Ease of doing business key to improved connectivity — DICT

Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy (File photo: Department of Information and Communications Technology – DICT/Facebook)

MANILA – The changes in how easily businesses, particularly telecommunications companies (telco), were able to build and connect to common tower infrastructures are seen as reasons for the improvements in the country’s digital connectivity

With lesser red tape in applying for permits and licenses to set up common towers across the country, Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said it is now “more economical and faster” for telcos to deploy connectivity nationwide.

“What has really pushed our digital infrastructure and digital connectivity was the ease of doing business in partnership with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and telco private sector partners,” Uy said during a post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) discussion at the Hilton Hotel in Pasay City on Tuesday.

“We work on liberalizing and making it easier for them to deploy their common tower infrastructure. Actually, the recent [Executive Order (EO) No. 32] that was signed by [President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.] emphasized this,” he added.

During Marcos’ SONA on Monday, he said the Philippines ranked 47th among 180 countries in fixed broadband speed — an improvement of 11 places compared to 2022 — and 83rd out of 142 countries in mobile internet speed or eight notches higher than in 2022.

With this increased connectivity, Uy said ‘hyperscalers’ are eyeing the Philippines as an ideal location for data centers.

“In fact, in the next two years, we expect at least a 500 percent increase in data center capacity within the country,” he said.

On the other hand, he said integrating e-government platforms would continue and help public servants make better decisions through data collected in the digital space.

“There will be no guesswork that has been plaguing government decisions because of the lack of data and the right information to do so,” he said.

The government’s efforts in providing these services to remote areas, especially geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) through ‘Broadband ng Masa (BBM)’ also continue.

By next month, he said the connection from Baler, Aurora to Poro Point in La Union will be live, with the Luzon connection from the north — from Ilocos down to Quezon City — go live by the end of the year.

“That provides about 2 Terabits capacity to our current capacity,” he said.

On Monday, Marcos highlighted his administration’s intention to “fully embrace” digitalization and online payment systems as tools to improve public services, ease of doing business, and fight corruption in the government.

At present, he said existing efforts by the government have already “significantly boosted efficiency” such as in government payments, company and business registration, issuance of permits and licenses, loan applications and revenue collections.