Philippine fibre internet provider Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions, Inc., has received the greenlight to deliver international connectivity services in Singapore through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Converge ICT Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Converge SG), to further strengthen its fast-growing international wholesale business.
In its grant letter, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information, says that the authority has approved the application of Converge SG for a facilities-based operations (FBO) licence.
Effective January 3, 2023, Converge SG can start deploying telecommunications infrastructure and deliver connectivity services and fibre optic cable capacity to wholesale and enterprise customers in the Southeast Asian city state.
“The grant of an FBO license to our Singapore unit significantly bolsters the ability of the Converge Group to sell international wholesale connectivity and capacity services, as we can now directly service clients in Singapore to cater their growing needs for intra-Asia and Trans-Pacific connectivity requirements,” says Converge CEO and Converge SG director Dennis Anthony H. Uy.
Through the said license, Converge will have the right to provide international connectivity services in Singapore including ethernet-international private line (E-IPL) service, dedicated internet access (DIA) service, carrier ethernet network service, internet protocol virtual private network (IP-VPN) services using multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and sale and resale of submarine cable capacities.
In 2021, Converge announced the incorporation of Converge SG, which was aimed at marketing and selling its international cable capacity to carriers, ISPs, and telcos operating and having a presence in Singapore.
Converge highlighted that the establishment of its subsidiary in Singapore indicates its position that Wholesale will continuously be an important driver for its Enterprise business. During its third-quarter performance report last year, the Wholesale segment of Converge grew 52%, as it increasingly monetises capacity on its domestic and international fibre network.
The firm is participating in the Bifrost Cable System and the Southeast Asia Hainan-Hong Kong Express Cable System (SEA-H2X). Both of these are expected to be operational by next year. Converge also boosted its international network capacity by an additional 3.2 Tbps in the EAC-C2C cable systems, making its international connectivity configuration fully redundant. The Converge Group has points-of-presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and the USA.
“Our international backbone is now one of the biggest in the country, running at half utilisation. We designed it that way so in case of fibre outage or submarine earthquakes, customer experience will not be affected. Our diverse, fully redundant international network and the establishment of the Singapore office will help us make the Philippines a digital transit hub in Asia,” says Converge chief operations officer, Jesus C. Romero.
Wholesale bandwidth is typically bought by telecommunication companies and ISPs to provide the bandwidth capacity needed for their own connectivity solutions and customer applications including email, file sharing, web hosting, data backup, video, VOIP, or VPN access.
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