MannyPiñol just posted news that the on-going cabinet meeting with President Duterte gave way for the approval of the long-delayed National Broadband Network. The president highlighted the need for a much faster internet speed in the country in terms of better roll out of fiber optics and wireless technology.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology led by Rodolfo Salalima will be the one to spearhead the project. Hopefully, we can see a unified network within 5 years and a better-connected government.
Once finished, the government will have a more streamlined service across all agencies. Additionally, it will empower all local government units to have more CCTVs, coordinated emergency response and even faster dispatch of information in a micro level.
The original National Broadband Network program was put to hold due to the ZTE NBN deal scandal, the project didn’t continue since then which results why the Philippines doesn’t have its own network and unified government portal.
Additionally, once the Philippines has its own national broadband network, it can now lease lines to telco players such as PLDT and Globe in far-flung areas. Ideally, this is a good method for the government to gain back the costs of this project.
