Department of Information and Communications Technology Officer-in-Charge Eliseo Rio said on Wednesday that Facebook has decided to locate one of its undersea cables in the Philippines in a bid to lessen the threat of earthquakes and typhoons to its systems.
In return, Facebook will provide the Philippines spectrum equivalent to 2 million Mbps, which is expected to improve broadband speeds as part of an agreement between the world’s largest social network and Philippine government agencies.
“Iyung underwater cable pag-aari ng Facebook, gusto lang nila padaanin sa territory natin para safe sila doon sa earthquake at typhoon na nangyayari sa norte, mas kakaunti ang breakage kung dito dadaan sa territory natin,” [Facebook’s underwater cable, they want it to pass through our territory to keep it safe from earthquakes and typhoons in the north. There is less possibility of breakage if they pass through our territory.] Rio said.
Rio said the Philippine Bases Conversion and Development Authority will build the two landing stations for the cable.
The BCDA will specifically construct the Luzon Bypass Corridor, composed of 2 cable landing stations connected by a 250-km cable network corridor, according to a joint statement from the BCDA and the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
As the “first party” to use the government-built facility, Facebook was tasked to build and operate a submarine cable system that will land on Luzon’s east and west coasts, the statement said.
The cable system will connect Luzon to Internet systems in the US and Asia, it said.
The Luzon Bypass will be online in 2018, Rio said.