WITH the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) self imposed deadline of October 2 to finish the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) looming ahead, DICT Secretary Henry Rhoerl Aguda expressed optimism that about a dozen telecommunication companies, including three foreign firms, will still have time to join consultations for the “Konektadong Pinoy” Act, which lapsed into law in August.
In a briefing in Malacañang yesterday, Aguda brushed off concerns about urgency, and the short timeline, noting that he expects even more companies to join once the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) are crafted.
“Ang mag-a-apply, iyong gusto, siguro more than a dozen na iyong nag-express and since wala pa iyong IRR we expect that to increase further kapag lumabas na iyong IRR (those who would apply, those who want to join, probably more than a dozen have expressed their interests and since there is still no IRR, we expect that to increase further once the IRR is released),” Aguda said.
He said telcos and internet connectivity players should submit all their position papers on their different concerns in the next few days while the consultations are being held, such as the spectrum allocations and local government cooperation on the right of way issues.
Aguda said among those that expressed interest to join the country’s telco industry are three “big” foreign companies, which he refused to name.
He said most of the interest came from local firms.
“Ang kagandahan po niyan anywhere from an LGU (local government unit) who wants to serve their locality better to private companies that are in the Philippines already, marami po, all of them are coming together to participate in Konektadong Pinoy,” he revealed.
“There are a lot, all of them are coming together to participate in Konektadong Pinoy, to be able to realize the desire of the President to have connectivity everywhere in the Philippines and affordable connectivity to all Filipinos],” he said.
Aguda said his goal to complete the IRR of the Konektadng Pinoy Act by the first week of October stands.
Amid the opposition of some major telco firms to the law, they had only asked that they be given “a fair participation in the crafting of the IRR”.
Aguda said among the discussions in the consultation meetings were how to increase the ability of the telcos to reduce harmful effects of the internet including prescribing violence over the internet, and how to create a better governance around the internet.
The Konektadong Pinoy or Republic Act 12234, which lapsed into law last August 24, aims to increase internet access in the country or create an open access data transmission framework to ensure accessible and affordable internet services. It removed the need for legislative franchises for data transmission providers and encouraged infrastructure sharing to promote competition, reduce costs, and expand universal internet access.
