PLDT Inc. said it is expanding its commercial data center operations in Cebu province with the construction of a second facility in Mandaue City.
PLDT said the new Vitro facility, expected to be completed by fourth quarter of 2017, would serve the growing demand for co-location, enterprise-class cloud and managed services requirements of data-driven industries and businesses such as banks, financial services, call centers and business process outsourcing, IT, content and media companies, retail enterprises and public sector entities.
It said the new facility was in response to the growing requirements of enterprises in Cebu province and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao for a reliable and secure repository for their rapidly expanding volume of digital information.
The facility will also answer the needs of enterprises in Luzon for additional diversity via a business continuity site outside Luzon, it said.
PLDT said like the other Vitro facilities in ePLDT’s network of data centers, the second Vitro Cebu data center would be built and operated with international certifications.
It will be a four-floor level facility with a minimum of 3,600-square-meter floor area situated alongside ePLDT’s existing data center in Mandaue City.
The new data center will have a minimum of 700-rack capacity to add to ePLDT’s 8,300 rack capacity by end of 2016.
The new data center will bring up PLDT Group’s current network of data centers to nine sites. Once operational, the facility will also have a minimum of eight layers of security and 24/7 monitoring and surveillance in all of its areas.
“Visayas and Mindanao are home to the most vibrant industries and business communities that greatly contribute to the country’s economic growth. A little more than three years after its opening in 2012, the first Vitro in Cebu is now 100 percent utilized, a testament to the region’s dynamic business environment. The second Vitro data center will address the region’s local enterprises’ needs as they get more aggressive in outsourcing the hosting and management of their IT assets,” PLDT executive vice president and ePLDT president and chief executive Eric Albero said.
“Our expansion plans will complement the growing need for data center services in the region and provide a stronger foundation to sustain the momentum of businesses to become more competitive with digital services,” he said.
The second Cebu Vitro data center is supported by PLDT’s robust fiber optic network spanning 100,000 kilometers across the archipelago for its fixed and wireless services and enabling the country with digital solutions.