THE PLDT Group has provided data and voice services and other communications support to the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) that will be held in Cebu City from January 24 to 31.
According to IEC organizers, about 15,000 delegates are expected to attend the various discussion sessions of the Congress and up to a million people will join the opening and closing Masses of the Congress.
Backed by its extensive fiber optic backbone and fixed line and wireless networks, PLDT has provided free data connectivity and enhanced network coverage in IEC offices and the venues of major Congress events.
It has installed telephone lines in the IEC offices and provided mobile phones and prepaid airtime load as well as data connectivity for organizers, committee heads, and the IEC website team.
It has also supplied the bandwidth requirements of the Radio Television Malacañang, which will do a live coverage of the entire event.
“The IEC 2016 is a milestone event not only for the Church but for the entire country, and we are humbled by the chance to be part of this. Leveraging on our combined fixed line and wireless networks, we are addressing the communication requirements of the organizers as well as the participants at this historical event,” said PLDT Group chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications, in partnership with tech startup InnoPubMedia, is offering to participants the IEC 2016 Guide app, which provides information about the Congress that is available for free download. Users can obtain background information about the IEC, its history, the full schedule of events, as well as messages from Church officials.