Speeding up internet needs crisis powers, too, says Grace

Apparently, even solving the country’s crawling internet speed needs emergency powers.

Sen. Grace Poe on Thursday vowed to include in the emergency powers bill a provision that would obligate local governments to expedite the issuance of permits for cell sites in a bid to speed up internet service.

This after a Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) official pointed to red tape as a hindrance to the installation of more cell towers across the country, with infrastructure critical in speeding up internet access that would ease online transactions for the public.

DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. raised the matter at the Senate committee on public services’ hearing on emergency powers to solve the traffic crisis, where he proposed wider use of internet-based transactions, telecommuting and teleconferencing to lessen the need for people to go on the road, helping decongest traffic.

Cell towers

“We want to include the obtaining of permits for cell towers to be part of emergency powers so that we will have faster internet and clear cell phone service,” Poe said at the three-hour hearing on Thursday morning.

She said such provision in the emergency powers bill would “direct LGUs (local government units) to issue [permits] immediately.” The measure seeks to give President Duterte two years of expanded powers to readily address the traffic crisis through expediting infrastructure projects and sparing agencies from court injunctions, save for those issued by the Supreme Court.

Work at home

“Some people will no longer have to work in offices, they can just work at home. This will reduce traffic because we can already do telecommuting,” Poe later said in an interview.

“When you think about it, if you have good internet service, you can work at home. Your boss will say ‘OK, since our office space is small.’ Or you’re a mother who would like to be with your children while working, you can work at home,” she said.

During the hearing, Rio said delays in the LGUs’ approval of permits for cell sites have slowed down the construction of cell sites, facilities that determine the strength of mobile phone reception and internet speed.