DOST pushing for P800-M gov't broadband project

Notoriously known by the moniker NBN-ZTE deal, the national broadband network project was one of the biggest controversies during the previoius administration. Accusations of corruption reached all the way to then President Gloria Arroyo, prompting her to cancel the US$329-million contract with Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. Fast forward to the administration of President Benigno Aquino, the national broadband network project is poised to make a comeback. Documents obtained by ABS-CBN News show, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is pushing for the establishment of a government broadband network or GBN. A government broadband network is needed to integrate and address data processing, storage, computing and high-speed connectivity needs of government agencies. DOST said the GBN project will cost P800 million, less than half of the P2 billion that government spends for Internet connectivity. Current Scenario (6.4 Gbps capacity) Scenario 2 (Projected gov't expense at 12.8 Gbps capacity) Scenario 3 (Projected gov't expense at 25.6 Gbps capacity) Scenario 4 (Projected gov't expense at 40 Gbps capacity) Cost Detail Existing Gov't Expense With GBN Without GBN With GBN Without GBN With GBN Without GBN With GBN Access Cost 548-M 969-M 1.74-B 2.4-B Backbone Cost 250-M 250-M 250-M 250-M Total Annual Cost 2-B 788-M 3.6-B 1.219-B 7.2-B 1.99-B 13.4-B 2.65-B The DOST confirmed submitting a government broadband network proposal. But Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo declined to be interviewed about it, citing his tight schedule. There are indications though that government is moving toward the establishment of its own broadband network. Last June 23, President Aquino signed Executive Order 47, placing the Commission on Information and Communications Technology or CICT under the control of DOST. Now known as the Information and Communications Technology Office, the former CICT was transferred together with its attached agencies, namely, the National Computer Center and the Telecommunications Office or TELOF. This jibes with Montejo's proposal to designate DOST and the former CICT as point agencies for the implementation of the GBN project. In the aborted NBN-ZTE deal, both CICT and TELOF were involved. But instead of DOST, the lead agency then was the Department of Transportation and Communications. ABS-CBN News sources say Malacañang is still deliberating on the proposal for a government broadband network.