Government must build nationwide broadband infrastructure
Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente lauds the pronouncement of the National Economic and Development Authority that private sector investments will be supported by government in four key areas. These areas are education continuity, food resilience, health, and digital transformation, to help boost economic recovery.
We strongly support the prioritization of digital transformation to address the economic shock of the people. This is a responsive strategy that will directly benefit the livelihood of all consumers.
Even ordinary consumers must now depend on digital technologies to survive the daily burdens caused by non-contact safety protocols. Accessibility to online services to do daily tasks is a new normal that our government must ensure for all users.
Our smart phones have become indispensable for communication, business transactions, medical emergencies, education, and personal activities. We must now depend on digital technologies to survive the daily burdens caused by non-contact safety protocols.
However, we have observed that investments in telecommunications infrastructures such as cell towers and fiber optic cable networks are largely from the private telcos. Though recent reports have seen increasing investments from the private telco companies, the country has been lagging behind ASEAN countries with governments leading investments in upgrading broadband connectivity.
We therefore urge this administration to implement an integrated strategy that will harness both the assets of government and the resources of the private telecommunications companies to at least improve broadband services to global standards.
For the ordinary Filipino consumer, this is an indispensable tool to survive this economic crisis.
Louie Montemar
BK3 Convenor