NGCP, TransCo agree on terms of ’broadband deal’
Private concessionaire firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and state-run National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) have finally agreed to sign a deal that will advance the “national broadband program” of the Duterte administration, partly utilizing the fiber optic cables (FOCs) of the country’s power transmission system.
TransCo president Melvin A. Matibag told reporters that the parties agreed to “pursue this initiative” without conditions set by the parties.
Nevertheless, he qualified that there is one major colatilla in the draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that NGCP and TransCo have concurred in, and had been stated in this wise: “That in any way, the MOA will not affect any claims of both Transco and NGCP and cannot be used as evidence in any forum as to the other claims, except for the purpose that we want for the broadband project.”
Matibag said another set of meeting is scheduled next week between the relevant parties, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for them to already cement further details on the project’s implementation.
NGCP OIC-President and CEO Anthony L. Almeda confirmed that “we will see them next week,” when asked relative to the reported agreement and the ongoing discussions between and among parties. Matibag qualified further that the MOA is still up for signing, because both TransCo and NGCP will need to present the terms of the deal yet to their respective boards.
For TransCo, he indicated that he already secured the Board’s go-signal, thus, they are now just awaiting for the completion of the same process from NGCP’s board.
Once the agreement is signed, Matibag emphasized “the next step will be implementation of the broadband project. DICT is the implementing arm because it has the technical expertise on this.”
The conciliatory deal that the parties have been firming up is seen to be ending the months of tussle that had practically encumbered the national broadband program of the government.
On NGCP’s part, it had consistently indicated that it “is willing and eager to participate in the government’s broadband network, and we are willing to let government use these facilities at no cost.”
The company further noted that it has “always been supportive of this administration’s initiatives towards the use of the dark fiber inherent to the transmission network for the development of the National Broadband Program.”
It was in May last year that NGCP and DICT first met to discuss on the former’s dark fiber network, which can be “potentially used to support the NBP.”
The transmission firm divulged that upon NGCP’s invitation, representatives of DICT had visited its Dasmariñas substation “to inspect the fiber optic cables embedded in the transmission system.”