Converge expands to Singapore

MANILA, Philippines — Broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has started offering its fiber services outside the Philippines after receiving authority to deploy its telco infrastructure in Singapore.

Converge yesterday said it has secured approval from the Singapore government to extend connectivity services through its subsidiary Converge ICT Singapore Pte. Ltd. as part of its international expansion.

Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, in its grant letter, approved the application of Converge for a facilities-based operations (FBO) license.

With this, Converge can start deploying its telco infrastructure in Singapore. The firm can begin providing internet services and extending fiber optic cable capacity to wholesale and enterprise customers in the country.

The FBO license grants Converge the right to provide international connectivity in Singapore. In particular, it can offer its Ethernet-International Private Line; Dedicated Internet Access; Carrier Ethernet Network; Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network using Multiprotocol Label Switching; and submarine cable capacities.

Converge CEO and co-founder Dennis Anthony Uy said the FBO license obtained by the firm’s unit in Singapore allows it to capture some of the connectivity demand in Asia and the Pacific.

“The grant of an FBO license to our Singapore unit significantly bolsters the ability of Converge Group to sell international wholesale connectivity and capacity services,” Uy said.

“We can now directly service clients in Singapore to cater their growing needs for intra-Asia and trans-Pacific connectivity requirements,” he said.

At present, Converge is nearing to hook up to international cable systems that would expand its capacity to link to data offices in the region. The firm is participating in the Bifrost Cable System and the Southeast Asia Hainan-Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X).

Both Bifrost and SEA-H2X are scheduled to be completed and activated next year. Bifrost is set to host two international links—one in Singapore, one in North America—and promises a design capacity of 15 terabits per second each way.

On the other hand, SEA-H2X—which will traverse China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—would hold at least eight fiber pairs in its system and a data capacity of 160 terabits per second.

In 2021, Converge decided to incorporate its Singaporean arm to market and sell its international capacity to broadband and telco providers in the city state.