PLDT, Globe and Converge will lay a $500-million cable ring around the Philippines
The three rivals want to build one undersea fiber loop from Batanes to Mindanao, using their own money. The DICT says it can be finished in 24 months, if the government says yes.
The country's three biggest internet providers want to build one cable together. PLDT, Globe and Converge ICT have put up a joint plan to spend about 500 million dollars, roughly 30.6 billion pesos, on an undersea fiber network that wraps around the whole archipelago. Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda disclosed the plan to reporters. The telcos would shoulder the cost themselves, so the government does not have to spend for it.
The route is a loop. Based on the initial plan, the cable runs from Batanes down to Palawan, crosses into the Visayas, continues to Mindanao, then heads straight back up to Batanes along the Pacific side. Along the way the group would build landing stations, the shore facilities where an undersea cable comes up on land, that plug into the 14 international cables already connecting the Philippines to the rest of the world.
Why it matters
Right now a lot of local internet traffic between islands still leans on a small number of paths. When one gets cut, whole provinces slow down or drop, and you feel it as a dead Zoom call or a payment that will not push through. A loop is the fix, because a ring has two directions. If the cable breaks on one side, the traffic turns around and takes the long way. That is what Aguda was pointing at when he said, "By 2028, we should no longer have any problems with connectivity."
There is a second use that has nothing to do with internet speed. The fiber would carry a sensing system that turns the cable itself into a long line of sensors. It reads the tiny vibrations in the glass, which means it can pick up earthquakes and tsunamis as they happen, and even ships passing overhead. Defense, environment, science, energy and interior agencies are all named as partners on that part.
The catch to watch
Nothing is approved yet. Aguda said the project still needs the government's concurrence before PLDT, Globe and Converge can even start initial work, and the 24-month build clock only begins after that. The target of finishing before President Marcos ends his term in June 2028 assumes the approval comes quickly and the construction does not slip, which is a lot to assume for a project of this size.
The other thing to watch is that these three are competitors being asked to co-own one piece of infrastructure. Nothing announced so far says how they will split capacity, who runs the landing stations, or what a smaller provider pays to ride the same loop. Those details decide whether this ends up lowering what you pay for internet, or just making the big three harder to catch.