Revived broadband project seen behind scrapping of CICT

A new multi-million national broadband project being pushed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) could be a major reason why Pres. Noynoy Aquino dissolved the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and replaced it with an office under the DOST. Batapa-Sigue Local IT stakeholders, particularly the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), said the CICT may have been downgraded to justify the placement of the broadband deal under the DOST and not the CICT or the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications). The revived broadband initiative, which was first reported by ABS-CBNnews.com, has stirred memories of the controversial NBN-ZTE deal which hobbled much of the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The new project, to be called government broadband network or GBN, will reportedly cost P800 million, much cheaper than the $329-million price tag of the tainted NBN-ZTE contract. According to the report, the DOST has argued that putting up the GBN is more cost-effective in the long-term than for the government to spend P2 billion yearly for Internet connectivity for just 6.4 Gbps capacity. NICP chair Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said there is nothing wrong for the DOST to propose the establishment of a national broadband network project, noting that former DOST secretary Estrella Alabastro also submitted a similar initiative – but using Official Development Assistance (ODA) fund – six years before the NBN mess exploded. Batapa-Sigue said Alabastro’s broadband proposal in 2001 was practically at no cost to the government and did not call for the abolition of the CICT. “What was wrong [in the new broadband project] is the dissolution of the CICT and simply giving all ICT concerns of the whole country, practically the future of our nation, to a mere office with an executive director,” said Batapa-Sigue, who is a lawyer based in Bacolod City. “Does this mean that the CICT was terminated for the sake of letting DOST to handle the broadband deal and e-government fund?” she asked. Batapa-Sigue said the CICT had been successful in growing the jobs and investments in the provinces with its myriad of projects, particularly training and development of personnel for the local IT-BPO industry. She said NICP is apprehensive whether the current administration is also concerned in spreading the positive effects of ICT not only in Metro Manila but in all the regions. “CICT has done this, and without CICT, the surest way to ensure the fairly mainstreaming of all ICT programs to all parts of the country is to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT),” she said.