PLDT Inc. yesterday said it has secured regulatory approval to start construction of two new cable landing stations in the country as part of the newest intra-Asia submarine cable, the Apricot cable system, which is slated for completion in 2025.
PLDT has secured from the National Telecommunications Commission the provisional authority to construct two new cable landing stations in Baler, Aurora in the northeast and in Digos, Davao in the southern coastal borders to provide telco carriers”¯new”¯alternate routes which do not traverse the usual West Philippine Sea waters.
Targeted to be completed by”¯early 2025, these”¯new cable landing”¯facilities will further fortify PLDT’s international cable network”¯to deliver higher speeds, lower latency connectivity in and out of the Philippines, as well as add”¯resiliency”¯to its existing landing stations in Batangas, La Union”¯and Daet.
“The Apricot cable system’s route ensures a significantly higher degree of resilience. When our Baler and Davao cable landing stations are completed, PLDT will have alternate sites facing the Pacific, making it easier to hook up to data offices in the US,” said Alfredo Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and Smart Communications Inc.
PLDT said the completion of the Apricot cable system by”¯end”¯of 2025 will further augment its international capacity for data traffic — particularly to the United States and across Asia and the Pacific — and raise its total international capacity to more than 140 terabits per second once fully equipped.
The 12,000-kilometer-long cable system will connect the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Guam.
“As we help position the Philippines as the new hyperscaler destination and major transit hub in Asia, we continue to upgrade and build on the foundations of PLDT’s global network infrastructure. These investments enable us to provide superior digital services to our consumer and enterprise customers, eliver newer technologies with our 4G, & 5G capabilities, and add value for attracting hyperscalers and investors to expand their cloud in the country,” Panlilio added. – Myla Iglesias
