PLDT, SBMA tie up to boost ICT development in Subic

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corp. (PLDT) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) have sealed a partnership that will put the Subic Freeport at the frontline of the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

SBMA administrator Armand Arreza said the memorandum of understanding (MOU) calls for the promotion of Subic Freeport’s IT capabilities through the SBMA-PLDT-Subictel caravan project, which will promote PLDT’s recent ICT investments worth more than P40 million.

Under the project, the P20-million Innovation Laboratory (Innolab) unveiled by Subictel in October 2009 will be an essential part of Subic’s investor tour program. It will serve as a one-stop showcase of Subic’s ICT capability in terms of infrastructure, and also highlight the available and “futuristic” IT solutions of PLDT for various industries.

On SBMA’s part, Arreza said the agency would establish an ICT park on a 17-hectare property to put to use PLDT’s “ready-to-use” telecoms solutions and ICT infrastructure. These would include the next-generation network (NGN) fiber optics cable connecting Subic to Manila and the entire Luzon grid.

“Capacity comes first before opportunity,” Arreza said. “They (PLDT), too, saw our vision for the Subic-Clark economic corridor, and they acted in accordance with that vision.”

Arreza also revealed that international players in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry have been scouting for business opportunities in Subic.

“It’s only a matter of time before the Subic Bay Freeport becomes synonymous with BPO and IT-related services, like back-office outsourcing, software and games development, engineering design, and digital animation, among others,” said Arreza.

The MOU, which would pave the way for tripartite collaborative projects, was signed by Arreza and Subictel chairman and PLDT senior vice-president Ernesto Alberto, PLDT first vice-president Nerissa Ramos and Subictel president Dennis Magbatoc.

Alberto, meanwhile, reaffirmed his company’s belief in the potentials of Subic Bay as an ICT hub, adding that since its establishment, PLDT has invested “quite tremendously in the Subic-Clark corridor especially in the past few years.”

He said Subic and Clark have been “fibered” with the NGN technology, which increased network coverage and enabled new and innovative services to emerge in the market.

Through the Subictel Innolab, the fifth of its kind in the country, the public is also able to access “revolutionary business solutions and the latest ICT trends,” Alberto added.