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TRANSPORTATION Secretary Leandro Mendoza said Tuesday
many foreign groups have become interested in
participating in a planned bidding for a government
broadband system, compared with only two in the first
one that resulted in controversy and has since been
aborted.
He
added, “I just hope that they remain interested. The
project has been hounded with controversy and the issue
is still under probe. We hope [these] countries will be
patient.”
The
Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC)
now calls the project the government broadband network,
or GBN, to distinguish it from the deeply tarnished
China-funded national broadband network, or NBN.
The DOTC
is also looking at a local bid but Mendoza is uncertain
if local telephone firms will participate. “They are
concerned [about] the project’s viability. This
broadband project is meant to serve the unserved and
underserved areas. There is no profit here. How can they
recoup their investment? That is why we are also
soliciting interest from the foreign firms.”
Right
now Mendoza said they are still trying to figure out
what the best procurement method is for the project to
ensure its achievement.
The GBN
is envisioned as a fully integrated single Internet
protocol-based platform allowing secure Intranet and
virtual private-network services, including secure
e-mail services, data transfer and video conferencing;
free calls within government nationwide through voice
over Internet protocol (VOIP); and server hosting for
better security, Internet connectivity, and mobile
communications.
At
present, none of the government agencies, except a few
government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs),
have virtual private networks. Government files are
usually transferred via e-mail through Yahoo or Google
mail.
Approximately P4 billion a year is spent by the
government for communications expenses. In 2004 the
government agencies spent P1.9 billion, GOCCs, P1.1
billion and local government units, P700 million.
Based on
what the DOTC has presented to the local phone firms,
the GBN project will be divided into three phases. Phase
1 is connectivity among all national government offices
with an estimated 2,400 connections needed.
Phase 2
involves 1,628 connections to put online all provincial
and municipal local government units and Phase 3 will
entail 22,000 connections to connect to the barangay
level.
But
while the private firms support government’s thrust for
“intra- and intergovernment connectivity,” they,
however, asked authorities to map out first a workable,
relevant and detailed scope of the GBN project.
According to them, the initial information presented by
the DOTC is not enough and still requires “detailed
clarification” on its scope and specifications.
“There
are certainly deeper questions whose answers will
sharpen the picture. In essence, a problem must be
explicitly identified in order to design, develop and
deploy a genuine solution. The cart cannot go ahead of
the horse,” said Globe senior vice president for
corporate and regulatory affairs Rodolfo Salalima.
Alfredo
Carrera, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT)
vice president for regulatory and telecom industry
relations, had said, “Our proposal was like more of
clarifications and questions rather than suggestions.”
The PLDT
Group, Globe and Digital Telecommunications Philippines
Inc. (Digitel) want to know which entities are to be
connected, where are these entities situated, how many
users will be involved, what level of connectivity is
required, what services will be covered, if there is
existing infrastructure to integrate with, and when
implementation must be completed. |
