PLDT officers led by Mr. Jimmy Chua, head of Corporate Business Group for Visayas and Mindanao, met with representatives from the Bohol ICT Council on March 19, 2009 at the Flamingo 1 function room at Bohol Tropics Resort and presented PLDT’s current facility upgrade projects in Tagbilaran and in Bohol. Mr. Dave Montes, Head of NSA and Mr. Ronaldo Mendoza, Head of Enterprise Consultancy Services, assured the council that PLDT is committed to complete key upgrade projects in 2009 and 2010. Tagbilaran City is included in PLDT’s list of New Wave Cities and the upgrade projects will help make the city become a destination for business process outsourcing and call center opportunities. Michael Eparwa, the relationship manager assigned for corporate business group in Cebu and Bohol, presented PLDT’s domestic fiber optic network and how Bohol will be linked to the network.

Bohol ICT Council Vice Chairman Jerome Auza told the PLDT officers that the key requirement, that must be satisfied, is reliable and consistent Internet service, especially for premium account subscriptions which are still affected by cable facility issues. Mendoza assured Auza and the rest of the council that the upgrade also includes the rehabilitation of the vintage PLDT cable facility in Tagbilaran. The council members then suggested to PLDT the key areas in Tagbilaran as well as around Bohol that the company should make sure they have capability to provide service. Concerns on the condition of telco cables which have become an eyesore where also discussed by representatives from the city government, utility providers, business sector., and other concerned agencies.

In the past several weeks, PLDT contractors have been laying out fiber optic cables in the city which will form the ‘fiber in the loop’ system which will make PLDT network resilient to cable faults as well as allow large data transfer capacities. The company expects this project to be completed within the year while the submarine fiber optic cable connection to Cebu and Cagayan de Oro is planned for 2010 and will link Bohol to PLDT’s domestic fiber optic network.

The Bohol ICT Council is composed of various stakeholders in the ICT or information and communications technology who will help steer Bohol towards becoming an ICT based economy and generate ICT enabled jobs for Boholanos in Bohol. The council is chaired by Ms. Leah Tirol-Magno of the University of Bohol and the council’s website is www.bictc.org.