Estrada advises communities take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital economy
The success of public-private partnership (PPP) hinges on the clarity of vision among government and firms and a well-charted strategy for implementation, says Manny Estrada, Globe VP for Regulatory Development and Strategy.
Going a step further and making it a people-first approach will benefit more communities and help build an empowered, inclusive digital nation.
“Let’s go back to the basics: fix the connectivity. Once we get the connectivity done, let’s improve the usability,” Estrada said in an appearance at the recent GSMA Digital Nation Summit.
Estrada cited that 96% of the Filipino population are covered by at least 3G or 4G signal and the 63% of active subscription use it mainly for social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok.
“That is not the meaning of usability we want, the usability we’re talking about is people being able to use it for educational purposes—for connecting to long-lost relatives, for health and consultation, and for managing their finances,” he told Manila Standard in an exclusive interview.
“Government and telcos need to work on both universal connectivity and meaningful usability. It’s one thing handling the connection, but teaching people on how to be able to use this service for their benefit is something else. It’s not just for social media.”
Forging partnerships
Properly designed PPPs help the public and private sectors share risks so the government doesn’t have to bear the entire burden. But how can we ensure that PPPs are mutually beneficial?
There are two types of policies we need to address, according to Estrada: the old, antiquated policies that “are no longer effective in today’s digital economy” and the need to provide compelling, useful policies that are “transparent, consistent, and innovative” to a point that investors are going to be willing to invest.
“They’re not afraid to invest because they know that the policy is constant, applies to everyone all across, and at the same time stable. It doesn’t have to change every time that there’s a change of administration because that’s what scares these investors in coming,” he said. “Once you get that all done, streamline all due processes.”
Bridging the gap
At least 150 sites, on top of 2000 sites that are already constructed, will be built in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs) by Connectivity Plan Task Force (CPTF), which Globe leads.
“On the second phase of our CPTF project, there will be 150+ new sites in GIDAs that we are going to work on with the rest of the stakeholders to address the utilities outside of those where we already have connectivity,” Estrada said. “After that, there’s a new phase of building 4300 sites in very remote geographical locations, most of them don’t even have electricity. And that’s why we’re looking in satellite technologies.”
By helping improve the country’s digital infrastructure, Globe connects remote communities, enabling residents to access vital online services, educational resources, and economic opportunities regardless of their location.
