DICT eyes activating satellite slots to provide faster, cheaper connectivity

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) wants to activate the country’s two unused satellite slots in space to provide faster and cheaper connectivity, DICT Sec. Gregorio Honasan II said Friday.

“Meron tayong dalawang satellite slot na hindi natin ginagamit. Humihingi kami ng budget para ma-activate natin… (We have two unused satellite slots. We are asking Congress for a budget so we could activate them),” Honasan said in an interview at the Innovative Philippines forum organized by the Stratbase ADR Institute in Makati.

The DICT Chief said the sovereign broadband satellite– which could be implemented in three years once given a budget– would “connect communities in hard-to-reach islands and inaccessible mountainous areas by beaming down sufficient capacity.”

Aside from these, the satellite could be used for surveillance and as a reserve in case land-based networks fail, according to Honasan.

He said that by 2022, the DICT aims to have provided free WiFi in approximately 104,000 public sites through different strategies, such as partnerships with the private sector and tapping satellite broadband services.

Honasan refused to divulge how much budget they would ask Congress which is currently deliberating on the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020.

DICT has a P5.15 billion proposed budget for 2020. The House already approved it on final reading last Sept. 20 while the Senate finance committee recently greenlighted the budget.

The agency’s budget next year is lower than its P7.1 billion budget in 2019. Out of the total available budget for 2020, P3.7 billion are considered new appropriations, while P1.5 billion are automatic appropriations. /muf

READ: Unfazed Honasan to push budget hike for DICT