PLDT expands global footprint

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has partnered with data center operator Telehouse Europe to further expand its global footprint particularly in the United Kingdom.

PLDT first vice president Jovy Hernandez said the partnership between PLDT UK and one of the world’s largest data center owner operators would allow the company to expand its global Points of Presence (PoP).

“We are very proud to add the UK to our ever growing managed international network. Our constant drive to deliver world class service to our customers around the globe allows them to focus on what matters the most and allows their customers to do the same,” he said.

Hernandez, who also heads PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, pointed out that the tieup allows PLDT to offer pan-global connectivity from the Philippines to the UK.

He added that the company can now provide clients with an Ethernet International Private Leased Circuit (E/IPLC) service from the UK to the rest of the world, as part of its Global Managed Ethernet service offerings.

The PLDT UK PoP has direct connections to Hong Kong and the US enabling it to achieve optimal latency for its customers around the world. This builds on over 500 domestic ethernet nodes that it owns in the Philippines and POPs in Singapore, Japan, US, and Hong Kong.

Telehouse director of sales and marketing Michelle Reid said PLDT has made a great decision to expand their E/IPLC into the UK as the market becomes ever more significant in the global telecommunications infrastructure.

 “With over 535 connectivity providers now in the Telehouse Docklands campus, we look forward to enabling them to maximize the opportunity this expansion represents,” Reid added.

PLDT continues to partner with regional and global providers to expand its coverage and deliver global-class Ethernet services to its customers.

Last year, PLDT through PLDT Global announced that it was going full blast in further expanding its presence overseas particularly in Europe in the second half of the year to cater to Filipinos living and working abroad after successfully launching operations in the US and Canada last year.

PLDT Global through PLDT US Mobility launched Smart World Mobile last June through partnership T-Mobile to ensure nationwide coverage on the fastest long term evolution (LTE) network in the US.

With the partnership, subscribers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, San Diego, and Las Vegas would be connected to the largest mobile subscriber base of about 75 million subscribers of Smart Communications Inc. and Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (Sun Cellular) in the Philippines.

PLDT Global is also looking at expanding to the East Coast in the US this year where between 65 percent and 70 percent of the 3.4 million Filipinos in the US are based.

PLDT Global has existing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deals with operators in eight countries including Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Guam, Taiwan, United Kingdom, US, and Singapore.