PLDT launches $550M northern fiber optic gateway

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) yesterday launched the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) landing in Bgy. Baccuit, Bauang, La Union.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated this Northern gateway consisting of a 20,000-kilometer long fiber optic cable project that links Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast. PLDT contributed $ 50 million to the initiative.

Furthermore, PLDT intends to start its third gateway facility in the Southern part of the Philippines also worth around $ 500 million within the year, according to PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

"We are tentatively looking at Cebu, Leyte, Cagayan de Oro and Surigao as probable choices for the Southern Gateway in Visayas and Northern Mindanao," he added.

In the meantime, the telco will start operating the AAG by early 2009, enabling the country to become a hub for regional as well as trans-Pacific connectivity. In the future, it will provide connectivity to Australia, India, Africa and Europe as well.

The first gateway facility, located in Batangas, passes through Japan and Taiwan. Significantly, AAG, the second gateway in the North, is the first to bypass earthquake prone areas.

Hence, it will provide added protection from disasters such as the 7.1 magnitude earthquake two years ago that disrupted telecommunications services to corporate and retail customers across the region.

"It’s less prone to risk," stressed PLDT Senior Vice President and Head of Customer Sales and Marketing Group Eric Alberto.

On top of these, the 2 terabit-capacity AAG is expected to meet the growth in international bandwidth demand for Internet Protocol or IP-based data, video and other multimedia services in the next half decade.

Until 2010, the country’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector alone is projected to triple its growth to be a $ 10 Billion industry. AAG will likewise boost Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs), call centers and other growth industries that depend on advanced telecommunications services and thus further propel the country’s economic development.

The enhanced international connectivity likewise supports the growth of broadband Internet services such as PLDT MyDSL and Smart Bro Prepaid.