PLDT, Inc. is expanding its network bandwidth capacity by investing $80 million, or P3.9 billion, in the construction of an international undersea cable system, its chief executive officer said.
PLDT is investing in the APRICOT cable project, which is expected to augment the group’s international capacity for data traffic.
“The construction of this APRICOT cable system is vital to the Philippine economy with rapidly increasing data traffic and is aligned with our best efforts to make the Philippines a strategic data center hub in the region,” PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Alfredo S. Panlilio said in a statement e-mailed to reporters on Monday.
The APRICOT project is the third international cable network system where PLDT is participating in.
To recall, PLDT announced previously its $136.7-million investment in the Jupiter Cable project and in the 9,400-kilometer Asia Direct Cable system.
The Jupiter and the Asia Direct cable projects are expected to be completed this year and early 2023, respectively, the company said.
“The 12,000-kilometer-long cable system will have design capacity of more than 190Tbps (Terabits per second) connecting the Philippines to Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Guam,” the company said, referring to the APRICOT cable project that is targeted to be fully operational in 2024.
PLDT shares closed 1.25% lower at P1,259 apiece on Monday.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Arjay L. Balinbin
