The country’s three largest telecommunications companies are set to jointly invest around $500 million to build a nationwide domestic submarine cable network, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has announced. DICT Secretary Henry Aguda confirmed that PLDT Inc., Globe Telecom, and Converge ICT Solutions Inc. will carry out the project, which will create a far-reaching undersea fiber optic system running from Batanes in the north, looping around Palawan, and linking islands throughout the Visayas and Mindanao.
The initiative is designed to upgrade the country’s digital infrastructure by connecting major islands with high-capacity fiber links. Aguda said the proposal has already been presented to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to discuss implementation steps and coordination between government bodies. The DICT is putting together an inter-agency task force involving six departments, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of National Defense, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Energy, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Aguda explained that laying undersea cables offers a quicker and more effective option compared to installing fiber on land, which usually requires extensive digging and construction work. “By utilizing submarine cables, the consortium can accelerate the country’s fiberization efforts,” he noted. The cables will also be fitted with distributed acoustic sensing technology, which can detect seismic activity linked to earthquakes and tsunamis in real time. The same system can pick up vibrations from ships passing overhead, providing information that can help monitor maritime areas and support national security work.
The new network will connect all domestic landing stations to 14 international internet hubs, greatly improving the country’s links to global networks while making service more reliable and less vulnerable to outages. If the project gets final approval, the companies aim to finish construction within 24 months. Once fully operational, the system is expected to resolve many of the country’s long-standing connection problems. “By 2028, internet connectivity challenges across the archipelago will be substantially reduced,” Aguda said.
