PLDT, HK firm to lay 25,000 km of cable in 3 continents

SCREENGRAB from www.pldt.com

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. has partnered with Hong Kong-based PCCW Global to undertake an international fiber optic project, the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) Cable System, which may be completed in 2016.

PLDT said in a statement that the project would further increase its international bandwidth capacity and raise the resiliency of its overseas links as it enhances the quality of data and Internet connections for its customers.

The 25,000-km undersea cable network system will connect Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and Europe. It will have the capacity to process 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) of information, with the minimum pegged at 10 Gbps.

“The AAE-1 Cable System will provide network diversity and resiliency, which is a great enabler in delivering quality service to our customers,” PLDT president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno said in the statement. “This new cable system will facilitate the PLDT Group’s growth and expansion, allowing it to serve more customers not only in the country but in Europe and the Middle East as well.”

PLDT said the AAE-1 will connect the Philippines to 17 international destinations: France, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

“AAE-1 will boost our country’s global competitiveness by being one of the significant factors that could attract investors in business process outsourcing industries (BPOs) and other enterprises,” Nazareno said. “It will also allow the PLDT Group to offer products and services, such as enterprise data and Internet services to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.”

For the past years, PLDT has been investing in international submarine cables in the Asia-Pacific, establishing direct connections to the US mainland. The investment in AAE-1 forms part of PLDT’s capex for 2014 estimated at between P30 billion and P32 billion.

PLDT and its partners last year completed the construction of Asia Submarine-Cable Express (ASE), the largest capacity international submarine cable system in the Philippines with a landing station in Daet, Camarines Norte.