THE Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company , the leading telecom operator in the Philippines and Rocket Internet AG , announced a new joint venture to further strengthen their existing partnership and to foster the development of internet based businesses in the Philippines on January 21. PLDT and the Asia Pacific Internet Group will become partners in the new Philippines Internet Group , which will concentrate on creating and developing online businesses in the Philippines. Through Voyager Innovations, Inc. , PLDT is investing 30m EUR for a 33.3 percent stake with an option to increase this to 50 percent.