The country’s internet speed will accelerate next year as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) implements its National Broadband Plan (NBP), which has been allotted PHP1.5 billion in the planned 2023 national budget.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez stated that the internet is an essential social utility that is “deeply embedded in the way we live.”
He stated that the allocation for the NBP is part of the lower chamber’s PHP77-billion institutional amendments to supplement the budget for education, health, transportation, and other critical social services.
“We use the internet for education, for delivering and availing social services, for our businesses, and for almost every facet of our lives,” said Romualdez.
For his part, Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said the PHP1.5 billion will go a long way toward kicking off the NBP initiative, which is intended to serve as the backbone for giving internet access to all government offices countrywide.
“At alam naman natin na maraming lugar pa rin sa ating bansa ang hindi naaabot ng internet connection, lalo na ‘yung malalayong lugar. And we can now use the bandwidth given by Facebook once the DICT conducts the rollout of national broadband infrastructure, which will now be finally funded,” said Co.
The lawmaker was alluding to a previous deal reached by DICT, Facebook, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, in which Facebook pledged to supply the Philippine government with spectrum equivalent to at least 2 million megabits per second (Mbps) once internet infrastructure is in place.
