PLDT eyes 12th data center

MANILA, Philippines — Integrated telco PLDT Inc. is looking at building another data center once it completes its largest one, as it eyes the possibility of bringing in an investor to support the expansion of the business.

PLDT president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio said the telco giant may put up its 12th data center in the Philippines after finishing the construction of VITRO Sta. Rosa this year.

“We are thinking right now whether we should look at a 12th data center obviously depending on the demand that we are seeing from the customers and hyperscalers,” Panlilio said.

Panlilio said that PLDT has started exploring ways forward in managing its data center portfolio considering the cost of running the facilities. The firm has engaged in discussions with investors inquiring whether they can own a share in the business.

However, PLDT has yet to arrive at a decision on the proposals to buy stakes in its data centers.

Panlilio said the firm wants to focus first on the delivery of VITRO Sta. Rosa, its 11th and largest data center, before considering bringing in an investor.

“We are getting a lot of inquiries and I think closer to the completion of that data center, we will even get more,” Panlilio said.

“We want to make sure that we are ahead of the demand, that’s why we are making sure that this completion is done on time. In due time, we need to review the 12th data center. However, there is no real effort yet today to bring in a minority investor,” he added.

PLDT has also started discussions with its financial advisors to estimate how much the market is willing to offer to enter its data center business.

Once activated toward the end of 2023, VITRO Sta. Rosa will raise PLDT’s data center capacity by 50 megawatts, putting it in a position to capture future demand for hyperscale activities.

Data centers serve as storage sites for data loads of tech giants like Facebook and Google.

PLDT saw its information and communications technology revenues jump by 12 percent to P5.4 billion in 2022, from P4.8 billion in 2021. Earnings from data centers made up more than half of the total at P2.9 billion.

At present, PLDT manages a total of 10 data centers scattered across the archipelago, combining for a load capacity of 27.9 MW and recording a utilization rate of 69 percent.

PLDT expects the data center market in the Philippines to grow by 25 percent annually between 2022 and 2027 on optimism that tech giants will start considering the country for their expansion efforts.