PLDT has moved to establish a bilateral IP peering arrangement
with Globe Telecom that will help improve local internet traffic quality and
provide better internet experience for the subscribers of both telco operators.
“This is a very positive development and is in line with our
digital pivot. We are focused on taking effective measures to improve internet
services in the country. IP peering is one such measure. By keeping local traffic
local, we improve the internet experience of both PLDT and Globe subscribers,”
said Ernesto R. Alberto, PLDT Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise.
“The other complementary effective measure is local caching.
PLDT is working with global internet players like Google, Youtube, Facebook and
Microsoft to store more popular internet content in the Philippines so
Filipinos can access this more quickly. Caching is needed because about 90% of
internet content frequently accessed by Filipinos come from overseas. This is
one reason why PLDT is building more state-of-the-art data centers in different
parts of the country,” said Atty. Ray C. Espinosa, PLDT Head of Legal and
Regulatory Group and member of the PLDT Board of Directors.
“Effective and efficient use of radio frequencies is another
effective measure. Hence, Smart is quickly integrating the newly accessed
frequencies from the San Miguel telco businesses into its mobile network
rollout plan to provide additional capacity to handle the rapid growth of data
traffic. Complementing this, PLDT has stepped up its investment in fiber to the
home. We currently have about half a million fiber lines, with speeds of up to
1 Gbps already available in certain areas,” Espinosa added.
With the peering arrangement, PLDT and Globe will now allow
direct local exchange of traffic between PLDT’s Philippine Internet Exchange
(PhIX) and Globe Internet Exchange (GIX) that is destined to each other’s own
broadband and mobile customers.
“The intention here is to keep local traffic within the country
which should lower latency due to less hops and thus, should result in marked
improvements in fixed broadband and mobile internet services in the country,”
Alberto noted.
“This milestone agreement ushers in new ways of establishing
partnerships within the industry in order to improve internet services
throughout the country,” he emphasized.
Senator Bam Aquino witnessed the signing of the memorandum of
agreement (MOA) between PLDT and Globe held in Makati Thursday.
The MOA paves the way for the initial phase of bilateral peering
which is localized IP traffic exchange between the PLDT Group broadband and
mobile subscribers and Globe Group subscribers, which should be completed 30
days after the execution of the MOA. It also dictates that the two telcos will
work towards executing a fuller bilateral peering agreement within 90 days
after the initial phase has been accepted.
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