PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s leading telecommunications and digital services provider, said on Tuesday that it is building its second commercial data center in the province of Cebu. Through its enterprise digital enabler ePLDT, the telco provider expects to complete the new VITRO facility in Mandaue City by the fourth quarter of 2017.
“This is in response to the growing requirements of enterprises in Cebu province and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao for a reliable and secure repository for their rapidly expanding volume of digital information,” said PLDT EVP and ePLDT president and chief executive officer Eric Alberto.
“This facility also answers the needs of enterprises in Luzon for additional diversity via a business continuity site outside Luzon,” Alberto added.
Like the other VITRO facilities in ePLDT’s network of data centers, the second VITRO Cebu data center will be built and operated with international certifications. It will be a four-story facility with a minimum floor area of 3,600 square meters, situated alongside ePLDT’s existing data center in Mandaue City.
The new data center will have a 700-rack capacity to add to ePLDT’s 8,300-rack capacity by the end of 2016, bringing up PLDT Group’s current network of data centers to nine sites.
Once operational, the facility will also have a minimum of eight layers of security and 24/7 monitoring and surveillance in all of its areas.
“Visayas and Mindanao are home to the most vibrant industries and business communities that greatly contribute to the country’s economic growth. A little more than three years after its opening in 2012, the first VITRO in Cebu is now 100 percent utilized, a testament to the region’s dynamic business environment,” Alberto said.
“Our expansion plans will complement the growing need for data center services in the region and provide a stronger foundation to sustain the momentum of businesses to become more competitive with digital services,” added Alberto.
PLDT’s network of data centers aim to help data-driven enterprises optimize, harness, safeguard and protect the data-driven core of their businesses, including mission critical data, co-location, business continuity and data backup, managed data security, network connectivity management, and other IT services.
Businesses will also be able to minimize costs in running and managing their own information systems and platforms through VITRO’s Opex-based hosting arrangement, PLDT said.
The second Cebu VITRO data center is supported by PLDT’s robust fiber optic network spanning 100,000 kilometers across the archipelago for its fixed and wireless services, and enabling the country with digital solutions.
