BENECO Plans On Offering Up To 35Mbps Internet Connections At Only 350 Pesos Per Month

Up to 35Mbps internet connection at only 350 pesos? Sign me up. I'll mark the dotted line right away with no reservations whatsoever. The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) is one step closer in realizing its plan of offering fast and cheap internet services for its 190,000-strong subscriber base. In a press briefing, officials from the cooperative announced that their project has been approved by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). The project is going to be a collaboration by the three parties.

Of course, there's a long road ahead before we will be able to see this come to fruition. I don't think they will be able to implement the program this year. Besides, they will probably offer the service in batches. But this is a very promising development if you take into account the state of internet services in the country. We have one of the slowest but most expensive internet connection services in Asia.

Projects like this one by BENECO, NEA, and DICT can potentially hit two birds with one stone. First, they are offering much faster and much cheaper internet connections. Two, the project can serve as a warning sign for internet service providers in the country that if they don't get their acts together, their user-base will drastically decline.

For the project, BENECO will be using as leverage their 100-kilometer fiber optic line in Baguio City and Benguet. An additional 80-kilometer fiber optic line will be laid out in the immediate future. This is great news and we can only hope that the project delivers with regards to its lofty promises.