Converge, Naver Cloud to jointly explore PH cloud market

 

Converge and NAVER Cloud ink a strategic partnership represented by Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony Uy (left) and NAVER Cloud Corp. CEO Yuwon Kim. Converge hopes this collaboration with the South Korean tech giant will mark the start of wider cloud adoption of businesses in the Philippines.  

Converge ICT Solutions Inc., a leading provider of fiber broadband and technology, and NAVER Cloud Corp., of South Korea, have signed a strategic collaboration to jointly explore options aimed at serving the Philippines' growing cloud market.

Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony Uy and NAVER Cloud’s Chief Executive Officer Yuwon Kim were in attendance during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  at the Converge Headquarters in Pasig City last Thursday, May 9.

Through the said cooperative venture, both companies will collaborate to discuss and establish potential partnerships, leveraging NAVER Cloud’s expertise to deliver innovative cloud solutions for the specific needs of Filipino customers. The company also plans to promote all-round cooperation for the Digital Transformation projects in the Philippines by utilizing NAVER Cloud's innovative technology capabilities related to smart cities and business capabilities such as Large Language Model (LLM), Sovereign Cloud, WORKS (B2B communication tool), and Whale (browser-based web service integration platform).

"Our continuous leap to digital calls for advanced solutions that would support a technology-enabled lifestyle in a robust digital environment. We look forward to working with NAVER Cloud to discover ways how we can empower more customers through cutting-edge cloud technologies," Uy said.

From South Korea, NAVER Cloud executives personally visited the country to mark the partnership with Converge. Aside from CEO Kim, also present during the signing were NAVER Cloud Chief Technology Officer Yong-Jae Kwak.

(From left: Converge Chief Network Transformation Officer Paulo Martin Santos, Chief Technical Advisor Eugene Yeo, Converge Chief Operations Officer Jesus C. Romero, Converge President and Co-Founder Grace Uy, Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony Uy, NAVER Cloud Corp CEO Yuwon Kim, NAVER Cloud Corp CTO Yongjae Kwak, and NAVER Cloud Corp Executive Director and Head of Global DX & Innovation Business Sangyoung Han, and Hongseok Ahn, Director, APAC, Business Development, NAVER Cloud Corp. )

"The Philippines is a high potential market for cloud and digital transformation business growth, and with the signing of the MOU, we expect to contribute to the digital transformation of the Philippines," said Yuwon Kim, CEO of NAVER Cloud.

"We will collaborate with Converge based on our capability in smart city technologies and localized sovereign AI, sovereign cloud implementation to secure data sovereignty," he added.

NAVER Cloud is a part of NAVER's affiliates, which is the largest Internet Company in Korea, one of the world’s top tech companies. Since launching its Cloud platform business in 2017 with 22 products, NAVER Cloud has expanded its product portfolio over 200 individual products, including those in IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, hybrid cloud, and provides the same level as global hyperscale Cloud Service Provider.

The company has launched HyperCLOVA in 2021, the third LLM to be launched in the world, heralding a new era of AI-driven capabilities. Through relentless investment in research and development, NAVER Cloud were able to announce highly advanced powerful in-house backbone model HyperCLOVA X last year.​​

As both companies engage to potentially extend cloud services, Uy said Converge targets to spur cloud adoption among local industries, ushering the country’s digital transformation.

"We constantly drive innovations that will redound to the country's technological advancement, in our mission to leave no one behind. This partnership is poised to enhance accessibility, and efficiency for businesses and individuals alike, marking an exciting development for the Philippines’ cloud market,” Dennis Anthony Uy added.

Converge is the fastest growing broadband provider in the Philippines with a fiber footprint of more than 690,000 kilometers nationwide. It offers services to residential and enterprise customers. By end-December 2023, Converge had captured more than 2.1 million subscribers, consisting of more than two million postpaid and over 114,000 prepaid subscribers. The company also provides private data network solutions, cloud and colocation services and other connectivity solutions to enterprises of varying sizes, industries and types.