NTC approves PLDT participation in $304-M submarine cable network

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has approved the participation of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) in a $304-million submarine cable network.

“PLDT’s committed investment is $55 million or equivalent to more or less P2.4 billion. With its present financial position and performance, PLDT is financially sound to finance the project,” NTC said in an en banc order dated Aug. 17.

The regulator said the 7,200-kilometer submarine cable system, tagged as the Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE), is necessary to provide connectivity for international telecommunications traffic. The cable system will have a landing station in Daet, Camarines Norte.

It said the cable system will benefit the public by providing redundancy and additional capacity to PLDT’s existing international cable system.

However, the regulator required PLDT to “not discriminate against any user of said system in the condition of authorized services and/or availment of the facilities to be established under the international cable landing station and submarine cable system.”

PLDT earlier announced that along with other foreign telecom firms it will build a multimillion-dollar “next generation” fiber optic underwater cable system to serve the rising demand for broadband services and network redundancy.

PLDT said it signed a construction and maintenance agreement (CM&A) with NTT Communications of Japan and StarHub of Singapore, to build a $430 million Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE).

Telekom Malaysia (TM) signed a separate agreement with NTT Communications for the project.

The 7,200-kilometer ASE system will link Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The system will also connect to Malaysia and potentially to mainland China, as well as other Southeast Asian countries.

The system is envisioned to provide seamless interconnection with other major cable systems connecting Europe, the Middle East, other parts of Asia, and the United States.

PLDT’s new cable landing station on the east coast of the Philippines will also provide enhanced network redundancy for superior telecommunications services for corporate, SME (small and medium enterprise), and retail broadband customers of PLDT and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc.

Genaro Sanchez, PLDT vice president for network planning and engineering and international network operations, said the synergy of the industry leaders is essential in realizing ASE.

As a result, Sanchez said PLDT will have additional bandwidth capacity via a new diverse route to further improve the resiliency of its international cable network in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sanchez said the ASE will answer the customers two-pronged demand for increased bandwidth and enhanced dependability.

This is expected to cater to the forecast exponential growth in bandwidth requirements for new and revolutionary broadband applications such as IP, video, data, and other multimedia services.

Furthermore, the cable routes between the ASE terminal stations will cover the shortest possible distances to minimize latency.

ASE will be installed along a route that will avoid as much as possible the critical earthquake prone area in the south of Taiwan.

Sanchez added that with the construction of a new cable station in the east coast of the Philippines, PLDT will be in a position to offer a highly resilient international network that is expected to survive natural disasters.

It will also address the upcoming retirement of older cables, Sanchez added as he disclosed that the new system will carry commercial traffic beginning the third quarter of 2012.

ASE is being supplied jointly by NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd.