The BusinessMirror Editorial
REMEMBER
the Government Telephone System in the 1960s and 1970s that was so
egregiously inefficient that you invariably got only busy tones trying
to reach another number and perhaps wanted to smash the useless handset
to smithereens out of sheer frustration?
Sen.
Joker Arroyo recently cited the case of GTS and the subsequent but
equally useless Telepono sa Barangay as cogent reasons for the
government to keep itself out of the telecommunications business.
Senator Arroyo said we
only have to refer back to the recent past, specifically the failed
National Broadband Network deal with ZTE, a big Chinese IT firm, to
realize that the government should never involve itself in putting up a
telecom system. “What was clear, even during the [ZTE] hearings, was
that it would be a lot cheaper for the government were it to just
subscribe to broadband connection put up by the private sector instead
of installing and operating one itself,” Arroyo said.
While
it is clear that Senator Arroyo is not against a government broadband
network per se, he is averse to the idea of the government itself
putting up the network and operating it. And he finds company in Sen.
Edgardo Angara, chairman of the committee on science and technology, who
believes the Aquino administration should bid out the proposed creation
of a government broadband network (GBN).
“Connecting
government through high-speed Internet is clearly a project to look
forward to. But once the inventory is finished, private companies should
be allowed to not only bid for putting up the necessary infrastructure,
but also to maintain, improve and perhaps even innovate on the GBN,”
Angara said.
“ICT
transforms very rapidly. For any broadband network to be responsive, it
has to be updated continuously. The government should focus on its core
governance functions, not on maintaining its own network. Of course,
this is not to say that caution should not be exercised in bidding out
the contract,” Angara explained.
We agree completely. That’s the way to go if the country wants to benefit from the ICT revolution.
We’re
told that the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through the
Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO), is now crafting
a proposed digital strategy for the country. The GBN would only be a
part of this overall strategy.
The
DOST intends to push forward three priority programs under the digital
strategy. These are e-governance, Internet-for-all, and the growth of
ICT-BPO industry.
The
e-governance program seeks to achieve transparency at all levels of
government, enhance efficiency in government service operations, and
improve the delivery of social services.
The
Internet-for-all scheme takes off from the recent United Nations
declaration that Internet access is a basic human right. The DOST
intends to provide adequate bandwidth throughout the country to ensure
ICT access in underserved and unserved areas, especially in schools.
Schools, for instance, would be given bandwidth speeds of 4 Mbps so that
schoolchildren will fully enjoy the benefits of interactive learning.
At present, our schools access the Internet at an exasperatingly slow
speed of 64-516 kb; in Thailand, by comparison, public schools get an
average of 10 Mbps. That’s how far we are lagging behind in ICT
development.
The BPO industry is already up and running and, therefore, the task is to ensure that it maintains its competitive edge.
Like
Senators Arroyo and Angara, the DOST believes that a high-capacity,
high-speed and secure information highway can only be realized with the
collaboration of the private sector, with the government fully using its
own assets.
The
failed NBN-ZTE deal does not negate the need for broadband network
funded and maintained by the private sector. On the contrary, its
failure due to allegations of corruption reaching up to the highest
levels of government should serve as a lesson for utmost transparency in
a new bidding procedure for the government broadband network. Let’s
keep the grubby hands of the rent-seekers and other unsavory characters
from tarnishing the nation’s ineluctable march to a digital future.
In
the end, the question is not really whether we should go the broadband
route or not. It’s rather a question of when, and how.
No comments:
Post a Comment