Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Inc. (PLDT) is set for another upgrade as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) greenlights the construction of the company’s two new local cable landing stations.
When built, the infrastructures will play host to the Apricot Cable System, which serves as the newest Intra-Asia submarine cable, strategically placed to face the country’s Pacific horizon—in Digos, Davao, and Baler, Aurora, respectively.
PLDT and Smart President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio claims that the Apricot Cable System’s route guarantees a “significantly higher degree of resilience” and one that will facilitate “easier hook up to data offices in the United States.”
Known for using routes that travel across the West Philippine Sea waters, the Apricot Cable System route will render telco carriers new alternate pathways.
With completion slated in early 2025, the cable stations will play a substantial role in bolstering PLDT’s international cable network with a promise of higher data speeds, and lower latency connectivity to and fro the country, in addition to augmenting the resiliency of existing cable stations, situated in Daet, La Union, and Batangas.
With a total international capacity of over 140 Tbps when fully equipped, the 12,000-kilometer cable system will serve as a link between neighboring nations, namely the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and Guam.
As of March 2023, PLDT’s overall fiber footprint is also set at 1.1 million kilometers, covering the vastness of more than 874,000 kilometers of domestic fiber and 231,000 kilometers of international fiber.