PLDT, Globe work on Internet deal

THE COUNTRY’S two telecommunication industry players are in talks to enter into a voluntary online traffic exchange agreement in a bid to improve the quality of Internet services in the Philippines.

In a statement, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said it had started talks with Globe Telecom on the scheme, otherwise known as an Internet protocol (IP) peering arrangement.

PLDT said it had submitted a draft proposal based on internationally accepted peering practices, and was in “active” discussions with Globe.

“Our discussions with Globe are part of a broader effort of PLDT to improve Internet services in the country,” Ernesto Alberto, PLDT executive vice president for enterprise and international business and president and CEO of ePLDT, said in the statement.

Alberto noted that about 95 percent of web content accessed by Filipinos came from overseas, mainly North America and, to a lesser extent, Europe. He added that Internet habits here were moving toward multimedia content, particularly high-definition streaming video, which were much more bandwidth-heavy.

This means the required international cable capacity to carry the growing multimedia traffic from abroad is rising rapidly.

Alberto said PLDT was already building new international cable capacity ahead of the soaring demand for multimedia content.

PLDT is also storing or “caching” in its local data centers popular overseas web content. The PLDT Group operates six data center facilities with a current total capacity of over 3,200 racks. Two more data centers will be operational by first half of 2016, raising its total capacity to over 8,000 racks.

“Local caching really helps, but this has limits. A lot of the most sought-after Internet content is very dynamic. Like, you cannot locally cache news sites or secure websites such as those of banks and other financial institutions,” he said.

PLDT is also rolling out more domestic fiber optic cable facilities for use in both backbone transmission and distribution to the home or office. Wireless subsidiaries Smart Communications and Sun Cellular are also expanding high-speed 3G and 4G/LTE facilities.

“We are pursuing several parallel initiatives that taken together will help deliver an improved Internet experience for Filipinos,” Alberto said.

Last month, PLDT reached an agreement with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to provide fiber optic facilities that link PLDT to the DOST’s Philippine Open Internet Exchange, or PHOpenIX.

PLDT also provided rack space in ePLDT’s VITRO Data Center facility, where DOST has set up and operates its third PHOpenIX node.

This network peering arrangement further improves the resiliency of the government Internet exchange and gives PLDT subscribers better access to government websites hosted in PHOpenIX.

“Local peering will help improve the web experience of Internet users in the country by keeping local traffic local. That is why we struck an agreement with DOST and why we are pursuing another one with Globe,” Alberto said.