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DICT: Internet connectivity expansion to 'take a while'

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/12/01/20200806-cell-tower-caloocan-jc-4135.jpg"/><figcaption>A cellular site tower in Caloocan City on Aug. 6, 2020. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday acknowledged that it would &quot;take a while&quot; before most of the Philippines could get internet access. &quot;Medyo malayu-layo pa po,&quot; DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said, when asked how far off the country was from nationwide internet connectivity. &quot;We have about 30 percent of our population that is not connected and considering our more than 7,000 islands, it’s gonna take a while — resources, both financial and human resources limitations ‘no,&quot; he said during a Palace briefing. (It&#x27;s still a bit far... There are limitations on both financial and human resources.)The DICT &quot;cannot do 100-percent&quot; connectivity because there are certain islands with very few residents and where &quot;it doesn’t make sense&quot; to set up internet infrastructure, Uy said.Uy added that with a slight cut on DICT&#x27;s budget, &quot;our hands are a little bit limited in being able to deploy to more islands and more mountainous communities.&quot; &quot;But I’m thankful that based on the information we had from Congress, mukhang maaari nilang madagdagan. So, kung madagdagan nila iyong budget eh mas malawak po ang ating aabutin,&quot; he said. (It seems that they could add more. So if the budget will be raised, we will have a wider reach.) <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2286730" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div>Video from RTVM</div>Under its &quot;Broadband ng Masa&quot; project, the DICT recently installed internet connection in barangays Sacol, Pangapuyan, and Tigtabon in Zambaonga, Uy said. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/03/22/dict-vows-to-prioritize-internet-access-in-remote-areas">DICT vows to prioritize internet access in remote areas</a></li></ul>He said areas benefiting from the program should be geographically isolated and disadvantaged, and must have &quot;at least a few thousand&quot; residents.&quot;Dito po (here), we’re using combination of generator plus solar,&quot; he added. Uy said the DICT is waiting for Starlink to activate its Philippine operations next year. Billionaire Elon Musk&#x27;s SpaceX developed Starlink or the low-earth orbit satellite to bring broadband technology that can reach even remote areas.With Starlink, Uy said that &quot;instead of setting a building [or] tower, we just have to bring the satellite dishes.&quot;&quot;Ang size po ng Starlink na satellite dish eh puwedeng ikarga sa backpack, so we can install a solar panel with that and they will be up and running. It’s a plug-and-play, saksak mo lang sa power, it will automatically search for the best signal up in the sky and you have Wi-Fi.&quot; (The Starlink satellite could be carried in a backpack... It’s a plug-and-play, once you plug it to a power source, it will automatically search for the best signal up in the sky and you have Wi-Fi.) <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/27/22/starlink-satellite-internet-costs-p5500-per-month">Starlink&#x27;s monthly subscription fee is over P5,500, according to DICT, SpaceX</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/27/22/ntc-approves-elon-musks-starlink-registration-in-ph">&#x27;Up to 200 Mbps&#x27;: NTC approves Elon Musk&#x27;s Starlink registration for PH entry</a></li></ul>

The DICT acknowledged that it would 'take a while' before most of the Philippines could get internet acccess. 

DICT: Internet connectivity expansion to 'take a while'

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DICT: Internet connectivity expansion to 'take a while'

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 12, 2022 09:11 PM PHT

|

Updated Oct 13, 2022 12:21 PM PHT

Read More:

DICT

connectivity

Philippines

broadcast access

internet access

DICT

internet DICT

John Ivan Uy internet access Philippines

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