GLOBE Telecom Inc.’s joining the Candle submarine cable consortium will help strengthen the Philippines’ international connectivity and its position as an Asia-Pacific digital hub, a Fitch unit said.
“The Candle submarine cable project looks to bolster infrastructure expansion and establish secure, redundant routes to support the Philippines’ digital backbone, addressing the country’s escalating demand for international data traffic fueled by next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and 5G,” BMI said in a report.
“With projected robust growth in the Philippines’ cloud and data center markets, combined with government-backed digital transformation initiatives, this development by Globe helps position the country as an emerging digital hub,” it added.
This decision was said to be timely despite increasing technology costs and a continued rise in demand.
“The global subsea cable market size is estimated to have reached $5.10 billion in 2025, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 108 percent, primarily driven by the decommissioning of aging cable systems, increasing production of new cable systems, and surging global data flows for cloud computing and AI workloads,” BMI said.
“In 2026, submarine cable project costs are likely to rise due to the fallout from the Iran, Israel and US conflict, yet investors are expected to continue increasing investments in subsea cable infrastructure and landing stations, focusing on diversified routes and resilient systems to mitigate risks and accommodate growing demand,” it added.
“The Candle Cable project, alongside broader subsea cable investments, will underpin the Philippines’ digital backbone, catering to rising international data traffic from AI, cloud, and 5G uptake despite potential cost rises linked to geopolitical risks as investors prioritize resilient and diversified infrastructure.”
The Candle Cable system will directly link the Philippines with key markets including Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, strengthening digital infrastructure resilience and enabling high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
Globe’s share price rose by P12.00 to close at P1,645 each on Wednesday.
