With next month’s effectivity of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the “Konektadong Pinoy Act,” Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte sees a “major leap forward” soon in President Marcos’ goal to bridge the digital divide by bringing in more overseas investors, connecting all of our nearly 11,000 remote and underserved barangays, and slashing internet costs by half in three years’ time.
A co-author of Republic Act (RA) No. 12234 when he was still a congressman representing Camarines Sur’s second district, Villafuerte said the IRR’s adoption of an “open access policy” for investors marks “a major leap forward in the government’s ambitious goal on the Marcos watch to deliver inclusive, high-quality and yet affordable internet access across the country, including the so-called last-mile communities, in step with its priority agenda of accelerated digital transformation.”
As pointed out by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda, the approaching effectivity of the law’s IRR will lead to the entry of an initial six or seven fiber operators or satellite providers, each of which is likely to invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion in putting up or upgrading telecommunications (telecoms) infrastructure in the Philippines.
The implementation of what is otherwise known as the “Open Access in Data Transmission Act” is happening in the weeks ahead, said Villafuerte, following the signing last Nov. 5 of the IRR of RA 12234 by Aguda and six more officials—Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan’ Public Works and Highways Secretary Vivencio Dizon, Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla; Transportation Acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez; National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez and Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo.
To expand internet connectivity to remote places or GIDAs, the proposed law shall require new players to build their facilities “not only in the city centers, but most especially in the remote, unserved, and underserved areas.
Under the law, the IRR will take effect 15 days after its publication, said Villafuerte, who is president of the National Unity Party (NUP) and senior vice president (South Luzon) of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
Villafuerte said that by institutionalizing “co-sharing” and “co-building” of digital or telecommunications infrastructure by both the current telcos or public telecommunications entities (PTEs) and would-be new data transmission providers, RA 12234 would “put the country’s digital transformation on the fast track at such a speed that will help the DICT meet President Marcos’ mission for this agency to—in the Chief Executive’s own words—‘fix the connectivity problem once and for all.’”
Villafuerte said that, “Although we acknowledge and respect the concerns of PTEs over the supposed performance issues with, and unfair competition from, new data transmission players, only by introducing broad reforms to ensure universal digital access via this proposed law affords Government a swift way to meet President Marcos’ goal of opening the market, boosting competition, pruning network rollout investments for prospective industry players, and raising the quality while slashing the cost of Internet services for Filipinos.”
Greater competition alone, Villafuerte said, can close the digital divide and bring about faster and cheaper Internet—the twin goals of President Marcos—as “the anticipated entry of more players will lead to more choices for consumers, ushering in more affordable Internet costs as more and more competitors fight for market share.”
This goal of universal access means, said Aguda at a recent Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Infrastructure Forum, connecting all 10,875 underserved barangays—“either through tower, fiber or satellite”—and paring internet connectivity costs by 30% to 50% by the time President Marcos leaves office in 2028.
Aguda said the DICT has restored and activated nearly 19,000 Free Wi-Fi sites, with 6,183 located in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs), under the government’s Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP) that aims to increase access points from 15,700 points to 50,000 by 2028.
The approaching effectivity of the law’s IRR will lead to the entry of an initial six or seven fiber operators or satellite providers, each of which is likely to invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion in putting up or upgrading telecommunications (telecoms) infrastructure in the Philippines.
The provincial government of Camarines Sur has a Free Wi-Fi For All Program using the Starlink satellite technology.
Thus far, this project has provided Internet access to over 200 barangays in Iriga City and 18 municipalities.
For new players to help develop digital infrastructure by removing barriers to competition in the data transmission services, Villafuerte said the law: (1) encourages infrastructure sharing and co-location in order to promote network investment, and (2) ensures efficient and transparent management of the radio frequency spectrum, especially those utilized in the delivery of data transmission services.
Save for the existing PTEs, all industry participants are no longer required under the proposed law to secure legislative franchises or certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCN)s to encourage them to invest in and compete in the local market.
However, to ensure free yet fair competition, Villafuerte said these new players shall be required to meet the registration and performance criteria to be set by the DICT and the NTC for them to put up, operate, lease or own networks or facilities.
To expand Internet connectivity to remote places or GIDAs, the proposed law shall require new players to build their facilities “not only in the city centers, but most especially in the remote, unserved, and underserved areas in order to extend data transmission services by both the existing and new players throughout the country.”
As for cybersecurity concerns, Villafuerte noted that the law requires would-be participants to get third-party certification from cybersecurity experts that are aligned with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards.
