PLDT builds P1.6-B Internet center

Telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is investing P1.6 billion in a new Internet data center (IDC) designed to provide computer hardware and applications for businesses planning to do e-commerce.

PLDT president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said yesterday that they expect the new undertaking to make a significant contribution in the company's overall revenue even as he declined to provide specific figures.

Pangilinan said conservative projections show a positive cash flow in one year and a payback period of three years.

The project, he said, is internally funded and is part of PLDT's P15-billion capital expenditure for 2000.

At least P6 million was allocated for IDC's hardware and support systems. The rest of the investment was used to buy the land and construct the building.

PLDT's IDC is a state-of-the-art, 40,000 square feet, secure building staffed by information technology professionals that will host, co-locate and/or manage the computer servers, applications and bandwidth needed by PLDT and its customers for their Internet and multimedia operations.

At the same time, Ariel Roda, PLDT chief information officer, said that after signing up technology partnerships with Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Cisco Systems and Compaq, PLDT is also about to forge similar tie-ups with other global players whom he refused to identify.

According to him, key equipment and software systems for the center will be provided by Sun and Microsoft. Roda said preparations of IDC facilities have reached an advanced stage and the first customers will be able to utilize it before yearend.

He said they are currently negotiating with a number of corporate and small and medium size business users which have expressed interest in the service.

Targeted principal users, he said, include multinational companies, and banks and large organizations establishing their first Internet presence.

Roda said the service is also likely to be popular with small to medium enterprises (SMEs) including dot.com companies with simple requirements such as e-mail,word processing, spreadsheets, data management and web site hosting.

"While almost every business needs to embrace the Internet and the communication advantages that it offers, many of them simply don't have the time or resources to manage their own facilities. So they realize that it makes better business sense to outsource their Internet requirements to professional suppliers who can provide the best facilities," Roda said.

Likewise, Roda said they plan to expand their services to other developing countries in the region which may need similar facilities. There is no timetable for the move yet.

"The Internet is a global force and our research shows there is a huge potential market in the rest of Asia for our product. We're sure we'll be able to attract overseas business as well with our winning combination of world-class features and competitive pricing," he said.