Rumor: PLDT wants to buy Converge ICT

Converge ICT is one of those small scale regional ISP players that’s getting a lot of attention now. The company started out as ComClark in the north (owned by Clark Communications that also provide cable TV in the Visayas) and slowly expended to several cities in Metro Manila in the last couple of years.

The ISP has been offering really affordable fiber internet that starts at Php1,500USD 26INR 2,167EUR 24CNY 186 a month for 20Mbps (see plans here).

The company has been quietly operating and marketing its services for the longest as to avoid being overly noticed by the big giants in the industry (though, admittedly, they have some business and joint ventures in some areas). They’ve also been using some state-of-the-art equipments like the French-made Marais concrete cutter to lay the fiber-optic cable underground and have completed the almost 1,100km fiber cable network from Clark up north to La Union and all the way down south to Laguna/Cavite.

In the past several months though, Converge has been making the rounds and doing press briefings. One of the reasons behind it is that PLDT is looking to buy the company (this was mentions in the sidelines during their latest media briefing) but the President/CEO of Converge rejected the offer.

In order to combat pressure from competition, Converge needs to scale up pretty quickly as it becomes a serious threat to big players like PLDT/Globe. The plan is to go public — Converge is looking to file its IPO sometime in 2018. This move will certainly put Converge ICT against the big leagues for home broadband which is very interesting to watch out for. This could be another case that will attracxt the eyes of the Philippine Competition Commission, just like the PLDT-Globe-SMC deal.