PLDT launches 1st Philippine Internet hub 
By Marigold Yao Endriga, The Philippine Star - 5 July 1997 

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) launched yesterday the country’s first Internet hub to serve as a common network that could link all local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) together. 

Called the Philippine Internet Exchange (PhIX), the $600,000- backbone infrastructure started its pilot operation in January and was completed last month. Five of the largest ISPs namely: Infocom, Iphil, Moscom, Virtualink and  WorldTel Phil. participated in the undertaking. 

Cesar Reyes, PLDT first vice president, said that the success of the pilot project now paves the way for its full blast  implementation that will finally put the Philippines on the map of the global Internet with its very own network access point such as those established in Hong Kong, Japan, UK, and US. 

The PhIX is an interconnection point that offers more than 120 Philippine ISPs’ independence from International traffic conditions as it centralizes local traffic within the country, eliminating the need to route locally exchanged information via the host servers located in US or elsewhere. 

Without the PhIX, Reyes said small ISPs have to bear the expensive cost of international leased circuits. As a result they can only afford a relatively low bandwidth that cannot accommodate rapid growth in user traffic. 

He said the PhIX is a measure that will sustain growth, increase efficiency in routing and improve the general  connectivity of local Internet users to access content and to have timely delivery of information. 

Reyes said the localization of Internet traffic within the Philippines will maximize the existing and future bandwidth capacities of the ISPs resulting in higher reliability and isolation from individual gateway problems. 

Local Internet customers, he added, will also benefit from faster access to content and exchange of information. A local e-mail message, for instance, goes straight to its local recipient faster and easier, thus, providing savings on access and usage time, he pointed out. 

Reyes, however, refused to reveal how much the ISPs would have to pay PLDT for using the network as well as other business arrangements.