Dennis Anthony Uy, CEO and Co-Founder of Converge ICT Technology, sees his company becoming a full tech company into the future, making a big leap from being a pure fiber provider.
“Converge, in due time, will be a full tech company not just a world class fiber provider. We will provide the whole ecosystem including cloud development, digital transformation for SMEs, other enterprises and (the) pubic sector,” Uy said.
He made the bold announcement on Friday during the Annual Stockholders Meeting of the company.
One of the top broadband providers now in the Philippines with a pure fiber backbone to boot, Converge’s roots can be traced to humble beginnings as an in-supermarket video tape rental store in the 1980s.
And the announcement of the top honcho may not be farfetched at all, as he and his brothers Jack and Allan grew their business to become one of the biggest cable TV providers in Central Luzon since the 1990s.
Uy, who once made side hustles repairing electronic equipment and personal computers, recalls personally getting involved in infrastructure design (and layout) for Converge’s fiber rollout as early as 2016 “noong wala pa tayong pera.”
“We built the whole infra in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, the whole Philippines. (Anong) ibig sabihin nito kahit nasa hangin ka, bundok ka, ilalim ng dagat, anywhere, sulok ng Pilipinas,” Uy said.
For the past few years, Converge beefed up and rolled out fiber upgrades in an effort to fulfill an objective to reach the “unserved and underserved” communities throughout the archipelago.
“We will leave no one behind, regardless of economic status of Filipino users, of Filipino households, we make sure they are connected,” enthused Uy.
“Connectivity is so important today. (In) education, information, learnings and doing digital life. Technology today by 2025 or 2030 down the road, the whole world road is digital connected. We will do whatever is necessary value-added service on top of the digital highway,” he added.
Uy said that Converge will provide a “whole ecosystem including cloud development and digital transformation.”
Part of the preparations are geared towards human transformation, talent transformation and adoption. Infrastructure readiness, application layers, he said, “should be ready to be able to leap into the future.”
He said that Converge has readied for technology and connectivity advancement for the next 10 to 15 years for the adoption of a whole ecosystem.
He expects to deliver more not just for private enterprises but also for the government which he hopes to be seen as a public service.
“We will create more digital platforms, digital gamings, and digital securities. In the future, design din natin ang digital government,” he furthered.
Converge co-founder and President Grace Uy reported that the company posted 5 percent, P35.4 billion year-on-year consolidated revenue in 2023, P30 billion come from residential revenue; an industry leading subscriber net ad of 251,000. Enterprise revenue grew year-on-year by 20 percent for same year, earning P5.1 billion, upping it from P4.2 billion in 2022. EBITDA is an industry-leading 11 percent with 61 percent margin.
She also reported that the company is well on its way to reach its target 400 to 450,000 consolidated net adds. Target subscribers for 2027 is 4 million, majority of which are seen to come from its lower cost brands BIDA and Surf To Sawa.
