With the giant PLDT-Smart group as its only real competitor in the huge Internet broadband market in the country, Globe Telecom is now busy beefing up its infrastructure as it anticipates a bigger demand from businesses and consumers in the next few years.

The Ayala-owned carrier recently announced two developments that clearly firmed up its Internet infrastructure strategy: Its participation in the Southeast Asia Japan Cable System (SJC) and the certification by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) that its “Carrier Ethernet” services conform to the MEF 9 specifications for service providers.

Gil Genio, head of Globe Business group, said the company’s business is now almost evenly split between its traditional telecom services and its booming Internet offerings.

According to the Globe executive, the firm is investing heavily in its infrastructure because demand for Internet capacity among local users is expected to surge with outsourcing and various kinds of gadgets all requiring connectivity to the Internet.

“If you look at the price of netbooks, they’re now even cheaper than mobile phones. This is one of the factors now driving the demand for Internet connectivity,” said Genio.

The official said one of five households in the Philippines is now connected to the Internet. This figure, he said, is projected to improve significantly in the next couple of years.

In anticipation of the rise in demand, Globe said it has invested a total of $60 million so far in the SJC, which will initially link Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

The cable system reputedly has the highest capacity system in the world with a wavelength transmission technology of 17 Terabits per second (Tbps), upgradeable to 23 Tbps. About 1.2 Tbps to 2 Tbps will be going through the Philippine branch, according to Globe.

Its participation in SJC is the fifth major investment of Globe in submarine cable systems. The company is the exclusive SJC landing party in the Philippines.

The innovative design of the SJC, the company said, allows for lowest latency paths out of Philippines to Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, with onward connectivity to the US.

The pioneering members signed the agreement in Manila on December 10, 2009. The SJC is targeted to be operational by the second quarter of 2012.

The MEF certification, meanwhile, gave Globe the distinction of being the first Philippine telecommunications company to have managed such a feat.

The MEF certification, attained by passing rigorous compliance tests conducted by the MEF-approved certification test laboratory Iometrix, is considered a quality assurance symbol the world over.

The MEF is a non-profit global industry alliance that aims to accelerate the worldwide adoption of carrier-class Ethernet services and networks.

Carrier Ethernet is a ubiquitous and standardized carrier-class service and network.

Globe’s Ethernet Line, Ethernet Virtual Private Line and Ethernet LAN services were tested against the MEF 9 specification.