State-run National Transmission Corp. and Mislatel Consortium of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecommunications Corp. on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the National Broadband Plan.
Mislatel submitted the highest committed level of service bid to the Department of Information and Communications that won it the New Major Player title.
Mislatel committed to deliver 27 megabits per second of minimum average broadband speed in the first year of its operations before upgrading to 55 Mbps in the next four years.
The consortium said it would spend P257 billion in infrastructure and service rollout during the five-year period.
“This will be part of the backbone of the network that we will roll out, so it is a precondition to having a reliable national coverage. With a well-established network, we can have better and more affordable internet services,” Mislatel spokesman Adel Tamano said.
TransCo owns the ‘dark fiber’ asset although the transmission network’s operations were privatized through a concession agreement.
Tamano said that aside from TransCo, Mislatel was also planning to sign MOUs with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, operator of the country’s transmission network, the National Electrification Administration and the electric cooperatives for the successful rollout of the NBP.
“We are open to partnering with NEA and the coops. We are working on that [NGCP] as well,” he said.
DICT, TransCo and NGCP earlier forged a tripartite agreement for the use of spare optical fiber to speed up the implementation of the government’s NBP.
The agreement would enable the government to save around P50 billion by using the dark fiber assets of TransCo.
The agreement is initially for the rollout to government offices and agencies and other public places but a separate agreement with the National Electrification Administration and the electric cooperatives would bring connectivity to the households.
Mislatel’s partners China Telecom and DICT signed a joint letter of intent on Nov. 20, 2018 for a feasibility study in using the government’s cable landing stations and connecting it to the former’s submarine cable.
The international submarine broadband infrastructure will connect the country to Hong Kong and the United States which offer cheaper rates.
