EO seeks to set up telecenter in every barangay

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is finalizing a draft executive order for submission to the President that will establish a program to install a telecenter in every municipality in the country and to provide incentives to encourage private sector participation in the endeavor.

DOTC officials said that unlike previous drafts that included the establishment of payphones in barangays, this time, the program will only be limited to municipal telecenters and the establishment of telecenters in order to fasttrack the project.

"Right now, there are still many municipalities (225 out of 1,520) that are still unserved and do not have access to basic telephone facilities," the officials emphasized.

The department earlier revealed that as part of the government’s information and communications technology (ICT) program, they will lease out all public calling offices (PCOs) currently being managed by the Telecommunications Office (Telof) to the private sector, which the latter will upgrade into telecenters.

As envisioned, the minimum set of facilities of a telecenter consists of a telephone line, personal computer, scanner, printer/copier, and modem for Internet connection.

Government’s policy to bridge the so-called digital divide is contained in Republic Act 8792 or the E-Commerce Act of 2000 which cited the need for Filipinos to have access to telecom and information services to bring them to the mainstream of social, political, and economic life on matters of national and international interest.

The policy was reiterated by President Arroyo during her first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) where she directed the DOTC to come up with a program to ensure that all Filipinos will have access to the Internet.

RA 6849 or the Municipal Telephone Act of 1989 earlier established provincial systems of PCOs. But with the expiration of the said law, the DOTC said there is a need to establish an alternative program of installing telecenters in every municipality and getting the private sector to be more involved in the program.

Part of the incentives which government plans to provide the private sector under the alternative communications program include granting by the National Telecommunications Commission of a three-year moratorium on the issuance of new licenses to service providers in areas that are covered by the program and expedite the assignment of radio frequencies.

Also being considered is giving the participants a graduated system of paying spectrum user fees to the NTC, and spreading out the payment over a five-year period.

A plan to tap government financial institutions such as the Development Bank of the Phils. (DBP) and the Landbank of the Phils. (LBP) to grant loans to participants at concessional interest rates and affordable repayment terms may be junked since the government is now frowning on subsidies due to the country’s financial situation, DOTC officials said.