Bautista: Filipinos and Foreign Investors Can Bring Reliable Island-by-Island Internet to PH

NIGS. Senatorial aspirant Herbert ‘Bistek’ Bautista is pushing for reliable internet services in the country by merging the resources of Filipino and foreign investors. (File/Photo Added)

SENATE candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista proposed merging the resources of Filipino and foreign investors to bring reliable internet services to millions of Filipinos who are outside the service areas of the three major IT companies and communications (ICT) in the Philippines.

“Let’s get more players at least at the island level – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” Bautista said on Sunday, March 6, 2022.

“We need to deregulate them more,” Bautista, a candidate for senator, said on a platform of internet reform, inclusive livelihoods and youth development, or ILY.

He said that although there are already three telecom operators in the country after Dito entered, millions of Filipinos still do not have internet access.

Investors, he said, can take advantage of the changes already made to the Civil Service Act and the enactment of the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, which has already opened up the telecommunications industry to business entirely. owned by foreigners.

“For example, in Mindanao, Filipino businessmen can pool their resources to invest or partner with foreigners,” said Bautista, who runs under the Bongbong-Sara ticket.

“The same is true in the island of Luzon. Also, in the island of the Visayas,” Bautista said.

He said “it would be a bit difficult, though, to connect all of the Visayas to the internet. It would be really expensive to put fiber optics there.”

“But in landlocked areas, like Mindanao and Luzon, it’s definitely doable,” he added.

Better internet access would be crucial for students taking online courses and for business people and entrepreneurs needing access to online payment platforms, the senatorial aspirant also said. (PR)