CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. said its Angeles data center has received a green lane certificate of endorsement from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Board of Investments (BoI), a move the company said will help speed up regulatory clearances for the facility.

In a statement on Thursday, the listed fiber broadband and technology solutions provider said its digital infrastructure arm, Pentagon Digital Corp., secured the certification for the data center in Angeles, Pampanga.

Converge said the facility has been classified as a strategic investment under Executive Order No. 18, which the company said will help fast-track regulatory clearances and support its expansion into data center infrastructure, enterprise cloud computing, and carrier-neutral colocation. The 2023 order created the green lane mechanism, which routes qualified projects through the BoI's One-Stop Shop for Strategic Investments to reduce permitting delays for investments flagged as strategic.

“With this strategic designation, we are eliminating regulatory friction to deploy resilient, world-class compute capacity faster. This facility isn’t just expanding our enterprise portfolio — it is building the core digital foundation required to power the Philippines’ booming digital economy,” Converge Chief Executive Officer Dennis Anthony H. Uy said.

“By securing entry into the BoI’s Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) — the national framework reserved for high-impact infrastructure — Converge strengthens its position at the center of the country’s sovereign digital modernization,” the company said.

Converge said the green lane status provides dedicated investment facilitation, simultaneous multi-agency permit processing, and key account management.

“Investors are looking for predictability and ease of doing business, which is precisely what this endorsement provides,” DTI Director and BoI Investments Assistance Center Head Ernesto C. De Los Reyes, Jr. said.

Mr. De Los Reyes said the green lane initiative now covers about P6.36 trillion in strategic investments.

In March, Converge said it launched its P5-billion, 12-megawatt data center in Angeles, Pampanga, increasing its data center capacity. The facility deepens the fiber provider’s push into a segment where the country’s largest telcos, PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc., have also built data center operations to serve enterprise demand for cloud and colocation services.

At the local bourse on Thursday, Converge shares fell 15 centavos, or 1.58%, to close at P9.35 apiece. — Ashley Erika O. Jose