Strengthen our digital backbone, build digital communities
August 8, 2022CitizenWatch Philippines urges real estate developers to partner with telecommunication companies to ensure fast and reliable internet service to their homeowners and tenants.
The pandemic-induced lockdowns made us see how indispensable the internet is to our professional and even personal lives. It is not only workplaces that need to be fully digital. Communities also have to be digitally enabled.
Unfortunately, many developers still refuse to allow cell sites and restrict access to fiber cable installations, resulting in spotty and slow internet connections among residents.
To be sure, the government has recognized this problem needs to be addressed. The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology has committed to support legislation setting standards for telco integration in the design of residential property.
In the new 19th Congress, Senator Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares refiled Senate Bill 329 – the Better Internet Act – requiring service providers to establish minimum standards for connection, reception, pricing and billing.
As advocates championing the interests of ordinary citizens and consumers, we laud – and expect much from – the DICT’s and Sen. Poe’s initiatives to mandate fast connectivity for all housing developments.
Telco space for network infrastructure in housing developments, be they buildings or subdivisions, should be a standard facility integrated by developers and imposed by government to align with a nationwide broadband strategy. Building and subdivision developers should make room for communication infrastructure as early as their planning stages, in the same way as electrical, electromechanical, water, plumbing, sanitation and other aspects are considered.
A stable internet connection is no longer a nice-to-have feature but a basic utility, just like electricity and water. In the world we live in today, communities must be digitally ready, and this is one thing that developers must guarantee.
There is no doubt that the Internet connectivity must be reliable and at least at par with global speed standards. To keep up with all our online activities – fast broadband services are now a basic necessity. If deprived of this, the quality of life and the productivity of entire communities, not just individuals, organizations or households, will be seriously stymied.
The digital readiness of our people should be a primary concern for everybody. This is essential to our recovery and the economic empowerment of our people.