The National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) have agreed to create a technical working group (TWG) that will craft a framework agreement on expanding broadband access to households across the country.
The plan is for the government to piggyback on electric cooperatives (ECs) infrastructure in order to provide Internet service in their assigned areas. This is similar to the tripartite agreement signed among the DICT, National Transmission Corp. (Transco) and National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong met on July 6 with the key officials of the DICT headed by Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. and Undersecretary Denis Villorente to explore possible arrangements of bringing broadband connectivity into rural areas by tapping the infrastructure of 121 ECs.
The planned framework will also include the financial arrangement with the ECs that have existing fiber-optic cables in their distribution lines and possible funding for power utilities, which do not have fiber on their grid.
Some ECs, particularly those in Mindanao, already have fiber-optic infrastructure in place so it would be easier for them to provide Internet services to communities they serve.
“This is very important because the NEA has already access to 95 percent of households, especially in rural areas,” Rio said, adding that the ECs supervised by the NEA can be Internet-service providers (ISPs) in their respective coverage areas.
“We’ll give you the Internet access, and you can bring it to your client. Then, they can now enjoy their electricity, and they have Internet access [too]. This is also an added income,” the DICT chief said.
Masongsong said the NEA will support the government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP). “We will work hand-in-hand [with the government] and we will take care of the electric cooperatives,” he said.
On June 8 the DICT signed a tripartite agreement with NGCP and the Transco for the utilization of spare optical fiber to accelerate the implementation of the NBP.
Under the agreement, the DICT is given the right to use and/or access certain spare fiber-optic cores (FOCs), vacant lots, tower spaces and related facilities of the NGCP, the current concessionaire of the Transco-owned grid.