Fiber backbone on track for Mindanao landing

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is on track to connect the national fiber backbone to Mindanao by July.

“The phases 4 and 5, I think it is around 60% (complete) right now. They are expediting it for July,”  Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda said on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Economic Forum last week.

Mr. Aguda said that by July, Mindanao will be connected to the phase 1 to 3 of the fiber backbone.

“By July, Mindanao will be connected to the national fiber backbone, but it does not mean by July we will complete phases 3-4. By July our target is to have it land in Mindanao,” he added.

The DICT hopes to complete the final phases of the national fiber backbone sometime this year. It started building the project in August 2025.

The project is expected to bring high-speed internet to more nodes in Mindanao via a 1,000-kilometer high-speed government-owned fiber network connecting Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Zamboanga, and Davao.

The DICT obtained a $287.24-million loan from the World Bank to accelerate phases 4 and 5.

The second and third phases added almost 1,800 kilometers to the fiber network, linking Regions II (Cagayan Valley), IV-A (Calabarzon), V (Bicol), VIII (Eastern Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), and XI (Davao).

This builds on the 1,245-kilometer Phase 1 linking Ilocos Norte to Quezon City, which was completed in April last year. It brings an initial 600 gigabits per second optical spectrum capacity to at least 14 provinces and two National Government data centers.

The National Fiber Backbone project aims to provide faster and reliable internet connectivity. The DICT expects around 70 million Filipinos to benefit from the project. — Ashley Erika O. Jose