PLDT Inc. will triple its international capacity as it activates the US-Transpacific Jupiter cable system this July, the telco disclosed Friday, June 24.

Jupiter will increase PLDT’s international capacity of 20 Terabit/s to about 60 Terabit/s to US and Japan.

“Specifically, it will fortify the Philippines’ position as the next strategic data center hub for global hyperscalers,” says PLDT and Smart FVP and Head of Enterprise Business Group Jojo G. Gendrano.

This joint project of global providers spans 14,000 kilometers, from the US West Coast, Japan, and lands in Daet, Camarines Norte in the Philippines.

The addition of the Jupiter cable system, the telco's 17th international cable, boosts PLDT’s fiber network, providing greater capacity in multiple Terabits per second to customers and re-routing traffic in the event of undersea cable cuts.

“Investments on infrastructure like Jupiter allow PLDT to provide the vital connectivity that powers our digital economy," Gendrano stressed.

media

Submarine fiber optic cables are among the most critical components of the internet’s infrastructure.

They serve as the global backbone connecting countries, carrying communications and enabling e-commerce and the information age.

The Jupiter cable system increases the capacities and resiliency of PLDT’s existing undersea fiber links to deliver massive amounts of data traffic going in and out of the country to the US.

Jupiter uses an “open cable model,” which allows consortium members to increase their capacities as needed by investing in technologies that boost data throughput.

PLDT can scale up Jupiter’s capacity even as global data traffic grows rapidly.

"The addition of Jupiter to PLDT’s network will further accelerate the ability of our enterprise customers to execute their digital transformation initiatives,” according to Gendrano.

It will hasten the delivery of 5G, Cloud services, Fintech, and rich media content.

“It will also enable us to increase international capacity into our data centers -- now a major component of the country’s digital ecosystem -- and enhance the attractiveness of the country as an investment destination," he explained.

In addition, "It will allow us to uplift the infrastructure we provide to BPO's to support their hyper-connectivity requirements, not only in Metro Manila but also in other parts of the country."

"Jupiter is key to enhancing our cable network resilience," Mario G. Tamayo, Head of Technology at PLDT, maintained.

Increasing the PLDT Group’s submarine cable route diversity assures sustained available capacity to support customerss' growing demand for data and continuing digital transformation.

The telco is set to expand further with the completion of two more major international cable systems - Asia Direct Cable (ADC), and the APRICOT cable system, set to be completed in the next two years.