Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 16) — Pangilinan-led PLDT seeks to further boost internet capacity in the Philippines, saying it is shelling out $80 million (₱3.9 billion) to join other foreign players in building a new international undersea cable system.
The telco giant in a statement on Monday said it joined an international consortium to construct a submarine cable system—dubbed APRICOT—linking the Philippines to Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Guam.
The group said new cable landing stations will be deployed in Luzon and Mindanao as part of the transpacific cable system.
“The construction of this APRICOT cable system is vital to the Philippine economy with rapidly increasing data traffic and is aligned with our efforts to make the Philippines a strategic data center hub in the region,” PLDT and Smart Communications president and chief executive officer Alfredo S. Panlilio was quoted as saying in the statement.
With a total length of 12,000 kilometers, PLDT said the system will bolster its capability to deal with soaring data demand, and support its 5G expansion as its design capacity will reach over 190 terabits per second.
The APRICOT cable system is slated to be fully operational by 2024, PLDT said.
“We continue to invest in international submarine cable systems, which are necessary infrastructure for global communications supporting ICT services,” Panlilio said.
This cable project is the third international cable network system announced by PLDT in the last two years, which when completed would bring the group’s participation in 18 international cable systems.
