PLDT invests P500M in new international cable system

Pangilinan-led PLDT Inc. on Thursday said it has invested an initial P500 million for a 25,000-kilometer international submarine cable it plans to open later this year.

In an emailed statement, PLDT said the international cable system will link the Philippines to Asia, Africa, and Europe.

"The AAE-1 cable system will further reinforce the resiliency of PLDT's overseas links, expand the capacity and enhance the quality of our data and internet connections," PLDT Global Corp. president and CEO Kat Luna-Abelarde said.

The AAE-1 will link the Philippines to Cambodia, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Yemen.

"This will enable us to deliver even higher quality service to our customers ... It will further accelerate PLDT's digital pivot and expansion, allowing it to serve more customers not only in the country but in the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, as well," Abelarde noted

In 2015, PLDT chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan said the plan was to spend nearly $1 billion to survive the shift to digital from traditional phone services.

"It's either we pivot or we perish," he said.

PLDT's new cable system will be part of PLDT's global network of 15 international cable systems, including four which land in the Philippines—the Asia Submarine-Cable Express (ASE), the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2), the Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 3 (SEA-ME-We3), and the Asia-America Gateway (AAG).

"AAE-1 will further enhance the PLDT Group's capability to offer its customers the latest bandwidth-heavy broadband applications that require international access, such as IP-based data, external video content, and other multimedia services," Abelarde said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News