The Philippines’ PLDT Global Corp (PGC) unveiled a new partnership with Cambodia’s SINET, a registered trademark of SI Group Co Ltd, to broaden its regional footprint and supply technology solutions that help the local telecoms service provider’s customers stream more seamlessly.

“In a 2020 study published by Media Partners Asia, online video streaming minutes in the region grew by 60 per cent,” PGC said in a March 19 press release.

“This underscores the greater need for network service providers to rise above the challenge in keeping people and businesses connected and drive the world toward a new and better normal.

“SINET . . . is the latest addition to [PGC’s] growing portfolio of international partners, serving global points-of-presence in 100 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas,” it said.

PGC senior vice-president and chief commercial officer Albert V Villa-Real lauded the partnership, noting that his company’s increased content-delivery-network (CDN) presence in the Kingdom will translate to a firmer foothold in Asia.

“This will position us as a global innovation leader and technology service provider that caters not only to Filipino businesses, but also to international enterprises that demand a more comprehensive suite of technology services,” he said.

The partnership comes a week after the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on March 23 reiterated a call for the Kingdom’s telecoms operators to improve the quality of mobile and internet services in response to the growing number of users amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The volume of internet access has seen a significant uptick since the February 20 community outbreak, which has seen cases rise to nearly 2,400 as of March 30 and a transition online among state and private institutions, the ministry noted in a statement.

PGC noted that CDNs provide quicker access to digital content through web servers or points-of-presence. “With PGC’s CDN node, SINET can now offer CDN solutions to over-the-top [OTT] providers and other enterprises in Cambodia and other key markets in Asia.”

SINET chief technical officer Kong Diep noted an immediate improvement in web traffic following the creation of the alliance.

“We would like to thank [PGC] for collaborating with us. In just a few weeks, we have noted significant increases in traffic owing to the PLDT CDN – traffic which continues to grow.

“Hopefully we can collaborate more and go together on this path,” he said.

PGC added: “This initiative is part of [our] broader campaign to enable companies to digitally transform and perform despite the challenges posed by the global health crisis.”