NGCP awaits agreement with DICT

November 27, 2017

http://bworldonline.com/ngcp-awaits-agreement-dict/

PRIVATELY OWNED National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it had set aside its fiber optic network for the government’s national broadband program as it awaits a formal agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

“We’re working with DICT. The capacity available for third-party use will be offered to government first for its project. And we’re eager to start working with them,” NGCP spokesperson Cynthia P. Alabanza told reporters. “We’re looking forward to the agreement so that the project can start.”

This comes as the DICT along with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority signed earlier this month a landing party agreement with Facebook, called the Luzon bypass infrastructure, to improve the country’s broadband internet speed and accessibility.

Ms. Alabanza said NGCP could be a part of the government’s broadband plan as it has an existing facility that could be used for the purpose.

But so far, what had been agreed upon by NGCP and DICT, under the department’s previous leadership, is an agreement to explore a partnership. There has been no assessment of NGCP facilities, and no due diligence conducted.

The government also has yet to determine whether the grid operator’s fiber optic network is compatible with the government’s broadband plan.

Ms. Alabanza said NGCP was unsure whether DICT would piggyback on its broadband and branch out from there.

“We can be a part of it. Connectivity is an important part of not just transmission but daily life,” she said.

In June, NGCP said it had been chosen as a partner of the DICT, under then Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima, for the government’s broadband program.

NGCP had expressed optimism in the project, which it described as bringing the country’s average internet speed closer to those of “first-world countries.”

Privately owned NGCP said its fiber optic cables, which cover 6,154 kilometers or 160,779 fiber kilometers, will be the primary network of the program that aims to bring Wi-Fi connection all over the country.