DICT needs P3Bn for connectivity roadmap
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) needs at least P3 billion to fully implement the national connectivity broadband roadmap.
Speaking at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Infra Forum, ICT Assistant Secretary Philip A. Varilla said the agency is now at the tail end of the first phase of the NBP, which is expected to be accomplished by mid of next year.
Varilla said that the government plans to coordinate with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center to develop packages either with the national or local governments to expedite connectivity projects in the provinces.
“Connecting the whole country—just the backbone side—we would need additional P 3 billion ($ 50,860,818) and then we need to extend the connectivity from the backbone to the provinces and municipalities,” he said.
Varilla hopes to establish the backbone by 2025 once the budget is dispensed to them since the national broadband plan stretches across the islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
