MANILA — The Department of Information and Communications Technology aims to reduce internet costs in the Philippines by half, making it among the cheapest in Southeast Asia.

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the ambitious plan is to cut the cost of connectivity in the country by 50 percent, though no timeline has been set yet. He said this target should be discussed with various stakeholders, including the telco companies.

To reach this goal, Aguda said the government needs to resolve three main issues - availability, affordability, and speed. Though much has improved in terms of internet speed in the country in the past years, much still need to be upgraded.

“Pag nagawa lahat yan, babagsak talaga [ang presyo]. We will be one of the cheapest in terms of internet connectivity in ASEAN muna,” Aguda told reporters.

The ICT chief said there are many ways to lower costs. These include the use of new technologies and adding more competition in the market.

“May mga parating na mga technology like low orbit satellite, geostationary satellite. Ok na, parating na yan,” he said.

Aguda added, “Dumating na ang Konektadong Pinoy. With competition, alam niyo naman pag dumating competition, bababa talaga ang presyo.”

The agency is also hoping to retire 2G and 3G frequencies in the country to replace them with 4G and 5G. This will speed up internet connections and also help lower costs in the long run. No timeline has been set yet for when 2G and 3G will be retired. Aguda said so-called frequency refarming will also help.

“Pag yung frequency, like any other natural resource of the government, pag hindi ginagamit yan, dapat ibalik naman.. Pero pag ginagamit yan at ginagamit ng maayos, ba’t naman kukunin," he said on frequency refarming.

DICT is also expected to push for the recontracting of the free WI-FI program to bring down costs. He government is currently spending billions in pesos annually for the free WI-FI program, and if prices are reduced, it could also have an effect on the prevailing market price.

“We’re recontracting all the contracts to bring down the price aggressively using a mix of, imbes na short term contracts i-long term mo para may volume discount ka. Second, kung yung technology may bago na at mas maganda at mas mura, gamitin mo. And third, we’re talking to the principals, main provider mismo para we cut the middleman,” he explained.

A donation by Facebook to the Philippines is also expected to bring down the costs of internet service once it becomes operational.

“We have a 2 TB donated facility by Facebook… It was a 25-year donation to us. Ano ibig sabihin ng donation na yun? Sabi sa akin ni Facebook, ‘Philippines, gusto namin ng redundant link, paikot dito sa may Pacific dadaan, pwede ba?’ Binuild ng gobyenro ang facility na yan, kinabit na ni Facebook. Ano kapalit dyan? Murang internet.”

Aguda is confident that lowering internet costs is possible and doable. It just needs to be discussed properly with various government agencies, stakeholders, and telco partners. He added that this plan is a long-term one and will not happen overnight.