The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it has signed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement worth $150 million (or approximately P8.5 billion) with Japanese telecommunications firm IPS and its local affiliate InfiniVAN to expand the country’s fiber cable infrastructure.
With the completion of Phase 1 of the much-touted National Broadband Plan (NBP), Sen. Grace Poe said the Filipino people are looking forward to the government's promised 200 megabits per second (Mbps) Internet speed for state agencies and departments.
The resiliency route, connected to Singapore, serves as an alternate route in the Asian region and serves as a backup for the NBP in the case of any disruptions in the Pacific Light Cable Network, which is currently connected to the NBP’s cable landing station in Baler and to Los Angeles.
The DICT expects the government to save P720 million in Internet subscription expenses in the first year of implementation of the NBP or up to P34 billion in the next five years.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has questioned the move of the bicameral conference committee of Congress to give a "useless" increase of less than P1 billion in the 2021 budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The initiative is in line with the first phase of the National Broadband Program (NBP) which will link established provincial broadband networks to the national fiber backbone.
Through the National Broadband Program (NBP), government agencies can avail Internet service at P50 per Mbps of Internet bandwidth per month compared to the current P350, the DICT said.
The DICT reported that it has already tested 158 dark fiber segments of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and completed construction of the cable landing stations at Baler Aurora and Poro Point, La Union.
