Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company(PLDT) plans to invest in a new submarine fiber optic cable system that would connect Asian countries with the United States on its way across the Pacific Ocean. The incumbent telecommunication service provider will join a team of consortium members and will put its share of around 100 million US dollars. The investment will help PLDT to access required bandwidth provided by the cable system.
Significant amount of data has been transported between Asian and North American countries. The new submarine cable linking South East Countries with United States will help to carry much of the future data traffic among these countries. The cable system under planning will enhance PLDT’s international bandwidth capacity and will raise resiliency of its overseas links.
Philippines is one the few countries in Asia, where a lot of work from US has been outsourced. Philippines has been a favorable country for US companies to outsource their work, thus bringing many call centers in Philippines. The English based education in Philippines has helped Philippines to establish itself as a favorable outsourcing center for Information technology and Health care system companies in United States. A lot of content is being transported between Philippines and United States.
PLDT International Network officials stated that the consortium is in the final stages of planning. The new submarine fiber optic cable is planned to bypass Guam and Hawaii on its way to US. Currently the planned landing points are Daet and Batangas. PLDT will sign the MoU with other consortium members within a year.
PLDT has invested in international submarine cables in the Asia-Pacific region, establishing direct connections to the US mainland and covering a majority of its total international capacity in the past. PLDT’s portfolio of cable systems include the Asia-Africa-Europe 1, the Asia Submarine-Cable Express, the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 the Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 3 and the Asia-America Gateway.
PLDT top officials confirmed that the group will likely spend more than the programmed capital expenditures this year to further modernize the network of the top telecommunications player in the Philippines. The investment will also be used to improve and expand PLDT’s mobile networks.
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