PLDT Inc., through its wholly-owned ICT subsidiary ePLDT  has raised its data center capacity to meet the rising demand from local and globe enterprises. 

“We will continue to add more to ensure we are ahead of the demand not only for local enterprises, but also for hyperscalers. This supports the reinforced push of the government, particularly the Department of Trade and Industry, for hyperscaler data centers as the second coming of the BPO industry,” Alfredo S. Panlilio,  PLDT and Smart president and chief executive said. 

Currently operating 10 VITRO Data Centers, ePLDT has 4,541 of 6,133 ready racks already in service. The ICT arm plans to further expand the capacity of three of its major VITRO data centers located in Makati, Paranaque, and Clark.

“We are currently expanding capacity in three of our existing data center sites and building our 11th Vitro Data Center in Sta. Rosa. The target is to add 1,500 racks by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 and 1,500 racks by the end of 2023. So all told, you’re looking at an additional 3,000 available racks from now until the end of next year,” Viboy Genuino, ePLDT president said.

The PLDT Group also announced earlier the buildout of its biggest VITRO data center, a premier hyperscaler facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna with a power capacity scalable to 100 Megawatts. This facility will further fortify its capacity by another 4,500 racks, equal to the total racks already being serviced by all of its data centers combined.

“We are looking forward to opening our VITRO Santa Rosa Hyperscale Data Center. If you look at enterprises in the Philippines, there is a very clear need to digitize their operations in order to drive business agility. This way they can deliver better customer experiences to their end-users. Having a digital channel is a way to do that. Once customers adapt to that, it will further fuel the amount of hyperscalers and enterprise customers in need of our data center solutions,” added Genuino.

The VITRO Sta. Rosa facility, set to be PLDT’s biggest data center once it becomes operational by end of next year, is being built to be an energy-efficient and eco-conscious facility. Its Tier-3 certified and Tier 4-ready design incorporates sustainable operations and aesthetics into its construction, consistent to the compliance requirements of LEED and minimizing impact to the environment.

PLDT intends to implement manpower programs from hiring and training of local manpower, enabling the local community to be skilled talents.

Consistent with the installation of solar energy solutions in selected PLDT facilities, the Sta. Rosa data center will also use solar in its roofdeck to provide supplementary clean power to the building.

“We want to be more productive and efficient, and a lot of initiatives that are happening in our group-wide transformation are focused on those areas. We try to improve not only how we serve our customers, but also how we can make PLDT the best place to work and be industry-leading in terms of operational excellence,” Panlilio said.