Philippine fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions said that it is fattening its enterprise service offerings via a reseller partnership with LEO satellite operator Starlink and an expanded fiber deal with Ribbon Communications.
Converge said that it is now authorised to resell Starlink in the Philippines via its wholly-owned subsidiary Converge Singapore. Under the reseller agreement, Converge will provide end-to-end turnkey solutions, including installation, network management, monitoring, and maintenance.
Converge plans to target industry sectors such as construction, mining, agriculture, retail and hospitality with operations in underserved areas where fibre is costly to roll out.
“Beyond serving primary business needs, this collaboration provides redundancy solutions also for enterprises that require a secondary, always-on connectivity backup,” said Converge Singapore MD Sherie Ng in a statement.
Ng added that bundling Starlink with its fibre connectivity solutions will enable Converge to expand its global business portfolio.
“Many businesses operating in remote and underserved regions still struggle with unreliable internet. By integrating Starlink into our suite of products, we’re unlocking new opportunities for these industries and the countless Filipinos who depend on them,” she said.
Converge CEO and co-founder Dennis Anthony Uy said the Starlink deal is a vital step in the company’s evolution from telecom provider to technology powerhouse.
“We’re among the few in the Philippines authorized by Starlink to resell its services – an acknowledgment of our deep market expertise and commitment to meeting the evolving needs of both enterprise and government clients,” he said.
According to Business World, Uy said at a press conference on Tuesday that he expects to resell up to US$4 million in Starlink kits, and that the reseller deal would boost Converge’s enterprise revenues “easily by 5% to 10%”.
Data Lake was the first company in the Philippines to become an authorised Starlink reseller in 2023. ICT solutions provider Ardent Networks signed on as a Starlink reseller in December 2024.
According to the Philippine Star newpaper, Converge already had ties to Starlink via a deal in 2022 to lease fibre lines and ground equipment to SpaceX prior to Starlink’s entry into the Philippines. Meanwhile, Data Lake provides managed services utilizing Starlink to Converge's parent company, Comclark Network and Technology Corp, under a deal signed in July 2024.
Expanded Ribbon deal for fibre network optimisation
Separately on the fibre side of the business, Converge ICT also announced Tuesday it’s deploying data transmission technology from Ribbon Communications to enhance its nationwide fibre network.
Specifically, Converge will deploy Ribbon’s Muse multilayer automation platform (MAP) that provides comprehensive control, analysis, design, and planning to optimise and automate IP optical network resources.
“We are planning important developments in the products and services we offer to our customers, and it’s vital that our infrastructure can support these,” said Uy. “Adopting this new technology is essential for effectively managing large amounts of data from IoT applications, cloud services and future innovations.”
That deal expands on an initial collaboration agreement between Converge and Ribbon in July 2024 to integrate Ribbon’s 5-nm 140G baud transmission chipset into its network to boost fibre network capacity from 800 Gbps to 1.2 Tbps per channel.
Converge has already deployed the transmission chipsets in its metro and regional sites across North and Central Luzon, and now says the technology will be deployed throughout the rest of its infrastructure sites across the Philippines.
Converge is also leveraging Ribbon’s Muse SDN Domain Orchestration, which Ribbon says provides toolsets to maximize network capabilities and ensure peak efficiency with automation, planning, node design, and real-time control.