The Philippines’ largest fully integrated telco PLDT believes that the country is, now more than ever, poised for growth. In the recently concluded Telecoms World Asia conference, PLDT reiterated its efforts to help the country become Asia’s next hyperscaler hub.
“The PLDT Group continues to invest significantly to fortify the country’s digital infrastructure – through sustained international and domestic connectivity expansion, to data center construction and the requisite ability to host hyperscalers and cloud companies, in our bid to become Southeast Asia’s next digital hub and destination,” said Joseph Ian Gendrano, Head of PLDT Enterprise Business Group.
As of end-September, PLDT has expanded its fiber infrastructure to over 615,000 kilometers nationwide, while its wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), has fired up around 6,400 5G base stations nationwide, supporting the unprecedented demand for fast and reliable connectivity from Filipinos who had to work or learn from home, and from large and small enterprises that were pressed to transform digitally to cope with the current situation.
PLDT also continues to embark on international expansion projects, one of which is the forthcoming JUPITER Cable System, which is set to expand its international bandwidth capacity once completed in 2022. This major expansion advances the Philippines’ standing as an ideal trans-Pacific hub connecting Southeast Asia to the United States.
In addition, PLDT is investing US$80 million in the APRICOT Cable System – a state-of-the-art facility that is geared to further augment PLDT’s capacity to handle increased data traffic within the Asia Pacific region.
Both of these international expansion projects anticipate the growing demand spurred by the global hyperscaler phenomenon and accelerated digital transformation across consumer and enterprise markets.
PLDT is also set to build a world-class hyperscaler data center in the country, designed and intended to service the massive power and IT requirements of global cloud companies and tech giants, a first in the Philippines. This adds to the company’s ten (10) VITRO data centers, the country’s largest network of purpose-built data center facilities situated in strategic locations.
PLDT also backed the Philippine government’s move to include the hyperscaler segment under its ‘Make It Happen’ program, making the sector qualified for government incentives and perks. “We believe in the important role of the telco as the gateway to bridge the Philippines to the world: digital technology and infrastructure investments, new business models, and focused leadership are needed to build and mobilize the next-age digital ecosystems that will drive economic growth in a post-pandemic world,” he said.
“Indeed, the time of the Philippines has come. The hyperscaler cloud investors who are looking at this side of the world for their next expansion should consider looking at the Philippines; we offer the right mix in terms of market growth prospects, digital infrastructure maturity, and government support,” Gendrano added.
