The data center arm of telco giant PLDT Inc. is increasing its capacity to address the requirements of customers as digitalization in the country further picks up.
In a statement on Thursday 16 February, ePLDT Inc. said its VITRO Makati 2 would add 12 megawatts (MW) of capacity to power nearly 1,600 new racks. The expansion will go live next month, enabling the facility’s capacity to 3,360 racks backed by 20 MW. The PLDT unit said that this move was in line with the accelerated adoption of digital financial services, e-commerce and digital media, among others.
“The expansion of VITRO Makati 2 will enable ePLDT to accommodate additional requirements of existing customers and to keep up with the country’s ever-increasing data center demands,” ePLDT president and CEO Victor Genuino said.
ePLDT is also currently constructing its 11th data center, the five-hectare VITRO Sta. Rosa in Laguna. The facility, which is designed to have a power capacity of up to 50 MW, is slated for completion this year.
In another development, PLDT and its partners are also expected to activate the $75-million Asia Direct Cable (ADC), a 9,400-kilometer (km) subsea cable system, this year. This is a global consortium composed of PLDT, China Telecom, China Unicom, National Telecom, Singtel, SoftBank Corp., Tata Communications and Viettel Group.
From the Philippines, ADC will be connected to Tuas, Singapore; Chung Hom Kok, Hong Kong; Maruyama, Japan; Quy Nhon, Vietnam; Sri Racha, Thailand; and Shantou, China. The project seeks to boost delivery of data across East and Southeast Asia.
Also in June last year, PLDT activated the 14,000-km US-Transpacific Jupiter Cable System. It links the US, Japan and Daet, Camarines Norte and has increased the company’s international capacity to 60 terabits per second.
