A citizen advocacy group has praised the release of an executive order that streamlines the bureaucratic process for setting up telecommunications and other internet infrastructure. The group has also asked the government to implement the EO right away and strictly for the benefit of ordinary consumers across the country.
“Upgrading our digital infrastructure to global standards will empower our government, industries, and most of all, our people to be compete and excel in a highly digitized global economy,” said Tim Abejo, co-convener of CitizenWatch Philippines.
EO 32 is a responsive policy move that will hopefully get rid of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that has slowed down the building of telecommunications infrastructure needed to give everyone faster and more reliable broadband services.
The EO, which President Marcos signed on July 4, is meant to fix the problems with getting permits for telco equipment.
People have found that the slow rollout of telco towers and fiber networks is due to too many, redundant, and complicated licensing and permit requirements. This means that telecom coverage is bad in many places around the country.
The EO makes official a joint draft circular that 10 government agencies had already put out, which laid out the same streamlined process but didn’t have the force of law. Also, it ran out this month.
The JMCs were able to shorten the time it takes to set up a telco tower by cutting the number of papers and signatures needed, as well as the number of days it takes to process them.
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