PLDT investing nearly P7 billion in new Trans-Pacific cable system

October 30, 2017

PLDT Inc. said on Monday it is investing nearly P7 billion in a new Trans-Pacific cable system to boost  the resiliency of its undersea fiber links to the US and Japan.

“We are investing in this new cable system in anticipation of the continued explosion of data traffic over the next few years, as households and businesses in the Philippines adopt more and more digital services,” Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman and president of PLDT said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“Along with our other technology initiatives, this new project will enable PLDT to gear up for the emerging ‘Gigabit Society’ where ultra-high-speed connectivity will support a wide range of bandwidth-heavy, low-latency digital applications and internet-of-things (IOT) services,” he added.

PLDT investment in new cable system to be called “Jupiter”  includes purchases by PLDT of complementary terminal equipment and other related facilities in the Philippines, Japan and the US.

Jupiter will be ready for service in early-2020.

Amazon, Facebook, SoftBank, PCCW Global, NTT Communications, and PLDT will build and operate Jupiter will connect Maruyama and Shima in Japan and Los Angeles in the US to Daet, PLDT’s cable landing station in Camarines Norte in the Philippines to meet rising data traffic and complement cable systems through increased capacity and diversity in these areas of the Pacific Rim.

According to PLDT and Smart SVP and Head of Network Planning and Engineering Mario Tamayo, the new cable system will directly link the Philippines to Japan and the West Coast of the US, without any hops or stop overs.

PLDT vice president and head of International Network Gene Sanchez said strengthening undersea cable links to the US and Japan is a priority because the bulk of internet content and services being accessed by Filipinos are from servers in the US and a material portion of demand for content is served via Japan.

He said the Philippines has extensive economic ties with both the US and Japan which are among the world’s largest economies. DMS