A significant increase in public investment in the Philippines’ Digital infrastructure is most needed.

Digital infrastructure refers to the set of all the building equipment, poles or telecommunications (telecoms) towers and other material capital or physical structures that make possible our Internet connectivity.

The Philippines simply does not have sufficient digital infrastructure to ease into a renormalization of the Philippine economy especially with the continuing threat of a pandemic.
TO illustrate, allow me to point out that Industry standards set the ideal ratio of households per cell or tower is 100 to 200 households per cell tower. However, in the Philippines today, reports have it that the actual ratio is 4,000 households per cell tower as the country has only 20,000 cell or telecoms towers. We therefore need at least 50,000 more to be at par with countries such as Vietnam.

“In a Senate hearing. A telecoms industry resource person has revealed that about P15 million pesos is needed to build one cell tower in the country.

Moreover, from an “Internet/Connectivity Report” by Akamai Technologies, an Internet Company, we find that the Philippines is ranked one of the lowest if not the lowest among 149 nations it has surveyed in terms of average internet connection speed, with an average of 5.5 mbps (megabits per second). That is merely half of the 2019 global average of 11.03 mbps.

Given these, I welcome a reported collaboration between the Department of Communication and Technology (DICT), and an advocacy group known as CitizenWatch Philippines, in collaboration with other groups who launched an initiative called “Telecom Tower Watch” to further push the issue of developing digital infrastructure across the country.

Related to this, in an online forum organized by the think tank Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) on "Building Digital Infrastructure for a Digital Philippines", Stratbase ADRi president and De La Salle University Professor Dindo Manhit explained that "Telecom Tower Watch" is a multi-sectoral initiative to hopefully help accelerate the development of digital infrastructure for the entire country.

This is a good step in the interest of consumers.

Today, when teleworking (e.g., work-from-home arrangements) or tele-education and other online transactions have become more necessary, our need for a strong and reliable digital infrastructure has become even more prominent.

To my mind therefore, it is really necessary to accelerate and even increase our government's capital investment to build, broaden the reach of and strengthen our country's digital infrastructure.
The majority of our people, especially those in rural and remote areas, continue to suffer from very weak or lack of Internet connection. In short, the issue of the “digital divide” in the country is very real because a large part of our citizens are left behind or sidelined in digital transactions.

As a case in point, many young people are left behind in their formal studies as they cannot keep up with or participate in the distance education process that now requires strong and stable Internet service. I know this being an educator myself at the college level.

Too many families (over 60 percent, according to one estimate, still do not have access to adequate, strong, and reliable Internet connection.

So, Let us pay more attention to the government's investment in digital infrastructure and services in the country.
This will only further open the way to a stimulated and more comfortable economy after the current pandemic.
Let us unite on this concern.