NEW Washington, Aklan—With only a left before the deadline, the Department of Information and Communications and Technology (DICT) announced it is still accepting companies aspiring to be the third telco player in the country.
DICT Undersecretary Monchito B. Ibrahim said that already, some Chinese and New Delhi companies have expressed keen interest to compete in the Philippine telco marked dominated by Smart and Globe.
It could be recalled that President Duterte had set an end of March deadline to the DICT to encourage investor to become the third telco player in the country to ensure speed Internet connectivity and speed in the Philippines.
“We are doing everything to come up with a third telco. You already know what would happen to us if we could not meet the deadline,” Ibrahim told the local media at a news conference at Sampaguita Gardens here Wednesday night.
Ibrahim was here for the sixth Visayas ICT Cluster Organization (Victor) Conference. The conference, which carries the theme “Vying for Innovations in the Visayas and Aklan for a Digital Philippines,” will run from February 22 to 23.
The Victor will focus on three major national goals: helping local government units jump into the 21st century with e-governance initiatives, building sustainable start-up environments in different regions, and positioning local communities as prime spots for information-technology businesses.
The conference also coincided the pioneering event for the 48-hour game hackathon called Game Jam by the Game Developers Association of the Philippines. A fourth Creative Congress will also be held.
Supported by the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, it will also be attended by ICTs from the Visayas, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu and Bohol, among others.
Lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology expressed her group’s intent of creating regional arts center in the country.
These also include providing artistic tablets for the honing of talents on gaming.
For her part, Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo, former congresswoman and chairman of the ICT-Aklan, said that the DICT has challenged the province to generate 5,000 new employment in the coming years.