PLDT building 8th data center facility

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co., the country’s biggest telecommunications company, is starting to build its eighth data center facility, which will be located in Clark, Pampanga.

PLDT, through subsidiary ePLDT, said in a statement over the weekend that the facility, under its Vitro Data Center line, would cost about P1.3 billion to finish. The completion of its eighth data center will give PLDT a rack capacity of more than 8,000, the largest in the country.

“Vitro Clark, once fully operational, will cater to the region’s thriving business communities and planned IT hubs in Central Luzon, that could also serve the disaster recovery requirements for other businesses elsewhere,” PLDT said.

The Vitro Clark facility will boost the growth of ICT-demanding industries in the area like the business process outsourcing, outsourcing and offshoring, and retail, it added.

“This new data center will be compliant to global standards with enough rack space to accommodate the production requirements of the enterprises based here in Luzon, as well as the disaster recovery requirements of those based elsewhere,” Eric Alberto, PLDT executive vice president and ePLDT president and CEO, said in the statement.

“We are not doing this just for the prestige of becoming the largest data center operator in the country. We are doing this because we want to enable local enterprises to compete in the global arena and help fulfill our country’s destiny to become the next Asian Economic Tiger,” he added.

Adding an additional 1,230 rack capacity to the PLDT Group, the five-story building will have eight level access security control and redundant infrastructures to ensure highest uptime service level.

When fully complete, the PLDT Group will have eight operational commercial data centers with a combined rack capacity exceeding 8,000.

The planned data center is anticipated to boost the region’s business communities and growing IT hubs. Recently, Metro Clark was reported to enter the top 100 list of 2015 Tholons International Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations Report, making it the eighth Philippine city in the list.

“PLDT has added value to Clark, with Vitro coming here, this adds to this landscape that will make businesses want to invest and set up here,” Clark Development Corp. president Arthur Tugade said in the same statement.

Similar to its new Vitro facility in Makati, the Vitro Clark will be based on TIA-942 and LEED standard guidelines and will undergo certifications once completed, ensuring global standards are implemented that will make it at par with data centers in advanced countries.