Marcos: Subsea cable project between Converge and Singapore’s Keppel T&T to boost Wi-Fi connectivity

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday that the partnership between fiber internet service providers Converge ICT Solutions Inc. and Singapore-based Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation is expected to boost the country’s Wi-Fi connectivity.

In a video message released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Marcos said he met with Converge ICT founder and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy and Keppel T&T CEO and executive director Thomas Pang Thieng Hwi.

"I just finished a meeting with the Converge group, who have tied up with the Keppel group to put in a submarine fiber optic cable from the west coast of the United States; it will connect to the Philippines and also connect to Singapore and Indonesia, and this will again give us bigger bandwidth," Marcos said.

"This will give us a better communication system when it comes to all the online services that we are using globally," he added.

Marcos also said the development came following his trip to Singapore last October, when he attended the resumption of the Formula 1 Grand Prix and met with Singaporean officials, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

"Itong usapan na ito ay naging bunga nung pagpunta ko sa Singapore nung panahon nung karera. Habang nanonood kami ng karera, pinag-usapan namin ito, kaya't ngayon nabuo na, at ilalagay nila, isasama nila ang Pilipinas doon sa kanilang mahabang fiber optic na kable na galing sa California,” he added. 

(This deal was a result of my trip to Singapore around the time of the race. As we watched the race, we had a conversation about it. Now it's been finalized, and they've decided to connect the Philippines to a long fiber optic cable starting from California.)

GMA News Online has asked for clarification from PCO Secretary Cheloy Garafil about the President’s role in the Converge-Keppel deal, but she had yet to respond as of posting time.

Under the definitive agreements signed between Converge ICT and Keppel T&T in May 2021, Converge was granted an Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) for one fiber pair on the main trunk of the Bifrost Cable System.
 
Expected to be completed in 2024 and spanning over 15,000 kilometers, the Bifrost Cable System is the world’s first subsea cable system that directly connects Singapore to the west coast of North America via Indonesia through the Java Sea and Celebes Sea.
 
Specifically, it will connect Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam, and the west coast of North America.
 
The Bifrost Cable System will boost the connectivity of the region’s governments and businesses, including cloud operators, telecommunications operators, network providers, over-the-top (OTT) providers, data centers, governments, enterprises, and consumers, by offering them competitive pricing and capacity resilience.

In addition, Converge ICT and Keppel T&T parent firm Keppel Midgard Holdings Pte. Ltd. (KMH) will jointly develop a branch on the Bifrost Cable System that will land in Davao, with Converge also being granted an IRU on the entire Davao branch.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News