The National Transmission Corp., Department of Information and Communications Technology and Benguet Electric Cooperative are set to sign a tripartite agreement to pilot the National Broadband Plan in Baguio City.
“We will sign tripartite agreements with DICT and Beneco on Jan. 8, 2019 to roll out a pilot NBN project in Baguio for government agencies and internet service,” TransCo president Melvin Matibag said.
DICT, TransCo and National Grid Corp of the Philippines earlier signed a tripartite agreement for the use of spare optical fiber to speed up the implementation of the government’s NBN.
NGCP operates the country’s transmission network under its concession agreement with the government, while TransCo owns the “dark fiber’ asset.
The agreement enabled the government to save around P50 billion by using the dark fiber assets of TransCo.
The agreement was 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.
Matibag said NEA, through the electric cooperatives, “can also lower the cost of electricity.”
“Because the Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act] law is saying 50 percent of revenues outside of electricity revenues will automatically go to lowering of electricity rates, so just imagine cheap internet connection and cheaper electricity, which are both economic drivers,” Matibag said.
The DICT, NEA and the electric cooperatives previously signed a memorandum of agreement for the “last mile” of the government’s NBN project aimed at improving the internet access in the country.
The memorandum of agreement aims to ensure widespread availability of high-speed and affordable broadband in remote and rural areas of the country through the electric cooperatives.
The DICT, NEA and the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. formalized the tripartite collaboration “to realize the objectives of the NBP, including but not limited to the co-use of fiber optic cables.”
Under the agreement, NEA and Philreca will coordinate with the ECs regarding the NBP project. The DICT, on the other hand, will be allowed to connect or access the electric co-op’s existing nodes so that they may link with other government agencies.
