MANILA, Philippines, February 22, 2013 – Leading telecoms company PLDT, in partnership with Asia’s biggest telecoms firms, boosted its international bandwidth capacity to Hong Kong with the completion of the fiber optic cable extension project in the undersea Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) system.
 
The ASE undersea cable network extension project will increase PLDT’s bandwidth capacity by more than half enabling 250Gbps (Gigabits per second) of seamless connection to Hong Kong, which is a major international link for data traffic to and from the Philippines. This technology can also be upgraded as the demand for bandwidth increases or as needed.
 
“This extension project further strengthens our network link to Hong Kong, which follows the US as the next most important international point for enterprise, IP networking and internet traffic,” said PLDT President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno.
 
“The project also gives our subscribers the fastest and most reliable connections to their loved ones in Hong Kong,” he added.
 
The addition of Hong Kong completes the 7,800-kilometer ASE system which spans across Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and links the Philippines through PLDT’s new third landing station in Daet, Camarines Norte.
 
PLDT has partnered with Japan’s NTTCom, Malaysia’s Telekom Malaysia, and Singapore’s StarHub to form the ASE consortium. The total project cost is about $400 million with PLDT’s share in the ASE investment amounting to approximately $55 million.
 
“Our partnership in the ASE cable system also significantly increases our network’s capacity in meeting the growing demand for bandwidth capacity with the increase of data-capable devices,” Nazareno said.
 
The ASE system can still be expanded to, and is positioned to connect, other Asian countries like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It also provides now interconnection to other major cable systems connecting Europe, the Middle East, and the US.
 
“The ASE project is essential in addressing the fast growing demand for bandwidth as well as network resiliency of enterprises and consumers in the country. It is positioned, to support future bandwidth-intensive applications and next-generation technologies for the PLDT Group,” said PLDT VP and International Network Group Head Genaro Sanchez.