PLDT boosts international data capacity by 33% with new Apricot subsea cable deployment

　　PLDT announced on Thursday that it has completed the laying of cables for the two Philippine branches of the Apricot cable system that terminate at newly constructed landing stations in Baler town in Aurora province and the coastal town of Digos in Davao province.

　　The 12,000km submarine cable system connects Japan and Singapore with branches in Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Guam, bypassing the troubled waters of the South China Sea. The Apricot cable system consists of 12 fiber pairs, each having a design capacity of approximately 17.6 Tbit/s, for a total system capacity of approximately 211 Tbit/s. The cable system was originally scheduled to be operational in 2024.

　　PLDT, the dominant telco operator in the Philippines, is part of the consortium that financed the submarine cable project. Other participants include NTT, Chunghwa Telecom, Google and Meta.

　　The company said Apricot strengthens its ability to serve the country's growing data traffic, increasing its international capacity by as much as 33% to more than 140 Tbit/s, further enhancing the diversity and capacity of PLDT's cable system portfolio.

　　In addition, with the two Apricot cable landing stations located at opposite ends of the country, PLDT expects the new submarine cable system to also serve the operator's fixed and wireless subscribers at the consumer level.

　　"Aside from supporting international data traffic, the Apricot cable system's route also provides resiliency to PLDT's domestic network between Luzon and Mindanao," PLDT's chief operating officer, Butch Jimenez, said in a statement.

　　Apricot was first announced in August 2021 with the aim of helping to meet the growing demand for 4G, 5G and broadband access in the region. Apricot was also planned to complement other submarine cables in the area, such as Echo and Bifrost.

　　PLDT has invested $80 million in Apricot, which it hopes will help position the Philippines as a destination for global hyperscalers looking to expand their cloud footprint in Asia.

　　"Through initiatives like this, we continue to accelerate high-capacity data services, meeting the region's growing demand for cloud, e-commerce, and content delivery. With these advancements, the Philippines is primed to support next-generation technologies like 5G, IoT, and AI, elevating digital experiences for enterprises and consumers alike," Jojo Gendrano, senior vice president and head of Enterprise Business Group at PLDT and Smart, said in a statement.

　　PLDT's announcement that it has completed laying cables for its Apricot cable system branch comes a month after Chunghwa Telecom said it will deploy the system's Taiwan branch in the first half of 2025.

　　The Taiwanese operator will also deploy its portion of the new Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) within the same timeframe. The company is expected to spend up to $2 billion Taiwanese dollars (US$60.9 million) on new submarine cable deployment in 2025.