The move is to help cater for a rapid increase in demand for international bandwidth, which has grown 300% over the last four years, and is likely to face further increases thanks to video, the internet of things (IoT), cloud and big data.
Manuel Pangilinan, chairman and CEO of PLDT, said: “Strengthening our connectivity with NTT Com’s industry-leading tier-one IP backbone provides a solid foundation for PLDT and our customers to adopt new business models that will enable all to transform digitally and to connect the Philippines with the global market seamlessly.”
With the 100Gbps ultra-bandwidth connectivity, PLDT will be able to handle traffic bursts and scale-up faster to accommodate subscriber demands. “Higher speeds translate to faster data transmission and thus, improve efficiencies for PLDT and its customers,” Pangilinan added. “Coupled with PLDT’s initiatives to expand and upgrade its access and transport networks, this network infrastructure enhancement will definitely help PLDT improve internet services in the Philippines.”
Hideaki Ozaki, president and CEO of NTT Com Asia, said: “In this increasingly connected world, bandwidth has become a critical accelerator for business and individuals, which is the reason why we continually invest in upgrading our network technology and infrastructure. We believe the enhanced connectivity for PLDT will largely increase its capacity in handling the anticipated massive explosion of data driven by the rise of disruptive technologies such as cloud, big data, IoT and video streaming.”
The NTT group, which owns NTT Com, has been a strategic partner of PLDT since 2000. Mobile subsidiary NTT DoCoMo and NTT Com owning about 20% of PLDT’s outstanding common stock between them at the end of June 2016.
