The Department of Information and Communications Technology is looking at tapping the electric cooperative network of the National Electrification Administration for the last mile of the government’s National Broadband Network.
“Because they are electric cooperatives, they can become internet service providers,” DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio told reporters.
NEA is the agency tasked to supervise the rollout of rural electrification by the country’s 117 electric cooperatives. “They can sell not only electricity but internet connectivity as well. They will be the ones that will go to the households to connect to them,” he said.
Rio said NEA was able to roll out 95 percent electrification and this could be used as a platform to rollout broadband internet.
“They are 95 percent electrified already. They will put in place connectivity for the internet,” he said.
DICT signed last month a tripartite agreement with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and National Transmission Corp. for the use of spare optical fiber to speed up the implementation of the government’s national broadband plan.