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Thursday, January 08, 2004
More infotech investments, jobs just as Gloria promised in Sona
By Cherry T. Lim
THE Arroyo administration has succeeded in promoting high-value information technology investments, providing high-speed connectivity at low cost and formulating telecommunications regulations to promote growth, according to a report from the national government.
These were among the promises made by President Arroyo during her State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Data from the Philippine government reveal that as of September 2003, the country had 45 contact centers, most of them in Metro Manila.
For the first eight months of last year, information technology (IT) investments generated by contact centers totaled P2.65 billion, with employment projected at 11,392.
Eight IT hub areas in the country were also identified where the telecom industry could establish high-speed networks and connectivity.
These areas are the Pasig-Ortigas Business District; Fort Bonifacio Global City and RCBC (Makati City); University of the Philippines-Ateneo-Eastwood (Quezon City); Alabang-Paranaque-Filinvest (Northgate Cyberzone); Subic and Clark; Cebu Business District—Asiatown IT Park; Davao City; and the University Belt (Manila).
As of Nov. 30, some 55 companies were already operating in IT hub areas.
For the first six months of last year alone, the jobs created in 10 IT zones inside IT hub areas reached 20,008, with exports hitting $56.08 million.
The government also reported that the cost of local Internet connections had halved to P15 per hour from P30 in the year 2000.
As for telecommunication regulations to promote growth, the results speak for themselves.
A new cellular phone operator, Digitel, started offering its Sun Cellular service last year. The number of cellular phone subscribers in the country had nearly doubled to 22 million last November from 12.6 million in 2001.
Broadband network providers now number 21 from 19 in 2001, while the number of Internet subscribers has grown fourfold to 2.2 million from 500,000 in 2001.
Policies have also been set to address the artificial oversupply of local telephone lines, estimated at 3.6 million, by allowing local exchange carriers to design price packages to suit particular market segments.
For underserved areas, particularly in the rural areas, small enterprises have been given the opportunity to invest in public calling stations.
Radio frequencies have also been allocated for use by broadband wireless access network operators, the status report said.
(January 8, 2004 issue)
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