PLDT has announced plans to invest in a Philippines link for the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) subsea cable system.
The operator is investing an initial 500 million pesos ($9.77 million) in the 25,000km subsea cable system through a partner in the AAE-1 consortium, PLDT said.
The AAE-1, which launched in June, was the first cable to link all major Asian, African, Middle Eastern and European regions.
The 40Tbps five fiber pair cable system uses the latest 100Gbps technology and spans 19 territories across the four regions, including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, India and Pakistan.
“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. This will enable us to deliver even higher quality service to our customers,” PLDT Global CEO Kat Luna-Abelarde said.
PLDT international network VP Gene Sanchez added that the addition of the AAE-1 to the operator's 14 other subsea cables will increase its total international capacity to over 4Tbps.
“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.”
AAE-1 consortium members include Reliance Jio, PCCW Global, TOT, VNPT, Viettel, Ooredoo and PTCL.