The Board of Investments (BOI) expects to register multi-billion pesos worth of projects in data centers as local and foreign companies begin to set these crucial infrastructure in response to surging data consumption.
The BOI’s Investment Assistance and Facilitation Group said it is assisting Singapore’s SpaceDC for its $700-million project in Cainta, Rizal, the country’s biggest hyperscale data center.
BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said local firm PLDT Group may be the first to officially register as it is in the advanced stage of evaluation and has been given an endorsement by the Department of Information and Communication Technology.
PLDT currently has 10 data centers and is building its 11th at a cost of P5 billion, in Laguna.
The BOI identified hyperscalers as a new addition to the key priority sectors for intensive promotion and fall under the telecom infrastructure list.
Rodolfo on February 28 met with representatives from SpaceDC, weeks after the latter’s announcement of MNL1 Data Center, a 72-megawatt (MW) hyperscale data center which will run on renewable energy.
The project is expected to commence by the end of 2022 and further expansion by 2023.
Hyperscalers are global technology companies providing cloud and internet-based services, which require huge amounts of space, power, and connectivity because of their massive customer base and user demand surges.
Global Data said the Philippines’ enterprise spending on cloud services is expected to swell from $1.8 billion to $2.6 billion by 2024. – Irma Isip
