Bureaucratic barriers to digital infrastructure development

June 15, 2020

June 15, 2020 by Orlando Oxales The Manila Standard

The lockdowns have triggered a sudden shift to cloud-based technologies and a surge in demand for internet and telecommunications services. Accessing the internet through smartphones and computers has now become the indispensable link to safely communicate and do business. Even as the government slowly starts easing lockdown restrictions, we must all continue to comply with social distancing measures. This is the new reality until a vaccine is available to eradicate this virus from Wuhan.

As we now rush into a society-wide digital transition, there will obviously be an exponential rise in demand for wireless broadband services which the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) says will need some 50,000 new cell towers. Hence, building these towers should be a top priority.

DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan recently signed Circular No. 8 on new guidelines to encourage the fast construction of these towers to address a looming overload of cloud users and to expand access to underserved communities. This allows independent tower companies with construction and financial capabilities with “category A” rating to build towers that telco companies can lease on a non-exclusive arrangement.

What I found most critical in the guidelines is the maximum processing time which sets a seven working-day time limit for national, local government and barangays permits and clearances. A source from one of the telcos said that he is praying that this will actually happen on the ground as despite the Ease of Doing Business Law, it still takes up to eight months to complete all permits before tower construction can start.

To get some firsthand insights, I called an old friend who is an “A” grade contractor with over 20 years track record building cell site towers. He agreed to share some interesting stories which, for understandable reasons, I will now share in a digested and anonymous manner.

Let’s call my friend “John.” His story is a test in patience, perseverance, human relations, and transactional creativity.

The first permit that John works on is the Barangay Resolution “interposing no objection in construction installation and operation of the cell site.” This is a difficult chase to confirm the earliest available schedule of a barangay session which may be once or twice a month. When a meeting is set, he is expected to provide refreshments and allot some “S.O.P” resources. It’s sort of like a determined suitor pursuing an elusive and expensive love interest. A sad anecdote of constituents who stand to benefit greatly by John’s project being stymied by their local leaders.

After the barangay session, a public consultation is called where John will now provide snacks and refreshments for around 30 people. To facilitate, he has learned to recruit the barangay secretary to secure the signatures of kagawads. He also must deal with the barangay captain and the owner of the property by being “creative and dynamic.” This phase takes 30 to 60 days.

Simultaneously, John’s associates are already working in securing the Neighbors Consent, a requirement of the municipal/city engineer and a requisite for the approval of the Barangay Resolution. This requires the signed consent of residents within 40 meters of the site or the radius equivalent to the height of the tower to be constructed.

With a Barangay Resolution in hand, John then applies for a Locational Clearance with the City/Municipal Planning Division Office which needs a Certificate of No Coverage (CNC) from the Department of Natural Resources, a Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR) Safety Evaluation Report from the Department of Health in San Lazaro, Manila which needs a domestic plane trip from his home base. Plus, a Height Clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. This group of permits done concurrently will take another month to complete.

The last hurdle before construction finally starts is the Building Permit which usually takes three weeks can be shortened to about a week with some “facilitation tactics.”

All in all, John has learned to live with a conservative timeline of four to six months for all the permits before he mobilizes for construction which he would complete in 40 to 60 days. Before we ended our long-distance interview, he lamented an ongoing project that had been stalled since December because of what he considers the most fantastic demand from an influential person in the community.

John’s little story is a simple illustration of the real problem that shall test the administration’s political will and influence. We don’t just want to survive in the new normal, we want to perform and excel, at least, to the same economic velocity before the pandemic. The leadership must solve this serious disconnect between the mandate of local governments and national policy. These bureaucratic barriers to the country’s development must be destroyed.