简体中文(中国) 
In a significant move to bolster the Philippines’ digital backbone, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) officially signed a landmark leasing agreement with telecommunications provider InfiniVan Inc on on March 11, 2026. The partnership grants InfiniVan access to the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure (LBI), a critical high-speed underground fiber-optic network designed to link the east and west coasts of Luzon, specifically the Poro Point Cable Landing Station (CLS) in San Fernando, La Union, as well as portions of a 240-kilometer underground fiber-optic conduit network connecting to the Baler, Aurora CLS facility.
Agreement Highlights and Infrastructure Assets
The partnership covers a portion of LBI's 240-kilometer fiber-optic conduit network as well as BCDA's Poro Point cable landing station in San Fernando, La Union. The agreement aims to optimize the use of LBI, increase the country's international bandwidth capacity, and improve internet connectivity for enterprises and organizations.
The lease is structured as a 15-year, renewable long-term contract, allowing InfiniVAN to secure this critical cross-island backbone without heavy upfront capital expenditure. Under the agreement, the Poro Point CLS will function as an Open Cable Landing Station, capable of hosting multiple submarine cable operators and network providers. This enables international data traffic to enter the Philippines, connect with domestic networks, and be distributed more efficiently nationwide .
Strategic Vision: Creating an East-West Digital Corridor
InfiniVAN plans to integrate the largely underutilized LBI into its network, pairing the Poro Point CLS on the west coast with a new cable landing station in Baler, Aurora on the east coast. This configuration creates a robust east–west digital corridor across Luzon, enhancing network resilience and reducing vulnerability to service disruptions .
The infrastructure will support multiple international submarine cable systems, including the planned Candle cable developed in partnership with Meta and SoftBank. This positions the Philippines as a more attractive hub for intra-Asian communications traffic.
InfiniVAN's Japanese parent company IPS Inc is a member of the Candle subsea cable consortium, led by Meta. InfiniVAN acts as Candle's landing party in Baler, Aurora province on the East coast of the Philippines. The new Baler Cable Landing Station (CLS) broke ground on August 6, 2025. Designed to accommodate up to 4 submarine cable systems.
Background of the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure Project
The Luzon Bypass Infrastructure project originated from a 2018 agreement among the BCDA and global technology giant Meta for the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) project, which was initially designed to connect Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and the United States. The PLCN was set to have a trunk directly connecting Hong Kong with the United States, and two branches landing in San Fernando, La Union and Baler, Aurora on the east and west coasts of the Luzon Island. The LBI land cable corridor was designed to mitigate pervasive submarine cable risks along the Luzon Strait .
.
Under the agreement, the BCDA would implement the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure project, building two new cable landing stations for the PLCN project, one in Baler, Aurora on the east coast of the Luzon Island and the other in San Fernando, La Union on the west coasts of the Luzon Island, and a 240-kilometer fiber-optic landline cable connecting the two cable landing stations. The BCDA would also grant Meta rights to use the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure. In exchange, Meta would provide the Philippine government with 2 Tbps of international bandwidth between the Philippines and the US over the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN). Meta's 2 Tbps bandwidth allocation on the PLCN networ would give the Philippines a direct, high-capacity link to global internet infrastructure.
BCDA has completed the construction of the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure project, including the 240-km landline physical corridor, two cable landing stations, four repeater stations, and terrestrial facilities, while the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) oversees its operation. The infrastructure supports the government's National Broadband Plan and the Marcos administration's National Digital Connectivity Plan, which aims to expand broadband access, strengthen digital infrastructure, and close connectivity gaps across the country.
Due to the blockage by the United States, the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) wasn't able to achieve its goal connecting Hong Kong with the United States. Currently, the PLCN has been operational, connecting Taiwan, the Philippines (only Baler, Aurora) and the United States. While the initially planned PLCN branch connecting San Fernando, La Union hasn't been deployed.
According to the Manila Standard, as of August 2025, the DICT has utilized only a fraction of the Meta's 2 Tbps bandwidth allocation—approximately 100 Gbps—for Phase 1 of the National Fiber Backbone project, which connects government offices, schools, and communities. Activating the full 2 Tbps will maximize LBI's potential, vastly increasing speed by 20-fold and enabling nationwide high-speed internet coverage at an unprecedented scale.
The Players: InfiniVAN and Its Parent Company IPS
InfiniVAN Inc. is a Philippines-based fiber internet service provider specializing in delivering high-speed, high-capacity connectivity solutions primarily for the business sector. Headquartered in Pasig City's Ortigas Center, the company offers premium Fiber Internet plans featuring an end-to-end fiber optic network designed for super-fast, low-latency service without data caps .
The company is a subsidiary of IPS, Inc. (JP:4390), a Japan-listed telecommunications group. Through InfiniVAN, where it holds a majority stake, IPS focuses on backbone and submarine cable infrastructure to support high-speed connectivity across Asia, positioning the Philippines as a strategic regional communications hub. In 2025, InfiniVAN was reportedly planning a ₱2 billion to ₱3 billion initial public offering in the domestic capital market .
Under the partnership, InfiniVAN will leverage its nationwide digital infrastructure—including subsea and terrestrial fiber, as well as wireless assets—to support the project, while IPS will contribute its purchased capacity on the EAC-C2C network connecting Hong Kong to the Philippines and Singapore to the Philippines, and its newly investment in the next generation Candle cable connecting the Philippines with Japan and Singapore.
InfiniVan’s Growing Footprint
For InfiniVan, this lease is a major step in its mission to provide "uncontended" high-speed internet to the Philippine market. The company has been aggressively expanding its fiber footprint, including its involvement in the Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN)—the longest domestic subsea cable system in the country.
Access to the LBI provides InfiniVan with a "middle-mile" advantage, allowing them to connect their subsea assets directly to the heart of Luzon's economic zones and the Greater Manila Area.
Especially, InfiniVAN will develop the Poro Point CLS as an Open Cable Landing Station, attracting new subsea cables across the region, including but not limited to the the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN).
With this strategic Luzon Bypass Infrastructure and the close collaboration with the BCDA and the DICT, InfiniVAN solidifies its position as a rising leader in the Philippines' subsea cable and international telecommunications landscape, poised to drive the nation's connectivity ambitions for decades to come.
