ROADSHOW. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) holds a roadshow and seminar at the Provincial Training Center in Lingayen town, Pangasinan on Monday (June 3, 2024). It aims to raise awareness on the projects and services of DICT, including the National Fiber Backbone Project that will provide connectivity to villages. (Screenshot from DICT's livestream)
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Ilocos Region provinces are part of Phase 1 of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), aimed to enhance internet reliability.
DICT Ilocos Region officer-in-charge and chief of technical operations division Mary Jane Nerona, during the Bagong Pilipinas Roadshow in this town on Monday, said the project is in partnership with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
“We will be using their (NGCP’s) dark fiber to deliver internet bandwidth to reach the barangays (villages),” she said.
From NGCP fibers, the internet connection will be delivered to DICT's point of presence, either in municipal halls or near municipal halls or public free WiFi or wireless network sites, she added.
Nerona said the project will light up 28 nodes from Laoag and Currimao, Ilocos Norte passing through Bantay Ilocos Sur, then to Bauang and Bacnotan in La Union, and to Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, as well as in the other provinces in Luzon.
The NFB Phase 1, launched on April 19 this year nationwide, is a 1,245-kilometer cable network, which will initially deliver 600 Gbps optical spectrum capacity.
“The first phase will connect 14 provinces across Northern and Central Luzon, Metro Manila, four Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) eco-zones, and two National Government Data Centers,” the DICT said.
With the activation of these nodes, high-speed internet across underserved communities will unlock opportunities for education, healthcare, and economic development, it added.
The remaining phases of the NFB will be completed in 2026 and with it, the DICT expects to increase the internet reach from 33 percent to 65 percent and reach 70 million Filipinos out of the current 115 million population nationwide.
This initiative will also lower the price of internet connectivity to as much as USD5 (around PHP290) per megabyte, it added.
Along with the bid to broaden internet connectivity is the move to raise awareness on cybersecurity through training and seminars for government agencies, local officials and students, among others, Nerona added. (PNA)
