PLDT putting up P1B data center in Makati

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Corporation (PLDT) has set aside P1 billion ($22.5 million) to put up a state-of-the-art data center in Makati City and further expand its data center network.

VITRO Makati would have a capacity of 3,600 full server racks once completed by wholly-owned subsidiary ePLDT in the fourth quarter of the year, said Eric Alberto, PLDT executive vice president PLDT Enterprise & International and Carrier Business Group.

The network of VITRO Data Centers currently operates 3 other facilities located in Subic, Cebu, and Pasig, which is currently the largest in the country with a capacity of 2000 racks.

“When completed, VITRO Makati will add 3,600 full racks to our network of VITRO Data Centers and will ensure our readiness to support the growing ICT requirements of the enterprise market,” he said.

It is strategically centered in the country’s main business district and would largely cater to colocation and other data center service requirements of large corporations, and the banking and finance firms present in the area.

The newest VITRO Data Center would have the largest floor space among its current line of data centers at 18,000 square meters and would have an 8-layer level security system to safeguard customers data

The facility would also use data center-rated generators designed to run continuously to ensure continuous operations of client servers collocated at VITRO Makati even during power outages.

Alberto, who is also ePLDT president and CEO, added that the data center would also have isolated rooms for the Air Handling Units (AHU) intended to increase security and privacy of client-availed colocation services.

Maintenance work could be done without having to access or expose the client’s servers, minimizing the possibility of dust and dirt entering the colocation space.

“The PLDT Group is investing in ensuring that the latest VITRO facility is on par with data centers in leading countries with world-class security features adhering to global-standard operations,” said Jovy Hernandez, PLDT first vice president and head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise.

He confirmed that VITRO Makati would also be PCI-DSS compliant and ISO certified, both globally-recognized and widely-required by multinational clients

“Our newest VITRO Data Center is a game-changing milestone for the group as we expand our services and capacity for the increasing demand of our various clients,” Hernandez added.

Aside from ePLDT VITRO, the PLDT Group operates three other data center facilities under ePLDT subsidiary IP Converge Data Services.

The group has also recently joined the open data platform with the aim to standardize the core platform and accelerate big data delivery worldwide.

Complementing its data center services is PLDT’s cloud-based solutions and services under PLDT Cloud that packages high-performance IT business solutions for large enterprises and small-and-medium enterprises. ­–Rappler.com 

US1$ = P 44.3