Fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has earmarked $60 million for the construction of three data centers that are expected to be completed by 2025.
On the sidelines of the Surf2Sawa (S2S) prepaid fiber internet launch last Friday, Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge chief executive officer and co-founder, told reporters the company will build three more data centers located in Angeles City in Pampanga, Quezon City and Cebu, amounting to around $20 million each that will be completed in 18 to 24 months.
The data centers will have a capacity of 600 racks per site, expandable to 1,000 racks and with three to five megawatts capacity, said Uy.
Converge has two data centers located in Pasig City and Clark, Pampanga. The construction of a new data center will help support the expansion of its operation.
Converge is aggressively expanding its prepaid fiber home broadband services targeting the low-end market, through a partnership with local government units and a community-based approach to capture the significant unserved and underserved market in the country.
Converge has 60,000 customers for prepaid fiber home broadband services. It expects to end the year with over 100,000 subscribers and by 2025, around one million customers, according to Uy.
Converge is making headway in Metro Manila as it serves the low-income class of the region’s urban centers, doubling its subscriber count for the fiber prepaid product, S2S, quarter-on-quarter as of the first quarter of 2023.
Last Friday, Converge launched its S2S prepaid fiber internet product in Tondo, one of its top-served urban settlements. The community event was held at the Sandiwaan Center, just across Smokey Mountain.
“In Metro Manila, we are elated to see S2S prepaid fiber internet being the home broadband product of choice in dense communities in the City of Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, and Taguig. This is a sign that these urban settlements are leveraging our pure fiber connectivity to augment their livelihood and answer their entertainment, social, and even financial needs,” noted Uy during the launch.
S2S was initially launched in November with a presence in over 400 cities and municipalities across the country. As of end-March 2023, S2S subscribers nearly doubled quarter-on-quarter and is on track to hit its goal of reaching 120,000 subscribers by year-end, Converge said.
As of end-July, S2S is serving customers in 554 cities and municipalities from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, th company added.
“For 2023, we hope to open in new areas in Luzon such as Kalinga and Occidental Mindoro, Visayas, including Negros Oriental and Leyte, and Mindanao provinces like Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Bukidnon,” said Jesus Romero, Converge chief operations officer.
Converge said it has strengthened its hold in key urban areas through a business model that recruited sales agents within the community as retailers, thus providing livelihood opportunities in these neighborhoods.
Surf2Sawa is a prepaid fiber-to-the-home plan with various top-up options for as low as P50 load for one-day service up to P700 for a 30-day unlimited connectivity, which is the most widely subscribed plan. The modem limits concurrent users to only six devices, with an average speed of 25 Mbps.
With more than eight million ports deployed across the country as of March 2023, Converge said it is well-positioned to capitalize on this prepaid opportunity with its expansive digital infrastructure.
