PLDT Inc. (PLDT) has reinforced its commitment to driving digital transformation in Southeast Asia, highlighting data centers as a core pillar of its growth strategy.

Speaking at the recent PSE Invest PH 2025 event, PLDT Chief Operating Officer Menardo "Butch" G. Jimenez underscored the rising potential of tech-focused telcos in the region’s evolving digital landscape.

At the panel titled, "Identifying high-growth opportunities in emerging markets," Jimenez pointed to data center expansion as a major growth driver for PLDT, as the exponential surge in data storage processing demands require robust and efficient data center infrastructure.

"We have already built 10 (data centers) and are finishing our eleventh and biggest facility, which shows how strongly we believe that data centers are an important part of PLDT's revenue growth," he said, adding that the company has seen "healthy growth rates" for their data center business over the last five years.

PLDT, through its subsidiary ePLDT, has established itself as a leader in the Philippines' data center industry. The company operates a network of VITRO Data Centers, offering a suite of solutions that cater to customers’ growing IT outsourcing requirements. Among these facilities, the VITRO Sta. Rosa Data Center stands out as the largest and most advanced in the country, and is envisioned to be the Philippines’ AI hub, forming the first AI ecosystem in the country.

Jimenez also highlighted data sovereignty laws as the next major inflection point, noting that once the government enforces localized data storage regulations, it will significantly boost the demand for domestic data centers.

"The next big inflection point for our data centers is for the government to start instituting data sovereignty laws. We are preparing for that, as it will be a big boost to the data centers," he said.

Looking ahead, PLDT is preparing for the AI-powered future by offering GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) to meet the rising demand for high-performance computing driven by AI and machine learning adoption.

With strategic investments in data centers, AI infrastructure, and green energy, PLDT is cementing its leadership in digital transformation and shaping the future of the telecommunications industry.