DICT plans to spend P50B on digital infrastructure over next three years

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday unveiled a P50-billion spending plan for the next three years, with a focus on improving the country’s digital infrastructure.

According to DICT Acting Secretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic, the majority of the funds will be spent on the National Fiber Backbone and the Accelerated Fiber Build through regional and provincial rings.

Caintic’s remarks come just months before the Duterte administration steps down on June 30. The country will hold national elections on May 9.

“We are very optimistic that they will give us that budget. We have been advocating, evangelizing, and promoting this digital infrastructure for the past two to three years,” he said at a virtual briefing.

“I believe they have come to realize, especially with the pandemic, that all the more this digital infrastructure is the way to go and it is the right investment to be [made] by the government,” he added.

In September 2021, the DICT launched a redundant system that seeks to make the government’s National Broadband Program (NBP) more resilient.

It earlier said the NBP would "give everyone the chance to reap the advantages of high-speed internet,” noting that the program would address issues of affordability and accessibility.

The first phase of the program was targeted to be completed by the end of 2021, involving the activation of 28 nodes of the national fiber backbone located in 12 provinces in Luzon.

The final phase of the program is expected to be completed in 2025. — VBL, GMA News