PLDT expands capacity of data centers

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. plans to expand its rack capacity by up to 7,500 until 2023, to capture the rising demand for data centers in the Philippines and around the region.

PLDT president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio yesterday said the telco giant purchased 612 racks to boost the capacity of its 10 data centers.

Panlilio said PLDT would sustain its data center expansion to meet not only local demand, but also foreign requirements, bulk of which come from hyperscale firms.

Hyperscale refers to investments made by tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, in new infrastructure that can serve and take care of their data requirements. The Philippines is expected to become a hyperscale hub in Asia and the Pacific.

According to Panlilio, PLDT’s technology subsidiary ePLDT maintains at least 6,133 racks in its 10 data centers nationwide, mostly situated in Luzon. Panlilio said a total of 4,541 of these racks are in service, recording a utilization rate of 74 percent.

ePLDT president Viboy Genuino said the firm wants to add 1,500 racks by the fourth quarter and another 1,500 units by the end of 2023.

“So all told, you are looking at an additional 3,000 available racks from now until the end of next year,” Genuino said.

Further, Genuino said the completion of PLDT’s 11th and largest data center in Laguna would add another 4,500 racks to bolster its grip on hyperscale investors.

PLDT is spending up to P13 billion to put up VITRO Sta. Rosa with a power capacity scaleable to 100 megawatts. Apart from the Laguna data center, the telco giant eyes to build another one with a similar capacity in the future.

Structure Research, a firm specializing on internet infrastructure, said the Philippines is poised to be one of the most promising hubs in the Asia Pacific region for hyperscale investments. It said data center investments in the country may hit $134 million this year and could grow by at least 25 percent annually until 2027.

Property expert Colliers Philippines said the country grabbed close to P16 billion in investments on data centers due to the surging demand for e-commerce, cloud and 5G services.

“The Philippines is one of the prime emerging data center markets in Southeast Asia, as in 2021, investments in the sector reached $298 million or at least P15.5 billion,” Colliers said.