Comelec, telcos agree on use of poll data centers

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already chosen a main and a back-up data center that will be used to house servers receiving and tabulating the results of the May 10 automated elections. This was announced after the poll body, Globe Telecommunications Inc., and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) reached an agreement “in principle" regarding the use of the said facilities. Globe and PLDT will provide the main and the back-up data center, respectively, Comelec information technology consultant Renato Garcia said. Both facilities are expected to provide office space and communications support to servers of Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM), the supplier of automated voting machines for the May polls. The newly-chosen facilities have a tier 3 rating, which is second-best in terms of data center standards. However, locations of these data centers were withheld for “security reasons," Garcia said. The announcement was issued a day after Globe disallowed the use of their MK2 data center in Makati as Comelec’s main data center. PLDT likewise reportedly disallowed the use of its Vitro data center in Pasig City. The companies refused to house poll servers at their data centers owing to fears that the elections would disrupt and pose security threats to their normal operations. However, Garcia clarified that the two telcos were later on able to offer facilities that passed Smartmatic's standards. "Given their concerns, we agreed," he said. - RJAB Jr./KBK, GMANews.TV