By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said it’s allocating P56 billion this 12 months for network upgrades, infrastructure expansion, and data center investments because the listed telecommunications company expands the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations and enterprise services.
“This 12 months alone, we’re taking a look at P56 billion being invested into infrastructure, network upgrades, along with co-investments with STT GDC (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres) for data centers,” Globe Business Marketing Head Jonathan Cristobal told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Economic Forum on Monday.
He said Globe Business, the enterprise arm of Globe Telecom, is increasing investments in AI-related capabilities and expects spending within the segment to proceed over the medium term.
“Yes, I’d should say yes, at the least within the context that we just had Candle, that’s 2028 varieties of maturity. Investments are being made not in a single go,” he said.
Candle Cable is an 8,000-kilometer submarine cable system linking Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The system is designed with 24 fiber pairs and a complete capability of 570 terabits per second.
The consortium behind the project includes Meta Platforms, Inc., SoftBank Corp., IPS, Inc., NEC Corp., Telekom Malaysia Bhd., and PT XLSmart Telecom Sejahtera Tbk.
Globe is participating within the consortium as each an investor and landing party, with the cable planned to land at its Nasugbu cable station in Batangas, complementing one other Philippine landing point in Baler.
The cable system is anticipated to support growing demand for cloud services, AI workloads, and enterprise digitalization across the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr. Cristobal said Globe is deploying AI across network operations and facilities management, including applications geared toward optimizing energy consumption and improving efficiencies at cell sites.
He added that Globe Business can also be expanding partnerships to offer AI-related solutions and speed up enterprise adoption within the Philippines.
Individually, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Philippines said it’s evaluating additional sites for expansion amid rising demand for data center capability, including AI-driven workloads.
STT GDC Philippines is a three way partnership amongst Globe Telecom, Inc., Ayala Corp., and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. The corporate operates seven data centers within the Philippines with a combined information technology load of nearly 150 megawatts.
As of end-March, Globe’s capital expenditure rose 51% to P12.74 billion as the corporate accelerated investments in network expansion and capability upgrades.
The corporate previously said it’s maintaining its full-year capital expenditure guidance at below $1 billion.
Globe posted first-quarter attributable net income of P5.55 billion, down from P6.98 billion a 12 months earlier, because the absence of one-off gains booked in 2025 and better financing costs offset growth in revenues and core earnings driven by stronger data demand.
Shares in Globe fell P2 or 0.11% to shut at P1,803 apiece on Monday.