The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and InfiniVAN Inc., a Japanese-Filipino telco provider, on Wednesday signed a leasing agreement allowing the latter to use the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure (LBI), which is poised to boost the country鈥檚 connectivity and attract more foreign investors.
The long-term lease agreement covers the use of remaining available spaces and facilities at the Poro Point Cable Landing Station (CLS) in San Fernando, La Union.
It likewise allows the use of portions of LBI鈥檚 240-kilometer fiber-optic conduit network, which connects BCDA鈥檚 Poro Point and Baler CLS facilities.
The lease agreement formalizes the earlier memorandum of agreement signed in September by BCDA, Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed IPS, Inc., and its Philippine subsidiary InfiniVAN.
BCDA said that the utilization of these facilities is expected to significantly increase the country鈥檚 supply of international bandwidth and enhance internet connectivity.
鈥淲hat this means for ordinary Filipinos is better learning for our children, faster internet connection, and improved tools for our small businesses,鈥 BCDA president and chief executive officer Joshua M. Bingcang said in his speech during the signing event.
鈥淲e will be able to attract more investors to our economic zones,鈥 he added, noting that in addition to location, big businesses highly value strong connectivity, which the project will provide.
Meanwhile, Koji Miyashita, chairman of InfiniVAN, said the agreement will create a secure and resilient digital pathway between Japan and the Philippines.
鈥淭he route that runs from Poro Point through LBI to Baler is regarded in Japan as extremely important from a national security perspective, providing a secure path that links our two countries even more closely,鈥 he said.
Miyashita added that InfiniVAN will not use the infrastructure alone, as the company aims to develop an open platform to support future submarine cable projects across Asia.
InfiniVAN plans to use an 鈥淥pen CLS鈥 model for the Poro Point and upcoming Baler landing stations, allowing any submarine cable to land and multiple backhaul providers to operate, boosting connectivity and competition.
The LBI, a project launched in 2017 by BCDA in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is a key component of the government鈥檚 National Broadband Plan, a policy framework designed to expand fast, affordable, and reliable internet across the country.
The project was implemented in collaboration with Facebook, now called Meta, to enable the landing of the Pacific Light Cable Network (PCLN), a submarine fiber-optic system connecting the US, Hong Kong, and the Philippines for high-speed internet.
However, BCDA said the project faced 鈥渦nforeseen geopolitical developments,鈥 leaving much of the LBI infrastructure underutilized.
Through the partnership, BCDA said that the national asset鈥檚 value will be fully utilized.
The initiative will also expand internet access and service coverage through InfiniVAN鈥檚 fiber-optic network, lowering internet costs for households and businesses and helping the Philippines catch up digitally with its ASEAN neighbors and the global economy.
The project builds on InfiniVAN鈥檚 other submarine cable projects, including the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN), and its ongoing construction of the Baler landing station for the CANDLE cable system.
The CANDLE system is a 24-fiber-pair intra-Asia network with an estimated capacity of 570 terabits per second (Tbps) and is expected to be operational by 2028. 鈥 Edg Adrian A. Eva
