Transco interfered in Nat’l Broadband Plan, says NGCP

The delay in rolling out the National Broadband Plan (NBP) was due to interference by state-run National Transmission Corp. (Transco), the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

The deal was that the government, represented by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, would fold the nationwide broadband network into the NGCP fiber optics system.

“Kaso lang ho nag-end ang negotiation. Dati ho NGCP at DICT lang ang nag-uusap, tapos biglang pumasok sa usapan ang National Transmission Corp. So nagtataka ho ang NGCP bakit dumating po sa ganun,” NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said in an interview on “Dobol B sa News TV.”

Since last year, NGCP has been waiting to sign an agreement—with DICT—on the free use of its fiber optic network for the national broadband plan, Alabanza noted. NGCP is the operator of the national power grid.

In June last year, the DICT said it was targeting to sign an agreement with NGCP before 2017 is out.

“Tungkol sa paggamit ng gobyerno ng aming backbone, wala po kaming problema diyan,” Alabanza noted.

“In fact, last year pa po nag-umpisa na ang pakikipag ugnayan namin dito sa DICT para ma-inspeksyon nila ang mga facilities namin para makita nila kung alin ba ho sa napakalawak naming network ang pwedeng nilang gamitin para suportahan itong proyekto ng gobyerno,” she said.

“Nagkakaintindihan po ang NGCP at DICT tungkol dito ... Ready na po sana kami magpirmahan niyan nung June or July, nung 2017. Ang inaasahan nga po namin makapirma na po kami para mai-report sa Presidente,” she said.

Transco said last year that NGCP violated its concession agreement by building a telecommunications network without consent from the government.

In a separate interview on Dobol B sa News TV, a Transco official said NGCP is sowing “propaganda” about its role in the broadband plan.

“Well, ang posisyon ng NGCP hindi na ho kailangan. Kasi ho isinapribado na po ng gobyerno itong transmission network ... Nandito naman po talaga kasama ‘yung magagamit na fiber optic network,” Alabanza said.

“Klaro po sa batas at sa kanilang kontrata na, dito sa isinapribado nila, na lahat po ng negosasyon sa pagpapatakbo ng negosyo kasama po ang pagpapalawig ng fiber optic network. ‘Yung pagpapahiram kung kanino mang third party kasama na po ang gobyerno, binigay po ‘yan sa NGCP,” she said.

NGCP uses its fiber optic network solely for its own communications and is not being used by any third party operator, according to her.

“Kasama sa amin—para mapaganda ang transmission ng kuryente—itong fiber optic network ... Kami po gumagamit for communication purposes kasi halos 200 ang transmission stations namin sa buong Pilipinas,” Alabanza said.

Former DICT Secretary Rodolfo Salalima earlier said that the Duterte Cabinet decided to go for a “north-to-south” infrastructure development using the 5,000 to 10,000 kilometers of NGCP’s fiber optic cables to make it easier for the government to implement the broadband plan. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News