PLDT Boosts International Data Capacity by 33% With New Apricot Subsea Cable Deployment

By Gigi Onag, Light Reading
March 14, 2025

PLDT announced on Thursday that it has completed the laying of cables for the two Philippine branches of the Apricot cable system that terminate at newly constructed landing stations in Baler town in Aurora province and the coastal town of Digos in Davao province.

The 12,000km submarine cable system connects Japan and Singapore with branches in Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Guam, bypassing the troubled waters of the South China Sea. The Apricot cable system consists of 12 fiber pairs, each having a design capacity of approximately 17.6 Tbit/s, for a total system capacity of approximately 211 Tbit/s. The cable system was originally scheduled to be operational in 2024.

PLDT, the dominant telco operator in the Philippines, is part of the consortium that financed the submarine cable project. Other participants include NTT, Chunghwa Telecom, Google and Meta.

The company said Apricot strengthens its ability to serve the country's growing data traffic, increasing its international capacity by as much as 33% to more than 140 Tbit/s, further enhancing the diversity and capacity of PLDT's cable system portfolio.

In addition, with the two Apricot cable landing stations located at opposite ends of the country, PLDT expects the new submarine cable system to also serve the operator's fixed and wireless subscribers at the consumer level.

“Aside from supporting international data traffic, the Apricot cable system's route also provides resiliency to PLDT's domestic network between Luzon and Mindanao,” PLDT's chief operating officer, Butch Jimenez,�said in a statement.

Targeting global hyperscalers

Apricot�was first announced in August 2021 with the aim of helping to meet the growing demand for 4G, 5G and broadband access in the region. Apricot was also planned to complement other submarine cables in the area, such as Echo and Bifrost.

PLDT�has invested $80 million in Apricot, which it hopes will help position the Philippines as a destination for global hyperscalers looking to expand their cloud footprint in Asia.

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