Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is investing P5 billion in the joint development of a cable landing system in southern Philippines with Keppel Midgard Holdings Pte. Ltd. (KMH).
KMH is a part of the consortium that is building the Bifrost Cable System, which will directly connect Singapore to the west coast of North America.
This developed as KMH allowed Converge to an indefeasible right of use for one fiber pair on the cable system’s main trunk, providing the Filipino company more bandwidth to address the growing demand for Interest connectivity in the country.
“This is an important milestone not just for Converge but also for the Philippines as we expect to experience faster internet speeds and greater resiliency within our fast-growing fiber network with the completion of this project,” Converge CEO Dennis Anthony H. Uy said.
“Our investment into one full fiber pair, connecting us to Singapore and the west coast of North America, will allow us to independently activate at will up to 15Tbps of capacity to either country using the latest technology.” Expected to be completed in 2024 and spanning over 15,000 kilometers, the Bifrost Cable System will be the largest capacity high-speed transmission cable across the Pacific Ocean when completed. 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 providers, data centers, governments, enterprises, and consumers by offering them competitive pricing and capacity resilience.
This initiative, Uy said, complements the construction of its national backbone, which will allow Converge to reach approximately 55 percent of the total households in the Philippines by 2025.
“Furthermore, our ongoing construction of our national backbone spanning the whole country will allow Converge to distribute this capacity from Davao to any point in the Philippines. We look forward to a continued strong collaboration with Keppel to bring our countries closer together and further enhance the connection of the region to the rest of the world,” he said.
Converge reported record profits in 2020, when it booked a net income of P3.39 billion, a 78-percent surge from P1.94 billion the year prior, as its revenues grew by 71 percent to P15.65 billion from P9.14 billion.
The stellar performance of Converge is attributable to the huge jump that its residential subscriber base recorded—from 530,000 subscribers at end-2019 to 1.04 million subscribers at end-2020.
Converge’s consumer business contributed the largest to its revenues at P12.62 million, while its enterprise business contributed P3.02 billion.
The company is on track to achieve its target of reaching approximately 55 percent of total households in the country by 2025.
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