Maniolas

In a statement yesterday, Globe said it is the first telco in the Philippines to adopt the TV white space frequency for broadband use. File photo MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom Inc. has successfully completed a TV white space trial for broadband use, a move that is seen to help the telco provide internet connectivity even in hard to reach rural areas. In a statement yesterday, Globe said it is the first telco in the Philippines to adopt the TV white space frequency for broadband use. “The TV white space provides us with another means to bridge the Digital Divide in remote rural  areas where traditional means of backhaul such as fiber or multi-hop microwave terrestrial backhaul does not make it economically viable for telecommunication providers to deploy broadband facilities,” Emmanuel Estrada, Globe senior vice president for network technologies strategy, said. TV white space refers to the unused TV channels between the active ones in the VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra high frequency) spectrum. While these channels were typically referred to as buffers placed between active TV channels to protect broadcasting interference, it has been found such can be used to provide broadband internet access while operating harmoniously with surrounding TV channels. Utilizing TV white space for internet service is a relatively new technology as TV broadcast began transitioning from analog to digital. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Estrada said the TV white space trials were conducted to allow the Ayala-led telco to maximize Read More …

BUSINESS owners can expect more visits from the taxman as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) introduced more categories in which revenue officers may conduct value added tax (VAT) audits.

MANILA, Philippines – A total P1.403 billion was lent to 43 electric cooperatives (ECs) by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) as of end-August 2016 to finance their capital expenditure projects and immediate rehabilitation of power distribution systems. In a statement, NEA officer-in-charge Sonia San Diego said the agency has developed a credit guarantee program and facility for the ECs. “This is to establish a power supply guarantee to secure the power purchase of qualified ECs in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (IMEM) or under a bilateral contract with the generation companies (gencos) or the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP),” she said. “NEA also continues to find ways to make funds readily available for the ECs particularly in times of natural and man-made calamities for them to serve better their member-consumers,” San Diego said.  Of the total, NEA said P399 million was borrowed by nine ECs primarily due to Typhoons Lando and Nona. Calamity loan has a term of 10 years of repayment period and one year grace period with interest rate of 3.25 percent  per annum. Meanwhile, P344.5 million was borrowed by five ECs to cover their monthly shortfalls on the settlement of their power accounts with the gencos and the NGCP, as well as to pay their debts with the National Power Corp. and/or NGCP in order to avail of the prompt payment discount. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Camarines Sur I Electric Cooperative Inc. (Casureco) and Zamboanga Read More …

Citing latest data on cargo volume as well as containerized cargo traffic, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said in a statement yesterday, the country’s ports are ready to accommodate the anticipated increase in cargo volume for Christmas. Philstar.com/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) yesterday gave assurance the country’s ports are ready to handle an increase in volume of cargo for the Christmas season. Citing latest data on cargo volume as well as containerized cargo traffic, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said in a statement yesterday, the country’s ports are ready to accommodate the anticipated increase in cargo volume for Christmas. Latest data from the PPA showed total cargo throughput grew 11 percent to 141.770 million metric tons (MT) this year from 128.217 million MT in the same period last year. Foreign cargo volume inched up 12 percent year-on-year to 86.302 million MT, while domestic cargo shipments recorded a nine percent year-on-year increase. Containerized cargo traffic, meanwhile, climbed nine percent to 3.676 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) as of end-July this year from 3.368 million TEUs last year. Higher containerized cargo traffic was seen as both foreign and domestic boxes registered a nine percent year-on-year hike to 2.203 million TEUs and 1.473 million TEUs, respectively. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Manila International Container Terminal remains the country’s top handler of foreign boxes as it processed 1.241 million TEUs for the January to July period. This was followed by the Manila South Harbor Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s policy on rice imports remains in limbo as the Department of Agriculture (DA) is just starting to review the possible extension of the quantitative restriction on the main Filipino staple food. “There’s no decision yet. We are doing consultations nationwide with the stakeholders. There are ways to hack it through renegotiations,” Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Segfredo Serrano told reporters. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has made public his stand on seeking another extension of the QR by least two more years. Should the Philippines decide to extend the QR, World Trade Organization (WTO) member-countries that wish to seek concession for allowing the extension would have to negotiate with the country, which would normally take at least one year of negotiations. In 2014, the Philippines under former president Benigno Aquino III won approval of the WTO to keep import restrictions for three more years to June 2017. The previous administration took two years to renegotiate the extension. “If it would be painless and just extend for two years, then we retain the same concession. If they (WTO members) will ask for more in terms of rice, we don’t have a problem if it’s reasonable. But, they could ask conceivably concessions outside of agriculture which we may be sensitive,” Serrano said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said Congress would need to amend the Agricultural Tariffication Act. Under the law, only rice is protected by the QR and it did not specify Read More …