TELECOMMUNICATIONS firm Telstra International has forged a new partnership with Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. for a joint venture that seeks to improve connectivity in the Philippines.
In a statement on Wednesday, Telstra said its partnership with Converge has created Telstra Converge Inc. (TCI), which was previously known as Digitel Crossing, Inc., in a bid to offer end-to-end solutions for customers.
“The joint venture has allowed Telstra to build new terrestrial fiber routes between its East Asia Crossing (EAC) and City-to-City (C2C) submarine cable landing stations in the Philippines, as well as into Makati City in the Metro Manila region, the country’s financial, commercial, and economic hub. This expansion enables Telstra to provide quality end-to-end solutions for its customers,” Telstra said.
“As the largest foreign submarine cable owner in the Philippines, Telstra also has access to two submarine cable landing stations in the country. They form part of the EAC-C2C network, which is the largest privately-owned submarine cable network, with a design capacity of 17.92 terabytes per second Tbps (terabits per second) to 30.72 Tbps and a total cable length of 36,800 kilometres,” it added.
Further, Telstra also launched a new point of presence (PoP) in Pasig City, which allows ethernet private line (EPL) services of 10G and 100G, to ensure a stable and more accessible internet service. The new PoP is linked to the two existing PoPs in Makati City.
Alfred Au Yeung, Telstra global wholesale head of strategic transactions, said that the company is looking to explore more opportunities and collaborations in the Philippines.
“Telstra has been operating in the Philippines for more than 25 years with in-country telecommunication expertise and a dedicated local support team. Our enhanced infrastructure further enables us to offer faster and quality connectivity in and out of the Philippines. Not only does it equip our customers with cable diversity and options for network resiliency, it also offers a truly end-to-end solution that fits their increasing bandwidth demand,” he said.
“Looking ahead, Telstra will continue to explore opportunities and collaborate with industry partners, to fully maximize the potential of the Philippines as a new connectivity hub in Asia,” he added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
