The National Economic Development Authority said that more public investments are needed in four priority growth areas to stimulate economic recovery.
In a statement during a recent Presidential Communications Operations Office virtual presser, NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said that solutions for digitalization will support business and learning continuity in the midst of the long lockdown.
Edillon said the recovery cluster under the national task force against COVID-19 identified digital transformation, health systems, food resilience, and learning continuity as key investment areas that would help in economic recovery.
“We want the private sector to have more investments in these areas,” she said.
Edillon pointed out that the government will identify investments to support these sectors.
According to Globe Telecom President Ernest Cu, P70 Billion in capital expenditures are allocated this year to build 2,000 new sites and faster fiber roll-out to address home connectivity for the largely underserved market. The telco will deploy high speed 4G LTE and 5G technologies to improve internet services.
Smart Communications on the other hand, is prepared to invest up to P98 billion capex in 2021 focusing on expanding their fiber footprint and wireless coverage to meet the fast-growing demand of broadband services.
In reaction, Consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines urged the government to ramp-up public investments in digital transformation and telecommunications infrastructure as a priority growth area for economic recovery.
CitizenWatch Philippines Lead Convenor Orlando Oxales, in a released statement said, “Aggressive investments already being done by the private telecommunications companies to expand and improve internet service will accelerate rapidly if government steps in to build a nationwide broadband backbone that will integrate with tower and fiber networks of private telcos.”
“Having robust and reliable broadband services is now a daily utility that every consumer must have access for livelihood activities and is an empowering tool for businesses to prosper and create much needed jobs,” said Oxales.
“Hence, it makes sense for government to allocate enough funding to at least operationalize the existing fiber network in the NGCP’s power transmission infrastructure and link-up with existing networks of private telcos,” Oxales said.
On the other hand, National Telecommunication Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said that to be competitive, the government will have to start spending on ICT infrastructure including the implementation of the long-delayed National Broadband Plan.
According to the November 2020 report of TowerXchange, Thailand has 52,483 and Vietnam has 90,000 which is over 5 times more than the 17,850 cell towers of the Philippines.
Vietnam’s has 756 users per tower and Thailand 991. The Philippines has 4,090 users per tower reflecting high congestion
