INVESTMENT promotion agencies (IPAs) are aiming to secure additional data center initiatives, stating that such infrastructure will facilitate more information technology (IT)-related operations.
“Data centers and telecommunications infrastructure are included in the roster of Board of Investments (BoI) priority sectors alongside renewable energy, electric vehicles, and eco-friendly metals,” BoI Director for Infrastructure and Services Industries Service Mary Ann E. Raganit mentioned to reporters on Wednesday.
Up to this point, the BoI has sanctioned the registration of four data center initiatives, amounting to a total project expenditure of P40.14 billion and 81 megawatts (MW) of IT load capacity.
These comprise the newly inaugurated VITRO Sta. Rosa, the nation’s inaugural hyperscale data center designed to accommodate artificial intelligence workloads.
Situated in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the 50-MW data center is being constructed by VITRO, Inc., a subsidiary of ePLDT.
“At the next management committee (meeting), I will showcase the two data center initiatives from Globe STT GDC, Inc., located in Fairview and Cavite,” she noted.
As per the BoI, Globe STT GDC is seeking registration as an operator of telecommunications infrastructure under Tier I of the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan.
The proposal encompasses the company’s STT Cavite 2 Data Center, with a 6 MW capacity and 916 racks, and STT Fairview 1 Data Center, which has a 28 MW capacity and 4,200 racks.
Globe Telecom, Inc. indicated that the projects will be operational within the year.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is also documenting data center initiatives.
Thus far, PEZA has recorded four data center initiatives with investments amounting to P3.96 billion.
These initiatives are Accenture, Inc., Alorica Teleservices, Inc., Foundever Asia, Inc., and YCO Cloud Malvar, Inc.
PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga expressed his anticipation for the registration of a data center initiative from a US firm.
“It is a key sector because inviting data storage facilities will attract more IT companies that require substantial storage,” he stated in an interview.
“Therefore, it will benefit the Philippines, especially for economic resources, as we will draw more information technology and business process management-related activities,” he concluded. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
