AYALA-LED Globe Telecom is confident of its US$150-million Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN) project, along with Eastern Communications and InfiniVAN, can bring better and more reliable internet connectivity within its target areas.
Globe, with its private partners in cooperation with the Lapu-Lapu City Government in Mactan Island, Cebu, just landed its 10th submarine cable out of its 33 landing points in Barangay Punta Engaño on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.
Arlene Jallorina, vice president for Strategic Infrastructure Investments of Globe Group, said they envision the Philippines to become the next “internet hub” in Asia with the help of the project.
Jallorina said the project aims to deliver reliable connectivity that is crucial to the country’s recovery efforts from the pandemic to support government, education, business and recreational activities.
Before Mactan, the project landed cables in eight provinces across the country, including Lucena City, Boac in Marinduque, Calatrava in Romblon, Placer in Masbate, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Roxas City, and the tourist island of Siargao in Surigao del Norte.
Vincent Tempongko, co-coordinator from Eastern Communications, said they target areas where the support of economic growth is highly needed and those non-surf areas where internet connectivity needs to be enhanced and kept up with the digital transformation era.
“We want to support them (target areas) in times of need, such as what happened a few months ago when some of these areas were damaged by Typhoon Odette,” said Tempongko.
“Also, to provide resiliency. There are other areas that some of our partners already have connectivity or facilities. So, we want to provide resiliency in case something happens to our existing cables; we are there to continuously support that area,” he added.
The project, which has a total cable distance of about 2,500 kilometers, started in July at Subic Bay and is set to finish covering all sites by April next year.
Globe said it aims to conduct cable landings in Bohol and Boracay Aklan within November and December, and activate its fiber connections once the project is fully implemented. /