SBMA well on its way to getting PLDT "fibered"

In every way possible, Subic Bay, one of the country’s best ports and investment hubs available, is gearing for an infrastructure and capabilities revamp. Its fabled cargo handling facilities are up for reinvestment and upgrades, the first in a decade. There are even more investors willing to jump in, as world-class infrastructure commitments are delivered on.

One of the key improvements in the infrastructure picture is the eventual total upgrade of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to PLDT’s fiber-optic Next Generation Network (NGN). In PLDT Senior Vice President and Head of CSMG Eric R. Alberto’s words, development at SBMA hinges on “capacity first before opportunity”.

“We would like to applaud Administrator Arreza and his staff for doing a marvelous job in Subic, and in spite of the global economic turmoil, they managed to generate P6B in investment last year. We would like to be a partner to further those investments. We will caravan investment programs by developing infrastructure in growth areas for particular industries where Subic will be globally competitive,” he remarked during the latest SBMA-PLDT contract signing as partners in Subic’s further development.

PLDT’s Alberto cited Thomas Friedman’s book, “The World is Flat”, naming ICT (Internet Communications Technology) as absolutely imperative for global competitiveness. It is particularly true for SBMA’s target industries that include “cutting edge” healthcare, retail and trade, tourism related industries, as well as logistics and maritime related businesses.

According to Alberto, the Subic-Clark corridor will be one of the key areas of growth and development for the future national economy over the next 5 to 10 years. As Clark is already fully PLDT “fibered”, Subic is following close.

Arreza agreed with Alberto’s views and projections adding that there are specific plans for further development. “We have recently cleared a 17-hectare area which we would like to develop into an IT park and I think having the right infrastructure would help Subic attain that objective,” the SBMA administrator said.

Shown in photo from left to right: PLDT VP & Head of Corporate Business Solutions Victor Tria; PLDT Relationship Manager Alfredo Contreras; PLDT AVP & Head of Corporate Solutions & Development & Quality Management Joselito Limjap; SubicTel COO Rossano Danoog; PLDT VP & Head of Corporate Relationship Management Renato Castaneda; PLDT FVP & Head of Corporate Business Group Nerissa Ramos; PLDT SubicTel Chairman - PLDT SVP and Head of Customer Sales and Marketing Group Ernesto Alberto; SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza; SubicTel President Dennis Magbatoc; SBMA OIC of Business and Investment Department for ICT Vergil Lansangan; PLDT Innolab Administrator Ignacio Sevillo and PLDT VP & Head of Corporate Marketing Services Luigi Lopa

He also expressed optimism that SBMA’s partnership with PLDT would continue to be a long and fruitful one, originating back to 1995 when PLDT was one of Subic’s first investors. “We have already begun to promote Subic and Clark as the same destination so that as Eric said, any spill-over growth between the two would certainly benefit the entire region. I’m very happy that PLDT is our partner in this.”

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