By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated July 18, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - As the owner
of the country’s power grid, the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) should
be part of the agreement to use the fiber optics network of the transmission
line under the government’s national broadband program, its top official said.
The Department of Information and
Communications Technology (DICT) and National Grid Corp. of the Philippines
(NGCP) cannot implement the agreement without TransCo, TransCo president and
CEO Melvin Matibag said.
“It’s just for purposes of
putting everything in proper perspective,” he said. “It could be a tripartite.
DICT as the one advocating for the national broadband program, TransCo as the
owner and NGCP being the concessionaire.”
In a letter to DICT Secretary
Rodolfo Salalima, Matibag expressed TransCo’s cooperation in the immediate
implementation of the national broadband plan.
He said NGCP has an agreement with
government to operate the country’s power grid and has 15 years left in its
concession.
“As such, TransCo must be included
as a party in the negotiation and execution of any agreement involving the use
of the transmission assets,” Matibag said.
Last month, NGCP submitted a draft
memorandum of understanding (MOU) to DICT for the implementation of the national
broadband plan.
NGCP president and CEO Henry Sy Jr.
earlier said the grid operator is fully supportive of the program and would
soon formalize its deal with the DICT.
The agency earlier said the amount
of investment needed for the national broadband program may go down as NGCP
expressed willingness to allow the government to use the existing fiber optics
network in the transmission grid for its implementation.
NGCP’s fiber optic cables covering
6,154 kilometers will form the primary network of the national broadband
program to bring WiFi connection in the country.
The unused portion of the cables
will help ease the infrastructure burden faced by DICT as it can piggyback on
NGCP’s existing network.
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