MANILA, Aug. 21 (PNA) — The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) on Thursday announced its partnership with Hong Kong-based PCCW Global to embark on a new international fiber optic project.
Dubbed as the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) Cable System, the new system will increase PLDT’s international bandwidth capacity and raise the resiliency of its overseas links.
The system works in such a way that it enhances the quality of data and internet connections for its customers.
It is a 25,000-kilometer undersea cable network system that will connect Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and Europe uses 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) technology with a minimum capacity use of 10 Gbps.
PLDT President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno described the AAE-1 Cable System as a system that will provide network diversity and resiliency which is a great enabler in delivering quality service to our customers.
He further said that the system will facilitate the PLDT Group’s growth and expansion, allowing it to serve more customers in the Philippines, in Europe and the Middle East.
“AAE-1 will boost our country’s global competitiveness by being one of the significant factors that could attract investors in business process outsourcing industries (BPOs) and other enterprises,” Nazareno said.
“It will also allow the PLDT Group to offer products and services, such as enterprise data and internet services to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” he added.
Meanwhile, PLDT International Network Vice President Gene Sanchez said that once AAE-1 is operational, it will enable PLDT and its group of companies to serve the ever-increasing bandwidth requirements of their combined customer base.
“It will benefit businesses – from large corporations and multinational companies, to small and medium enterprises, to individual homes where the internet is a most valued and useful tool for every member of the family,” Sanchez said.
Once completed, AAE-1 will be part of PLDT’s global network of 15 international cable systems, bringing its total international capacity nearly 2 Tbps.
AAE-1 will offer its customers the latest bandwidth-heavy broadband applications that require international access, such as IP-based data, external video content, and other multimedia services.
It will also connect the Philippines to 17 international destinations: France, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Djibouti, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
PLDT said that it is scheduled for completion in 2016. (PNA)