NATIONAL
Advocates Philippines
BroadBand Ng MASA Program to Boost public WiFi program
Photo credit: PCO
The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to boost the Philippines' Wi-Fi connectivity through a partnership with Converge ICT Solutions Inc., a telecommunication service provider that operates fiber optic broadband networks. On Tuesday, the President met with Converge founder and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy and proponent partner Thomas Pang Thieng Hwi, CEO and executive director of Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation Inc., to discuss the Bifrost Cable System Project.
The Bifrost Cable System Project, a joint venture between Converge and Keppel T&T, is the world's first subsea cable system that directly connects Singapore to the west coast of North America, passing through Indonesia, Philippines, and Guam. It will also be the largest high-speed transmission cable across the Pacific Ocean, and the 15,000-kilometer system is expected to be completed in 2024.
The project aims to boost the connectivity of the region's governments and businesses, including cloud operators, telecommunications operators, network providers, over-the-top providers, data centers, and consumers for a better digital experience. This development will give the Philippines a bigger bandwidth and faster internet connection, improving its communication system when it comes to online services used globally.
As of January 2023, the Philippines ranked 82nd out of 142 countries in terms of mobile internet speed and 41st out of 180 countries in terms of fixed broadband media speed, according to Ookla Speedtest Global Index data. To address this, the national government's free Wi-Fi program, BroadBand ng Masa (BBM), through the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), has established a total of 4,385 operational live sites in 73 provinces and Metro Manila, across 601 cities and municipalities all around the country, including geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) like the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi (BaSuLTa), and the Pag-asa Island of the Kalayaan Group of Islands in the province of Palawan, with approximately 4 million unique users nationwide.
The Bifrost Cable System Project, a joint venture between Converge and Keppel T&T, is the world's first subsea cable system that directly connects Singapore to the west coast of North America, passing through Indonesia, Philippines, and Guam. It will also be the largest high-speed transmission cable across the Pacific Ocean, and the 15,000-kilometer system is expected to be completed in 2024.
The project aims to boost the connectivity of the region's governments and businesses, including cloud operators, telecommunications operators, network providers, over-the-top providers, data centers, and consumers for a better digital experience. This development will give the Philippines a bigger bandwidth and faster internet connection, improving its communication system when it comes to online services used globally.
As of January 2023, the Philippines ranked 82nd out of 142 countries in terms of mobile internet speed and 41st out of 180 countries in terms of fixed broadband media speed, according to Ookla Speedtest Global Index data. To address this, the national government's free Wi-Fi program, BroadBand ng Masa (BBM), through the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), has established a total of 4,385 operational live sites in 73 provinces and Metro Manila, across 601 cities and municipalities all around the country, including geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) like the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi (BaSuLTa), and the Pag-asa Island of the Kalayaan Group of Islands in the province of Palawan, with approximately 4 million unique users nationwide.
Feb 22, 2023
