Emmanuel Caintic, Undersecretary to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying that despite the government’s best intentions, the country will not achieve 100% internet connectivity before 2025.
In 2020 the authorities launched a ‘five-year road map’ designed to utilise a mixture of fibre, mobile and satellite delivery systems to improve access – particularly in unserved or underserved areas across the Philippines. Speaking in a forum titled ‘Future of the ICT Industry in the Country,’ Caintic said that under the road map the government will support the private sector’s initiatives with a targeted focus on areas where telcos will not tread due to the low returns on investment. The work will include the linking of Regions 1 and 3, parts of Region 2 and Metro Manila through the existing fibre network of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (2020-2021), while deployments in 2022-2023 will connect Regions 1 to 12. The road map also sets out to deploy cell towers and high-throughput satellites in provinces such as Mindoro, Marinduque, Batanes, Romblon, Siargao and Camiguin, the official said, noting too that the bulk of the work will be carried out between 2022 and 2025.