All systems go for PLDT’s P7 billion transpacific submarine cable

MANILA, Philippines — It is all systems go for PLDT Inc.’s P7-billion transpacific submarine cable investment that would enable it to serve international connectivity requirements better once the system is operational by the second half of next year.

The telecommunications and digital services provider said yesterday that it has finalized the technical and management agreements with a consortium of international providers for the transpacific cable system called Jupiter.

PLDT is investing $136.7 million (P7 billion) in the project with a consortium of global companies that include Amazon, Facebook, SoftBank, PCCW Global and NTT Communications.

The new undersea fiber spanning 14,000 kilometers will connect to PLDT’s cable landing station in Daet, Camarines Norte and will provide additional capacity of more than 22 terabytes per second (Tbps) from the Philippines directly to and from Japan, and 17.6 Tbps to the West Coast in the US.

The new cable system is expected to be completed and operational by third quarter next year.

“This project will enable us to further improve the capacity and resilience of the country’s international connectivity and thus continue to deliver unparalleled world-class internet service to our customers,” PLDT chief revenue officer Alfred Panlilio said.

“This investment is of strategic importance given that a significant amount of content are downloaded by data users from servers abroad, particularly from the US and Japan,” he said.

PLDT said the Jupiter cable system will use state-of-the-art and upgradeable technology using an “open cable model” which will allow the company to increase the capacity of its own fiber links by investing in the terminal technologies that boost data throughput.

It will utilize new technology that will allow PLDT and other consortium participants to quickly upgrade capacity in response to growing data traffic and customer data usage.

Under the open cable model, consortium participants in the Jupiter cable system are acquiring the fiber cables themselves and not just a share of the system’s fiber capacity, enabling them to quickly increase their undersea cable capacity without having to wait for the upgrade cycle of the consortium that is followed in most cable system models.