National Fiber Backbone seen completed next year

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it expects to complete the final phases of the National Fiber Backbone next year.

“What’s remaining of the national fiber backbone right now is Mindanao. The commitment we gave to the President is that the phases 4 and 5 will be finished before the next SONA (State of the Nation Address),” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda said during the second general membership meeting of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.

Last week, the DICT announced that it has officially started building phases 4 and 5.

“Phases 1-3 have been completed — it means that we have connection between Batanes and Tacloban. The remainder, which is Mindanao will be finished ahead of schedule,” he said.

The project is expected to bring high-speed internet to more nodes in Mindanao via a 1,000-kilometer high-speed government-owned fiber network connecting Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Zamboanga, and Davao.

The DICT obtained a $287.24-million loan from the World Bank to accelerate phases 4 and 5.

The second and third phases added almost 1,800 kilometers to the fiber network, linking Regions II (Cagayan Valley), IV-A (Calabarzon), V (Bicol), VIII (Eastern Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), and XI (Davao).

This builds on the 1,245-kilometer Phase 1 linking Ilocos Norte to Quezon City, which was completed in April last year. It brings an initial 600 gigabits per second optical spectrum capacity to at least 14 provinces and two National Government data centers

The National Fiber Backbone project aims to provide faster and reliable internet connectivity. The DICT expects around 70 million Filipinos to benefit from the project. — Ashley Erika O. Jose