Converge says submarine cable investments limited disruption after Philippines-Singapore cut

Converge ICT Solutions said its submarine cable investments helped reroute traffic after a cable cut between the Philippines and Singapore over the weekend. The company used its Bifrost and SEA-H2X cable systems to stabilise connectivity, resulting in minimal disruption for customers.

Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. said its international submarine cable investments helped it reroute traffic after a cable disruption between the Philippines and Singapore over the weekend. The company used its Bifrost and SEA-H2X cable systems to stabilise connectivity, resulting in minimal disruption for customers.

“This allowed none to minimal disruption in our services to both our residential and enterprise customers due to the cable issue between Singapore and the Philippines,” Converge Chief Executive Officer Dennis Anthony H. Uy said in a media release on Monday.

Internet services were disrupted over the weekend after a submarine cable between the Philippines and Singapore was cut, prompting Globe Telecom, Inc., PLDT Inc., and Converge to reroute traffic through alternative links. Converge said it used its Bifrost international cable system to help stabilise connectivity following the disruption.

The 20,000-kilometer trans-Pacific Bifrost cable system links the Philippines with Singapore, Indonesia, Guam, and the United States and has a total design capacity of 240 terabits per second (Tbps), according to the company. Converge serves as the Philippine landing party for Bifrost through its cable landing station in Davao.

“With the additional capacity from these two new cables, Converge not only has the youngest but it also has the most resilient international network among Philippine operators today,” Mr. Uy said. Converge also said its SEA-H2X international cable link helped stabilise connectivity during the disruption.

The 6,000-kilometer SEA-H2X cable connects Hong Kong, Lingshui in Hainan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore and has a capacity of more than 200 Tbps, according to the company. Converge is part of the consortium that owns SEA-H2X, together with China United Network Communications Group Co. Ltd. and China Mobile International.

“With the current high demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, international data traffic will just continue to rise. This is the reason we have invested early in these international cable systems and data centers and we will continue to do so given the growing demand,” Mr. Uy said. Converge shares rose one centavo, or 0.11%, to P8.81 apiece on Monday.