DICT expecting three or four data-center entrants this year

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said about three to four data center operators are expected to set up operations within this year.

“For this year, I think we are on track… there are foreign data center (operators) we are in talks with, I think there’s about three to four, but these are small ones only,” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda said.

Current Philippine data center capacity is at 200 megawatts, he said, adding that by year’s end it could hit 1 gigawatt (GW) if these data center operators go ahead with their plans. 

In February, the DICT said data center capacity could hit 18 GW in the next 20 years, and 1.5 GW by 2028.

Data center capacity is typically measured in the power available to run servers and cooling and is the main constraint on performance and scalability.

The DICT is banking on data center growth to help accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) adoption by upgrading infrastructure and facilitating the development of regulation. Slow uptake could prevent the country from fully capturing productivity gains promised by the AI revolution. — Ashley Erika O. Jose