The Department of Information and Communications Technology agreed to team up with power grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines to roll out the county’s national broadband program.
National Grid said in a statement the two parties reached a mutual decision on the way forward in relation to the fiber optic capacity available for the use of third parties to implement the NBP.
DICT officer-in-charge Eliseo Rio, who recently met with NGCP president and chief executive Henry Sy Jr., said the government agency committed to tap NGCP’s transmission facilities as backbone for the NBP for the duration of the latter’s concession.
“The core of the matter is who owns the dark fiber of NGCP/TransCo [National Transmission Corp.]. When it is turned over to TransCo, whatever agreement was done with NGCP may be modified, changed or reviewed by TransCo,” Rio said.
NGCP said it was willing to enter into a bilateral agreement with the government for the lease of its fiber optic capacity available for use of third parties at no cost.
“NGCP will enter into the agreement up to the life its concession, which is until 2034, provided that in the event that the concession is extended, the bilateral agreement will also be extended,” the company said.
NGCP said it would also not object to any separate agreement DICT would sign with TransCo “for so long as the exclusive rights of the company in relation to transmission and related businesses for the entire duration of its concession are upheld.”
NGCP said its existing fiber optic cable network enables real-time communication between transmission facilities, and with generators and distribution utilities.
It said the fiber optic capacity to be leased out by the company uses transmission facilities.
NGCP said allowing the government or third parties to “piggy-back” on this transmission communication backbone would be critical in the immediate implementation of the government’s national broadband program.
“We are not interested in entering the telecommunications business. Transmission operations remains to be the primary business of NGCP. The lease of available fiber optic capacity is specifically allowed under our concession as a ‘related business to maximize the utilization of its assets,” it said.
“Such lease agreement is contemplated by our concession and franchise and is not considered our primary mandate,” it said.
NGCP said its available fiber optic capacity could potentially support both the needs of the government and a private party. NGCP said it could also enter into agreements with other parties for the use of the remaining capacity not used by the government.
“Should the government use only a portion of the fiber optic capacity available for use of third parties, NGCP may also enter into other bilateral contracts with interested telecommunication companies based on the contract with government, for the use of the remaining capacity,” it said.
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto, Jr.