Fulfilling the administration’s vision of a digitally connected “Bagong Pilipinas,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. launched on Thursday the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN) – the longest and highest capacity domestic submarine fiber cable network in the Philippines.
In his speech during the lighting up ceremony of the PDSCN in Makati City, President Marcos reiterated the government’s commitment to providing the Filipino people with reliable and affordable internet services, improving the country’s world standing in terms of broadband and mobile internet speed coverage.
“Tonight, what we have done here will accelerate the pace of our improvement anew as we light-up the beam of the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network or the PDSCN,” President Marcos said in his speech during the ceremony.
“Spanning approximately 2,500 kilometers, it is now the longest and highest capacity domestic submarine fiber cable network in the country, connecting our islands in various touch points from the provinces of Quezon to Zamboanga,” he added.
President Marcos said he is excited and optimistic that the PDSCN will provide a faster internet speed for the Filipino people.
Marcos congratulated InfiniVAN Inc. and its partners – Globe Telecom and Eastern Telecommunications “for making this impressive and high-impact project a reality.”
The InfiniVAN Inc. is a telecommunications company with a 25-year congressional franchise to build, operate and maintain wired and wireless network that holds the third largest upstream capacity of the country’s internet backbone.
It was founded in 2015, and partnered with Globe Telecommunications and Eastern Telecommunications to build the $150-million PDSCN project in the Philippines, which is a 2,500-kilometer domestic submarine fiber cable network.
President Marcos added the PDSCN is a shared vision of both the Philippines and Japan. He thanked Japan for doing their business in the Philippines as he looks forward to more collaboration and partnership with them in the future.
He said the Philippine government is excited to see more investments that will come to fruition in the future.
“The project that you initiated, and meticulously completed without much fanfare, is truly a game changer in the Philippines’ quest to be amongst equals in terms of internet interconnectivity and digital transformation,” President Marcos said.
“It is also a testament not only to Japanese ingenuity and technological advancement that we strive to emulate, but also to the strong bonds of friendship that connect our two countries forever,” the chief executive added.
With this project, President Marcos said the Philippines has now a long-term solution that delivers high-connectivity and high-speed internet for the Filipino people and facilitates the realization of the “Bagong Pilipinas” envisioned by the administration.
President Marcos added the PDSCN will put the Philippines to a better world ranking in terms of internet connectivity and speed, putting the also country to a better position for technology-centric businesses such as hyperscale data centers and AI computing.
“We will also be able to provide faster internet [and] more efficient digital services to Filipinos located in both urban and rural areas of the country. More importantly, this will help facilitate our efforts to digitalize public data and government services to cater to the needs of our people efficiently,” the President said.
Before concluding his speech, the President reiterated the government’s support to public-private sector investment and the commitment to promoting ease of doing business in the Philippines to facilitate the establishment of critical infrastructure in telecommunications. PND
