PROVINCIAL Board Member Greg Jala (3rd district) said that constructing of common cell site towers may be considered by the Provincial government initiating to address the lack of these towers being provided by telecom companies (TelCos).
He told media interview yesterday that he believes that it is more convenient for the provincial government to provide or construct cell towers in areas where it is very serviceable so telcos may share.
Though this is still a crude plan, Jala, who chairs the ICT committee of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, said that this may be beneficial to the both the telcos and the subscribers.
And regulation of this kind of endeavor should be in place, like limiting the number of subscribers of every telco. And Telcos pay the rent of whatever fee for the cell tower.
He said there’s a good point for limiting the number of subscribers of every Telco to allow the use of cell tower signal so that lagging or traffic could probably be avoided especially in busy occasions.
Putting up of common cell site tower is advantageous since Telcos erecting their own have been mt with hitches, like local government unit’s interest or like dispute over land rented by Telcos, he said.
Based on experience, Telcos has to hurdle red tape in getting franchise from the LGU where they intend to erect their cell site, aside from a public notion or fear of radiation.
If the province put up the common cell sites it would be like a business venture because the government earns from the fees collected for tower use, Jala said.
Jala is also mulling digitalization of government transactions. He said that there still are problems in the provincial government transactions, like the salary or wages processing. Salaries are always delayed, he said.
But these plans or ideas have still to pass thru the eye of the needle in the committee level for a thorough study. (rvo)
