DOTC keen to resurrect broadband network project

The government of the Philippines is looking to resurrect plans to re-launch the national broadband project abandoned last year by President Gloria Arroyo amid allegations of corruption. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has renamed the controversial National Broadband Network project the Government Broadband Network project, in an effort to distance it from the previous ill-fated venture. The DOTC is looking to roll out a fully integrated IP-based platform providing voice, data and video services nationwide to local, regional, and national government agencies under the plan. The agency is exploring its options for selecting equipment suppliers and operators for the project, and some of the country’s leading telecom players including PLDT, Globe Telecom and Digital Telecommunications have already expressed interest in the scheme.