MANILA - Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. will put up an P890-milion data communication network using fiber optic and wireless technologies, with broadband speed reaching up to 100 megabits per second, the Board of Investments said on Thursday.
In a statement, the BOI said it approved last week tax and other perks for CICTSI’s project, which will use Gigabit-capable Passive Optic Network or GPON, which the incentives-giving agency described as “a pioneer technology for installing, operating and maintaining nationwide wired and wireless broadband networks.”
At present, the Philippines’ telecommunications network can handle data volume transmitted at 250 gigabits per second, the BOI said.
“The rapid Internet growth and enormous bandwidth consumption it entails pose a challenge to telecommunications infrastructure. [CICTSI’s] project will help address telecommunication gap by ensuring faster Internet speed and ability to meet the growing volume of data traffic,” BOI said.
The project will undergo three phases, with the initial phase culminating in December for the coverage of the National Capital Region, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Clark Freeport Zone and Olongapo City.
The next two phases will be rolled out elsewhere in the country in three to five years, with the areas to be covered serving as switching nodes with a 10-Gbps capacity, the BOI said.
CICTSI will hire 278 workers for this project.
The company aims to attract 40,000 subscribers in the first five years of operations.
This project has qualified for fiscal incentives under the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan, in line with government moves to address the growing number of Internet subscribers in the country—estimated to reach more than 30 million by yearend and projected to grow by 23 percent yearly, data from the National Telecommunications Commission and global research company International Data Corporation show.
source: interaksyon.com
