Data center lead times may force gov’t to outsource

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it may outsource the government’s planned data center to expedite the launch of services due to the long lead times involved in building its own facility.

“Maybe it will take two to three years to build a full-blown data center. So, in the meantime, we outsource to local hyperscalers while we are trying to build,” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda told reporters on the sidelines of the Arangkada Philippines Investment Forum 2025 last week.

The DICT has no data center development timeline as yet, Mr. Aguda said.

“Our data center’s combined capacity is only around two to three megawatts (MW). We need around 200 MW… We do not want to rush the data center. We want to plan it first until next year, then maybe the development will happen after that,” he said, adding that a public-private partnership (PPP) could be tapped for the project.

Mr. Aguda said regarding the location of the data center, the DICT is capable of building in any region where it has a presence.

“We have 15 regions, we are in all 15 regions. The question right now is a matter of prioritization and how big the capacity is,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Aguda said that the study on the possible conversion of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into a data center remains ongoing.

“The proposal is still being studied. There are two proponents for that. One wants to (use the plant for nuclear power) while the other wants to convert it into a data center,” Mr. Aguda said.

The DICT said in August that it plans to conduct its own study on converting the BNPP into a data center with a potential capacity of 600 megawatts.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency is currently studying the feasibility of the plan which is expected to be completed by November. — Ashley Erika O. Jose