ICT secretary bullish on industry but cites slow Internet

Rodolfo Salalima, secretary of the newly created Department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) expressed optimism that the country’s ICT industry will continue to grow in the coming years. However, Salalima said one factor hindering the industry’s further growth is the slow Internet speed given by telecommunications providers to their subscribers. Data shows the Philippines is among the countries in the world that have a very poor Internet service. The driving forces of the ICT industry, Salalima said, are the business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, software developers, Internet-service providers, telecommunication companies and educational institutions. BPO industry revenue is forecast to hit USD25bn this year.