Going International: Billionaire Dennis A. Uy's Converge Wins Approval to Provide Internet Services in Singapore
Listed fiber internet provider Converge is expanding its services to Singapore after it was granted a license to provide connectivity services
PH fiber internet provider Converge goes international, obtains license to provide connectivity services in Singapore by a unit of that country’s Ministry of Communications and Information, the company announced on Wednesday (January 4).
ALSO READ
With Net Income of Nearly P2 Billion in Q1 2022, Converge ICT is Having a Great Year So Far
Converge's Dennis Anthony and Maria Grace Uy Break into the Philippines' Exclusive Billionaire Club
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Converge said Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has approved the application for a Facilities-Based Operations (FBO) Licence of the company’s wholly owned subsidiary Converge ICT Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Converge SG), which will strengthen its international wholesale business.
The approval means Converge SG can “start deploying telecommunications infrastructure and provide connectivity services and fiber optic cable capacity to wholesale and enterprise customers” in the Lion City.
“Connectivity services” include things like 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.
“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,” said Converge CEO and Converge SG Director Dennis Anthony H. Uy.
Converge incorporated its Singapore unit in 2021 to market and sell its international cable capacity to carriers, ISPs and telcos operating in the city state. The company, which positions itself as a leading provider of fiber internet to end users in the Philippines, says that the Singapore subsidiary is an indication of how important wholesale is for its enterprise business.
In its third quarter 2022 report, Converge said its wholesale segment grew 52 percent as continued to monetizes capacity on its domestic and international fiber network.
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.
“Our international backbone is now one of the biggest in the country, running at half utilization,” Converge’s Chief Operations Officer Jesus C. Romero said. “We designed it that way so in case of fiber 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.”
