CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. is on track to complete the construction of its international subsea fiber cable networks by next year, its chief operations officer (COO) said.
“We are on track for the Bifrost cable system; we’ll have it by next year,” Converge COO Jesus C. Romero told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the National Retail Conference and Expo in Pasay City last week.
The Bifrost cable system is expected to be completed by the first quarter (Q1) of next year, and the Asia-Hainan-Hong Kong Express (SEA-H2X) Submarine Cable System is set for completion by the second quarter of 2025, Mr. Romero said.
In April, the listed fiber internet service provider said it was delaying the completion of its international subsea cable project to 2025, compared with the initial target of completing the project this year.
The company attributed this delay to permitting issues, especially since some of the project area will pass through international waters, the company previously said.
Bifrost is a transpacific cable system linking Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam, and the west coast of the United States. It stretches 15,000 kilometers and boasts a design capacity of up to 15 terabits per second (Tbps).
The SEA-H2X is a 5,000-kilometer submarine cable system connecting Hong Kong SAR China, Hainan China, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. It features a design capacity of 160 Tbps.
Converge said it is allocating the bulk of its P17 billion to P19 billion capital expenditure budget in 2024 for its subsea cable projects and data center development.
For the second quarter, Converge posted an attributable net income of P2.74 billion, climbing by 29.8% from the P2.11 billion in the same period last year.
Despite posting increased gross expenses for the April-to-June period at P6.18 billion, 15.1% higher than the P5.37 billion previously, the company managed to register higher earnings on elevated revenues.
At the stock exchange on Monday, shares in the company closed ten centavos or 0.67% higher to end at P15.10 apiece. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
