President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure digital connectivity is spread throughout the country, as he met with a broadband satellite operator to boost the country's digital capabilities.

BOOSTING CONNECTIVITY — President Marcos meets officials from Singapore-based Kacific Broadband Satellites in Malacañang to discuss boosting the Philippines' connectivity capabilities. (RTVM Screenshot)

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Marcos said this during his meeting with executives from Kacific Broadband Satellites in Malacañang on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

During the meeting, the President emphasized the need for the Philippines to catch up with its Asian neighbors in terms of connectivity, noting the utilization of all digital transports, such as fiber optics and satellite technology.

He likewise noted that Kacific's satellites are an improvement on what the country now operates but said he wanted something "more permanent" so the country to catch up with its peers in the long term.

"It's just an improvement on what we have now. Make it more permanent. But this is not, this is on [the] long term. We have to keep up," Marcos said.

"We are always looking for additional capability when it comes to all these communications, especially with the problems of cyber security," he added.

President Marcos directed DICT Secretary Ivan Uy and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum to continue with the talks with Kacific to determine the specific terms on how the company can boost the country's digital capability.

"It's really the capability that the Philippines really need ... So yes, let's set it up and let's see what's the specifics… so that we can see how this can fit us, this new system," he said.

During the meeting, Kacific officials led by founder and CEO Christian Patouraux with Broadband Satellites Business Development Officer Brandon Seir discussed the company's upcoming launch of its satellite project.

Kacific, a broadband satellite operator based in Singapore, targets to launch the Kacific2 to add capacity to its existing satellite, the Kacific1. The project aims to provide affordable and reliable Internet service to the public.

Secretary Uy said the project could benefit the Philippines with additional bandwidth provided by the Kacific2 satellite to help the economy by propagating the digital economy.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Kacific1 is a High Throughput Satellite (HTS) that seeks to provide high-speed, low-cost, and reliable broadband to rural and suburban areas of the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Kacific1 caters to areas in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.