ENTREPRENEUR Dennis Anthony Uy is keen on helping Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama achieve his "Singapore-like" ambition for Cebu, a city with no more "spaghetti wires" that is disaster resilient as well.
In a meeting last week, Uy told Rama he could begin realizing such a dream by placing all the lines of telecommunication companies (telcos) underground starting with those in the city's main thoroughfares.
"He (Rama) asked me for my opinion. I told him it is too costly to put an underground cabling network for the whole of Cebu. It's too expensive. Underground cabling for power, for instance, is 10x to 15x of overhead expenses. And if you pass it on to consumers, they will not approve of it. So, I told him to start with telecommunications because that's where you see a lot of 'spaghetti wires.' I think 50 percent of what you see are telecom wires no longer active," said Uy in a media briefing Wednesday, May 3, 2023, during Converge ICT Solutions Inc.'s official launch in Boracay Island.
Uy is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Converge, a fiber internet service provider.
The Cebu City Government received last April 24 an unsolicited proposal from Fibernet Construkt Corp. (FKC) for the construction of a full underground and readily available fiber optic cable network along the South Road Properties' (SRP) main road.
FKC is in the business of building and maintaining broadband infrastructure facilities for telecommunication operators and Internet service providers.
"FKC intends to service the needs of the major telecommunications company and other service providers in the Cebu City South Road Properties to enable them to provide full Telecommunication Broadband and Cable TV connectivity including internet connectivity and other services in the said properties," said FKC chief executive officer Jinho Kwon.
FKC said this unsolicited proposal is meant "to support the Cebu City Government's direction to develop a Smart City with fully equipped and disaster resilient telecommunication network where information and communication technologies are utilized to increase operational efficiency and to improve both the quality of government services and citizen welfare."
Uy and Kwon personally handed the proposal to Rama on April 24.
Disaster resiliency
In a separate interview, Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo said the initial proposal of FKC covers the SRP, but Rama wants to have it implemented city-wide instead.
Uy is convinced that Cebu badly needs to move all electricity and communication lines underground as part of its disaster resiliency strategy to prevent massive blackouts and connectivity losses during calamities like Typhoon Odette (Rai).
"What happened to us during Typhoon Odette was a bad experience for Cebuanos. Utility posts were hit, and it took two months for us to recover," said Uy.
With the proposed project, Guardo said consumers will no longer have to worry about disruptions in communication lines.
"Nowadays, we are all connected through the internet. That's how important connectivity is. So by putting all these telco lines underground, we can assure all the constituents including the business enterprises that their businesses will not be interrupted. Businesses will not be hampered and interrupted," the councilor said.
Done in 6 months
Once approved, this project will come at no cost to Cebu City since this will be under the public-private partnership scheme. FKC will handle the construction while the Cebu City Government will provide the property.
The project will cover an estimated 170 kilometers of underground cabling, with an estimated working time of six months.
According to Uy, one-kilometer underground wiring would cost P5 to P6 million. Fixing the wiring on secondary roads could come later as it requires more capital.
But should the city want to include the secondary roads, Uy told Rama to build a single pole policy and ask the local government unit (LGU) to manage it so providers cannot just build their own lines and poles.
"The streets are for the people, not for the providers," he said.
Economic impact
Moving power and telecommunication lines underground bolsters economic growth and ensures business continuity even during calamities.
Apart from the aesthetic aspect, underground cabling has the potential to reduce outages, loss of internet connection, and risk of accidents like electrocution, thus improving business activities and productivity.
"It's ideal," said Charles Kenneth Co, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Co said common underground utility infrastructure can be built and leased to the telcos. But he noted that there are many challenges for this system to work, including the coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways and Metropolitan Cebu Water District, aside from the substantial cost this investment will entail.
"Maybe they can form a consortium to jointly undertake the project," he said.
Kelie Ko, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), agreed with Uy's suggestions, saying other nations have successfully done it.
"Clearing our streets of spaghetti wiring would greatly improve the aesthetics of our surroundings. Let's learn how other nations do it. Plans for urban renewal should make this a vital requirement," Ko said.
Steven Yu, former president of MCCI, said: "Putting it underground is the best option. The benefits are immense, and the benefits outweigh the costs."
"The key economic impact is less disruption, safety and aesthetically pleasing for tourism purposes. With this invigorated environment, the economic benefits are unquantifiable," said Yu, adding that there would be less disruptions because the wiring system will no longer be cut during typhoons, won't get burned, or cause accidents like electrocution.
"It makes structures, billboards, and viewing areas have a clear line of sight and can generate advertising and tourism revenues," said Yu.
Pole policy
Moreover, a single pole policy on secondary roads will infuse control, order and management, according to Yu.
"Many developed countries have implemented a single-pole policy with much success and generated revenue sources for the government. It also aided in properly controlling and governing the structure and layout of poles across the city, ensuring uniformity, safety, and environment-friendliness," said Yu.
He added that single poles can also be used to proliferate monitoring devices such as closed-circuit television across their area of coverage, ensuring proficient visibility against crime and violence. "It has many other uses that the LGU can tap for effective management of the city," he said.
House bill
House Bill 5845 or the Nationwide Underground Cable System Act was already filed in Congress by Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy in 2019.
The bill mandates all companies, service providers, industries and other similar entities that use wires and/or cables, especially those engaged in the business of providing telephone cable, internet services and port supply to the public, to relocate and/or install their wire cable system underground.
Herrera-Dy was quoted in a report as saying that "the private sector bears the full cost of the underground cable system because the annual budget cannot bear that burden."