Byron,
Here's an interesting excerpt from a story today in the Philstar Daily (Philippines). Note, in particular, the last paragraph:
Gov't to install telephone lines in unprofitable rural areas
The government will have to continue its own installation of telephone lines despite the existence of new local exchange carriers (LECs) due to their reluctance to service the country's impoverished areas, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said yesterday.
DOTC Undersecretary Guiling Mamondiong who also heads the Municipal Telephone Project Office (MTPO), said private telecom companies continue to shy away from rural areas perceived to be non-viable.
Mamondiong said that some key players have faltered in their obligations to meet their domestic line commitments in the said areas since "they are carefully calculating their cash flows."
"The MTPO has to come in and lay down the initial foundation to provide basic telecommunications service in areas that are not profitable but have socio-economic dimensions. With the private carriers' reluctance (to do their jobs), the era of government intervention is far from over," he said.
Although the basic telecommunications law mandates new players to maintain a 10 to one urban ratio in the installation of phone lines, most of them cannot meet the requirement.
Aside from claims that there is a very low demand for telephone service in rural areas, some carriers also complain of peace and order problems which hamper their work.
Thus, to fill in the gap, Mamondiong said that the MTPO currently implements several projects under the Telepono sa Barangay Program which is envisioned to provide at least one telecoms center in 10,120 out of 42,000 barangays nationwide.
The system handles voice, fax and data transmission and can be utilized to access the Internet and is designed to provide the necessary telephone lines when the need arises.
However, Mamondiong admitted that since the total project requirements amount to some $2 billion, there is a need to get the support of the private sector.
"We cannot rely solely on public finance which is oftentimes limited. We have to involved the private enterprise in the provision of basic services and infrastructure. We invite the private carriers not only to help but also to buy out the government telecoms facilities,"
Courtesy of Mark McDonald by e-mail |
