him. Converge (then named ComClark) started as a cable provider in the mid-90s, providing crucial news and entertainment to the region ravaged by the destructive eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.Keeping pace with technology, ComClark diversified into internet service through partnerships with telecommunication giants. ComClark invested in fibre optics in 1996 and so began Converge ICT Solutions Inc. After a decade of gradual investment and securing regulatory approvals, Converge began in earnest in 2012. Today, Converge is the fastest-growing high-speed fixed broadband operator in the Philippines, servicing Residential and Enterprise customers. Aligned with its Founder’s mission, Converge’s purpose is to bring world-class technology to Filipinos.
Corporate Culture & Company Activities
Converge is currently building an organisational culture that is characterised by bottom-up corporate governance where there is collective engagement between operational units in decisionmaking. As the pandemic has prevented company-wide activities, corporate governance-boosting initiatives among employees has been done online. In 2020, Converge’s human resources conducted a series of training on data privacy protection practices, anticorruption vigilance, and a vaccination promotion programme for its 2,300 employees plus the 700+ employees of its subsidiary Metroworks ICT.Converge has been active in supporting health programmes in Angeles City, in the province of Pampanga. Among the major corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is its donation of PHP 5 million for the rehabilitation of the city hospital of Angeles. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in the first quarter of 2020, Converge immediately donated 500 personal protective equipment (PPE) to different local government units in Pampanga and Tarlac. For its employees, it immediately implemented a telecommuting arrangement. Scaling up its CSR drive, Converge recently partnered with the Department of Education to provide fibre connection to public schools to enable access to online learning materials.
Empowering Filipinos to Experience Better.
Achievements and Impact
Converge recently reported its stellar first quarter performance on May 2021. It saw an 83.6% Year-on-Year revenue growth in Q12021 to reach to P5,547 million. Its subscriber base increased by 92% YoY, now reaching 1,182,000 residential subscribers in the first quarter. Staying true to its reputation as the fastest growing fixed broadband operator in the Philippines, Converge deployed almost 0.5 million new fibre-to-the-home ports during the quarter, allowing the network to reach more than 7.1 million homes. The company is on track to reach the target to cover approximately 55% of households in the Philippines by 2025.As of April 2021, Converge’s expansion to the Visayas and Mindanao regions has hit significant milestones with its fibre cables reaching the shores of major VisMin cities in April. The first phase of the backbone expansion project aims to complete seven inter-island subsea cable links, to allow Converge to complete a nationwide backbone stretching from the northern tip of Luzon to the Philippine’s main southern island of Mindanao. Five links have been completed and Converge is on track to complete the remaining two links within the current quarter, and will be launching services in VisMin by the second half of 2021.
Future Direction
Converge is currently completing its domestic fibre backbone and its distribution network to widen its reach and ramp up its subscriber base, especially among Filipino enterprises. It will soon venture into new markets in Visayas and Mindanao.Converge is also considering other complementary technology to fibre to provide broadband connection such as satellite technology. This is aligned with its goal to reach the unserved and underserved areas in the Philippines as there may be some areas unreachable by fiber. Moving further, after Converge deepens its reach into the B and C segments, it plans to foray into the D and E market with product offerings aimed at enhancing the digital experience of these two segments.
COMPANY MILESTONES
