UNDERSEA CABLE. (From R to L) Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Converge President and co-founder Maria Grace Uy, Converge CEO Dennis Anthony Uy, and Converge COO Jesus Romero led the embedding of the time capsule and groundbreaking ceremony of the Bifrost Davao cable landing station in Bago Gallera, Davao City, Wednesday evening (Feb. 22, 2023). The Bifrost undersea cable system is a new trans-Pacific cable system and the first international submarine cable system that will directly connect Singapore to the United States. (PNA photo by Che Palicte)
DAVAO CITY – Philippine fiber internet provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has vowed to provide greater internet speed in the country after the inauguration of the Bifrost Cable System (BCS) Wednesday here.
The cable landing station in Davao for the Philippine branch of the BCS is expected to deliver much-needed internet capacity, redundancy, and reliability between the Asia-Pacific region and North America.
In an interview, Converge Chief Executive Officer and cofounder Dennis Anthony Uy said the system is the first undersea cable line that started from Indonesia to Singapore and Davao, which also connects to Guam and California.
The infrastructure is envisioned to support the booming digital connectivity needs of the Asia-Pacific region and provide a critical, direct link with North America.
“Filipinos need a digital highway and this is a state-of-the-art optical network from the international level to your home,” Uy said.
With the new trans-Pacific cable system in this city, he said they will be bringing in the capacity and bandwidth of Bifrost to various domestic networks.
The 745 square meters single-story facility here will be the first fully owned and operated cable landing station of Converge in the country and is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2024.
The consortium behind Bifrost includes Keppel Midgard Holdings Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Limited, Meta, and PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, an affiliate of PT Telkom Indonesia.
Uy said Converge's goal is to make the vital interconnection between the submarine network with the domestic terrestrial network.
“(Our) lives are now connected to the digital world. We need to provide enough capacity and redundancy in the future needs of individual Filipino,” he said.
Submarine cables and their connections to terrestrial networks enable real-time access to business and consumer applications, social media, streaming video, websites, and many other bandwidth-intensive services.
Meanwhile, former President Rodrigo Duterte said he is optimistic that the project will provide better connectivity that will enhance the experience of the people and businesses.
“I am truly excited to see this project upon its completion and may this endeavor gives the necessary technological advances that will connect our people and further close the digital divide,” he said in a speech during the activity. (PNA)
