One of the Marcos administration’s priority measures, the Konektadong Pinoy Act, now has implementing rules and regulations (IRR) that will allow its full enforcement, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda said.

Under the law, Filipinos are empowered to access more affordable internet services through a wider range of providers.

According to Aguda, the IRR was signed with assistance from key stakeholders, including the World Bank, private and public sector representatives who submitted position papers, and other industry leaders.

“Under the new IRR, we are opening the data transmission industry to more qualified players. This means that even without a congressional franchise, as long as they pass our technical and security standards, they can receive and provide services,” he said.

He added that the IRR creates a fair and open competitive field for telecommunications companies. Aguda noted that the telecom sector had slowed down due to limited investment prior to the passage of the Konektadong Pinoy Act.

“When the millennium ended in the late 1900s to early 2000s, you can see that from landlines, from beepers, we had cellphones and our economy grew rapidly up to 2010 because many telecoms companies invested,” he said. “So now you can count on the passing of the Connected Pinoy, and more people will invest in the telecoms industry.”

Lower internet costs anticipated

While the IRR does not yet specify price reductions, Aguda said provisions were included to support players in lowering service costs.

“In the IRR, the actual fees have not been set yet. But this is what we are doing in the DICT, for example, with the tower companies, because that will help the industry. The President expanded their license to operate from five years to fifteen years, there is no additional cost to them because we want them to do business here,” he said.

Aguda noted that mobile data and call/text packages have already become more affordable in recent years.

Aguda also said the DICT has removed certain fees for the Private Express and/or Messengerial Delivery Service to give stakeholders more flexibility in operating locally.

“We will make sure they can enter smoothly as long as they provide better prices and better service to every consumer on the internet,” he added.

Nationwide fiber mapping completed

The DICT, in partnership with the Australian government, has completed a real-time map of fiber-optic infrastructure across the country.

“We have mapped all the fiber optic cables across the country. This is unique because instead of asking telcos for a report on where their fiber optic cables are, we have mapped them and it is a real-time map,” Aguda said.

He added that the mapping revealed 50 percent of the population remains without fiber connectivity.

“Of course, we already know what the 50% are without fiber optic connectivity. We will try to make that 100% so that every home has a fiber optic option,” he said.

Aguda said the Konektadong Pinoy Act will be critical to accelerating the nationwide “fiberization” rollout.

“An important step towards our President’s goal of providing every Filipino with a fast, stable and reliable connection,” he said.

The IRR is expected to take effect 15 days after publication.