Converge pins Cavite, Laguna as data center sites

MANILA, Philippines — Broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is eyeing to expand its data center network to Cavite and Laguna, committing to spend at least P5 billion for the two projects.

Converge CEO and co-founder Dennis Anthony Uy said the company is preparing four years ahead in anticipation of higher demand for data centers, where digital records are stored.

He said Converge is planning to build two data centers in Cavite and Laguna, with one of them housing an 80-megawatt capacity, which would be the company’s largest.

Based on Converge’s estimate, a data center costs a minimum of $10 million per megawatt to build. As such, the provider expects to spend at least $80 million, or around P5 billion, for the expansion.

Uy said they are looking ahead into the future with the plan to expand to Southern Tagalog, projecting that the demand for artificial intelligence computing would only go up. When a task is prompted on an AI tool, its computing is done inside servers of a data center.

Converge currently operates data centers in Angeles City, Caloocan, Clark and Pasig.

The 80-MW project, once pursued, will become one of the country’s largest data centers, matching two-thirds of the 124-MW capacity of STT Fairview in Quezon City.

Uy said Converge is establishing itself in the data center business to pair with its investments in cloud computing, which is managed by Converge Cloud.

On connectivity, Uy said Converge is developing a new product that could change the game on the broadband front. The product will allow consumers to connect to fiber broadband for as low as P500 a month, as Converge targets the low-cost segment again.

The product is different from its prepaid internet Surf2Sawa, which is already a game-changer for cutting monthly cost to P700. Uy wants to go lower to capture unserved consumers in third- and fourth-class municipalities, especially in Mindanao.

The product will be piloted this quarter, with the commercial launch set for 2027.

Uy said the broadband penetration in the Philippines is still low, and this is backed by data from Opensignal that said only 29 percent of Filipinos have fiber-to-the-home coverage.