The Philippines' government has put the finishing touches to its national AI plan, aiming to turn the country into a regional AI hub over the next eight years. The plan envisages a 30-fold increase in AI data center capacity, up from 50MW today to 1.5GW in 2033, with 400MW to be completed by 2030 under the first phase.
The masterplan, released this week, carries an estimated $34.4 billion price tag, of which $18.2 billion is already committed via existing connectivity and energy investments.
The goal is for a further $16.2 billion to be raised "through targeted public investment and private sector participation." Over seven years this means around $2.3 billion per year – by AI infrastructure standards a quite modest sum.
The country has some catching up to do. It is one of Asia's most underserved markets in terms of data center capacity, according to consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.
It has 1.1 million people per 1MW of capacity, the second lowest behind Vietnam and well above the regional average of around 200,000 people per 1MW.
Officials believe the buildout can be funded with $21 billion private sector investment and $13.5 billion from public spending.
Infrastructure gap
Information and Communications Secretary Henry Aguda said the master plan was meant to close the Philippines' infrastructure gap.
"From a policy regulatory standpoint, we rank high. What we lack is infrastructure," Aguda told reporters at the launch. "If we don't create infrastructure, we will really be left behind."
Specifically, the plan urges an accelerated fixed-line broadband rollout. Currently the Philippines has just 8.3 million fixed-line subs, or just 7.14 per 100 people, compared with a mobile take-up rate of 111%.
Without sufficient fixed connectivity, the network ecosystem will become "overly reliant on mobile networks and centralized computing architectures," the plan warns.
It also calls for more international capacity. Currently the country is connected via 21 cables, landing 46 Tbit/s in offshore bandwidth, but this compares with Indonesia's 83 Tbit/s, Vietnam's 59 Tbit/s, and Thailand's 52 Tbit/s.
The government has committed to ensuring the AI data centers' energy consumption does not impact on supply to households.
Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Maria Francesca Del Rosario said immediate power needs would be met by natural gas, the official Philippines News Agency reported.
But it had set a target of 40% of AI infrastructure energy needs to be met by renewables by 2033. The government will also explore nuclear power as a long-term option.
Besides infrastructure, the plan also calls for the reskilling of the country's 1.3 million-strong IT and business process management workforce.