DAVAO Region is the site for two new internet cable landing stations in the Philippines, according to Atty. Samuel Matunog, president of the Information and Communications Technology Davao Inc.
Matunog said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum on October 24 that Converge ICT Solutions Inc. and PLDT are part of the consortium investing in an international submarine cable for internet connection.
The landing station of Converge will be located at Davao City while the one from PLDT will be in Digos City. Matunog said the target year for both would be 2024.
“In addition to the international gateway of Globe that connects us to the west coast of the USA, there will be two additional international landing stations... In effect, we will have three submarine cables connecting us to the internet, direct to Mindanao and that is very critical,” he said.
The additional submarine cables would make the country’s internet connection more efficient and reliable. He said this is important since many Filipinos rely on the internet for their work.
“The international cable landing stations will ensure that our infrastructure is resilient, and sufficient ang speed and capacity to ensure (connectivity) kahit gaano pa karami ang gagamit nito (the speed and capacity are sufficient to ensure connectivity for everyone),” he said.
On the other hand, Matunog said the country, or even the region, has no problems when it comes to the current internet speed, it only depends on how much consumers can pay for their connection. He said more expensive internet providers would have better internet speed.
However, it can also depend on the devices. For example, mobile phones are not the most reliable since they are connected wirelessly and signals can be interrupted frequently by various factors.
“For fiber optic connections, it’s all about the capacity that you have and the amount of money you can afford. The speed, wala tayo limit (We do not have a limit when it comes to speed),” Matunog said. ICM