SBMA, PLDT team up to push Subic’s info, communications tech potential

SUBIC BAY FREE PORT—After lagging behind in the race to be a leading player in the country’s growing information and communications technology (ICT) industry, the Subic Bay Free Port is now poised to blaze a trail in the knowledge-based sector and catch up with the competition this year.

Armand Arreza, administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), said the agency is determined “on having Subic take the path to knowledge-based industries” by teaming up with telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) in various ICT projects in this free port.

“This would put Subic at the frontlines of the country’s information and communications technology sector,” Arreza said in a statement on Thursday.

“With PLDT as partner, the Subic Bay Free Port can now shift from labor-intensive to knowledge-based industries, guided by the emerging trends in the information-technology [IT] sector,” he said.

To seal this partnership, the SBMA and PLDT, along with PLDT subsidiary Subic Telecom (Subictel), are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) sometime this month, Arreza said.

The MOU is expected to pave the way for tripartite collaborative projects that would benefit the Subic Bay Free Port’s ICT industry.

Arreza added that the SBMA wanted to ride the anticipated boom in the ICT industry, which some IT analysts said may grow by 30 percent to 35 percent annually, and could generate 1 million new jobs in 2010 alone.

SBMA’s partner Subictel said that the joint effort would basically promote this free port’s emerging IT capabilities and enable Subic to directly compete with leading ICT players like Manila, Cebu, Davao and Laguna.

“We would like to position Subic in the forefront as one of the newest choices when it comes to ICT,” said Subictel president Dennis Magbatoc.

He said the projects would bank on PLDT’s most recent ICT investments here that are worth more than P40 million. The investments are PLDT’s fiber optics cable linking Subic to Manila and the entire Luzon grid, and the P20-million Innovation Laboratory (Innolab) that Subictel unveiled last October.

The Subic Innolab, the fifth of its kind in the country, is designed to highlight Subic Bay’s IT and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as the available and soon-to-be-offered telecoms solutions for business-process outsourcing (BPO) operations, retail and  manufacturing businesses, and even the hotel industry.

Arreza said Subictel’s IT facility, which is located beside Subic’s famous Spanish Gate landmark, has been included in the itinerary for potential investors visiting this former naval base.

“With this one-stop IT center, the SBMA will get to showcase the IT aspect of doing business in Subic, on top of its other strengths, like strategic location, tax and duty-free perks, highly skilled manpower, superb support industries and infrastructure, and a highly secured and tourist-friendly environment,” said Arreza.

He added that when it comes to IT support, the Subic Free Port now “has everything and anything you need,” echoing the “fully loaded” theme of the Innolab facility.

To further encourage knowledge-based industries, Arreza also said the SBMA has approved the shift in Subic’s development program to vertical expansion.

This would allow the construction of tall buildings that could accommodate a full range of BPO and IT-related services like back-office outsourcing, software and games development, engineering design and digital animation Arreza said. Written by Henry Empeño / Business Mirror Correspondent

Prof Danny Piano, Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce President, Councilor Ed Piano, Chairman of Olongapo City Telecom and IT Board, and Hon. Armand Arreza talked about the latest in telecommunications in Olongapo City Subic Bay Freeport.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTT2jCWf7Lw

Innove gets licence to offer services in Subic & Olongapo

Innove gets licence to offer services in Subic Freeport and Olongapo City

INNOVE Communications Inc. has obtained a permanent license from the National Telecommunications Commission to operate both the international domestic leased line services and local telephone service with public payphone facilities in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and in Olongapo City.

The NTC said it approved Innove’s application because of the high demand for data services and phenomenal growth of Internet-related services and e-commerce market.

The regulator handed down its decision on December 10, saying: “In the interest of public service, and because Innove is legally, financially and technically qualified, the Commission grants Innove a certificate of public convenience and necessity to provide international domestic leased line services and to establish, operate and maintain local telephone services with public payphone facilities and public calling stations within the territorial jurisdiction of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), for a period coterminous with the life of its existing franchise.”

Innove, the wireline unit of Globe Telecom, was first issued a provisional authority by the SBMA on February 17, 2006, valid for 18 months or up to August 16, 2007.

Earlier, Subic Telecommuni-cations Company Inc. (SubicTel), a subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., filed a case before the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City to restrain the Globe’s unit from providing domestic and international tele-communications services in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

SubicTel claimed it has the option to renew its 10-year exclusivity privilege to provide state-of-the-art telecom facilities in the area but since the period has lapsed, the SBMA began entertaining other applicants.

However, the Olongapo trial court denied the case filed by the subsidiary of PLDT to stop Innove from operating in the area.

SubicTel has been operating in Subic initially as a joint venture with PLDT, SBMA and the US-based telecom firm AT&T. Later, SBMA and AT&T sold their equity to PLDT.
--Darwin G. Amojelar - Manila Times