By PLDT Press Release
November 16, 2017
By end-2017, the total capacity of PLDT international submarine cable links (including non-Philippines terminating) will reach 4.497 Terabits per second (Tbps). This is a nearly 140% increase in capacity from end-2015, when total capacity stood at 1.889 Tbps.
Moreover, further expansion programs to meet expected rapid growth in demand for internet as well as other services requiring international facilities in the next two plans is expected to bring total capacity to 8.413 Tbps by end-2019.
“The build-up of our international cable system capacity is in step with the ongoing expansion of our domestic fiber transmission network. These two efforts support both our fiber to the home last-mile access and our mobile data networks. As a result, we will be progressively able to provide higher levels of internet service to more areas of the country,” said Mario G. Tamayo, PLDT and Smart SVP and Head of Network Planning and Engineering.
Moreover, PLDT will further boost its capacity through its P7-billion investment in the new Trans-Pacific cable system called “Jupiter” which will further increase the capacity and resiliency of its direct undersea fiber links to the United States and Japan.
The new cable system is being built by a consortium of global companies that include Amazon, Facebook, SoftBank, PCCW Global and NTT Communications. With a total length of about 14,000 kilometers, it can deliver a capacity of more than 60 Tbps from the Philippines directly to the United States and Japan and will be ready for service in early 2020.
“What is noteworthy about the Jupiter cable system is its use of the ‘open cable model’, which allows PLDT to quickly increase its undersea cable capacity in order to respond to rising market needs,” said PLDT VP and Head of International Network Gene Sanchez.
Sanchez explained that the consortium participants in the JUPITER cable system are acquiring the fiber cables themselves, not just a share of the system’s fiber capacity. That way, PLDT can increase the capacity of its own fiber links by investing in the terminal technologies that boost data throughput. Unlike in other cable system, PLDT does not have to wait for the upgrade cycle of the consortium.
“This way, we can be much more responsive to the needs of the customers we serve,” he said. “This will enable us to better address the needs of our PLDT fiber to home customers and our LTE/3G mobile data users,” he added.
PLDT has invested heavily in international submarine cables to meet the growing connectivity needs of the country. In 2014, PLDT partnered with Hong Kong-based PCCW Global to acquire capacity in the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) Cable System, a 25,000-kilometer undersea cable network system that connects Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and Europe.
The year before, the Company together with its partners completed the construction of the Asia Submarine-Cable Express (ASE), the largest-capacity international submarine cable system in the Philippines with a landing station located in Daet, Camarines Norte.
PLDT has also landed other international cable systems in the Philippines, such as the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) and the Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 3 (SEA-ME-WE3), which both land in Nasugbu, Batangas, and the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), in Bauang, La Union.
