National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is closely coordinating with the Information and Communications Technology and Energy Departments for a possible partnership to bring high-speed internet nationwide, a top executive said Thursday.
NGCP president and chief executive Henry Sy Jr. said discussion with the government for a national broadband plan began in the past administration.
“As early as 2012, we were already exploring the broadband potential of our facilities with the Department of Science and Technology, which was the lead agency for the project at that time,” Sy said.
“Under the current administration, talks have been ongoing for the past six months. We’ve given the DICT and DOE all the information they need to put this project forward,” Sy said.
He said NGCP informed relevant government agencies that the current transmission facility would be able to support the broadband network envisioned by the government.
“NGCP’s wide fiber optic network and related resources are sufficient to support this priority program under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. We are just waiting for details from our government partners,” Sy said.
National Grid operates the country’s sole power transmission network under a concession agreement with the government.
“Allegations by TransCo [National Transmission Corporation] that ‘there are communication facilities which are installed in the transmission building without [TransCo’s] permission,’ and that the same constitutes a violation of our Concession Agreement, are simply untrue,” Sy said.
TransCo earlier asked NGCP to explain the use of transmission facilities for “communications” without the consent of the agency.
Meanwhile, NGCP submitted an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission to build the P52-billion Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project.
The project will allow power-sharing between the Visayas and Mindanao once it is completed.
