PLDT, through its ICT arm ePLDT, is set to build an additional 100MW of data center (DC) capacity beginning with a new hyperscale, telco-neutral, and purpose-built facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

ePLDT VITRO’s 11th data center (VITRO Sta. Rosa) will rise in the country’s largest DC campus by far, a five-hectare PLDT property in the industrial city of Sta. Rosa. The city is geographically ideal being 100m above sea level and far from liquefaction, earthquake, and other natural disaster risks. Sta. Rosa is also a highly developed industrial area accessible through three major highways.

Alfredo Panlilio, president and CEO, PLDT and Smart, noted the strong global market demand for data center services, particularly those that the PLDT Group is catering to “as the demand for digital just keeps growing. We have the ready facilities and we continue to expand our data centers to accommodate that demand to ensure that we are able to keep up and deliver future requirements.”

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VITRO Sta. Rosa will be equipped with triple-route PLDT domestic fiber as well as telco fiber connectivity from other providers, serving as the most ideal location for Availability Zones and Points-of-Presence of Hyperscalers, as well as for critical systems of Enterprises. The facility will have the densest interconnectivity to PLDT Group’s own internet exchanges as well as other rich internet ecosystems in the country, enabling content providers, cloud customers, and alike, to provide the best experience for their end-users.

This hyperscale facility is designed to be Tier-3 Certified and Tier-4 Ready, assuring clients of the highest reliability uptime as it includes the construction of an on-site Meralco power substation interconnected to several other substations, further minimizing the risk of power failure. This will be the first of a series of hyperscale data centers totaling to a power requirement of 100MW over the medium term.

Other VITRO facilities

Prior to VITRO Sta. Rosa, the Group has been serving the unique requirements of hyperscalers through existing VITRO facilities. “Even before building this hyperscaler data center, we have been in discussions with a lot of these tech companies and we are talking to the major players,” Panlilio said.

Designed based on LEED standards, VITRO Sta. Rosa will implement the global-class sustainability practices in design, supply, and building operations including rainwater collection, wastewater reuse, renewable energy use, and lowest realistic power usage effectiveness (PUE) for the Philippines, among others.

“PLDT and ePLDT have longstanding relationships with global hyperscalers, so we do understand deeply their requirements,” said Jojo Gendrano, FVP and head of Enterprise and International at PLDT and Smart. “We have elevated our infrastructure design, our operating practices, and business models in our existing data centers according to what they need, and VITRO Sta. Rosa’s design and operations will be very well-suited to hyperscaler standards,”