PLDT launches 10th data center in Cebu

CEBU City: Telco giant PLDT cemented second data center here to take advantage of the rising demands seen from both domestic and foreign companies aiming to expand their IT (information technology) capacity.

With the launch of its second Vitro Data Center in Mandaue City, PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Eric Alberto said the group sees opportunity with the market’s shift to digital transformation.

“The phase of adoption is accelerating because more and more companies are undergoing digital transformation where they have to look for technologies to be able to make their businesses competitive,” he told reporters in a press briefing last week.

The top official stressed the need to “get connected” as well as expand system beyond the typical brick-and-mortar.

Alberto cited PLDT has its eyes set on the sectors of banking and insurance, retailing, business process outsourcing (BPO), and government.

“They deal with a lot of data that needs to be secured and safely stored,” he said.

Data centers are critical infrastructure that store digital information of both the public and private sectors.

Moreover, Jovy Hernandez, senior vice president and head of PLDT and SMART Enterprise Business Groups, said PLDT is optimistic of making Cebu the central data center for the whole Visayas region given the interest and demands they are witnessing not just from Cebu clients, but also companies from Bacolod and Manila.

“Companies from Manila who have already outsourced their servers in Pasig or Makati are absolutely looking at Cebu as their natural disaster recovery area. This is outside Luzon so to those who are paranoid, that’s what you call to people who look at the risks, if something happens in Luzon [their data are secured],” he explained.

“We also have companies outside the Philippines, we have companies from the US which collocate in our data center and more from Asian neighbors are now looking at the Philippines,” Hernadez said.

Currently, the P1- billion facility has 35 percent utilization rate. PLDT is targeting to increase that to above 40 percent by year- end, Alberto noted.

The VITRO Cebu 2 is built from the ground up, using the technologies, such as finger-vein scanning features, special CCTV cameras, and 24/7 monitoring and surveillance.

The Pangilinan-led telco has now 10 data centers across the Philippines and a total of 9, 150-rack capacity.

(From L-R) ePLDT Chief Information Security Officer Angel Redoble, ePLDT Group Chief Technology Officer Dave Simon, ePLDT Group SVP and Chief Operating Officer Nerisse Ramos, PLDT Group EVP and Chief Revenue Officer and ePLDT President and CEO Eric R....