Philippine incumbent operator PLDT has revealed plans to invest 560 million pesos ($13.5 million) to triple the capacity of its internet gateway.
The operator said it was conducting the upgrade to in anticipation of a rapid rise in the number of broadband customers over the next few years, as the company rolls out fiber and – through its mobile subsidiary Smart – LTE services.
The first tranche of 2-5 million pesos will be spent on doubling its international internet gateway capacity to 600 Gbps by the end of the year.
By Q3 2013, the full upgrade will be complete, taking total internet gateway capacity “close to the terabit mark,”according to the announcement.
The upgrade is necessary to support the nation's growing internet population, PLDT said, pointing to statistics that show that already more Filipinos access the internet than listen to the radio or read newspapers.