CICT Urges I-Cafés To Form Local Associations

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is currently the highest agency in the executive branch of our government that has a direct say in formulating policies and procedures that directly affect the Internet café industry in the Philippines. In a recent press release, CICT Chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III urges the i-café owners to form associations so that improvement in the number of subscribers and quality of service can be effectively measured.  The CICT Chairman said said that  the agency finds it hard to measure Internet service quality and reach in terms of subscriptions. He said further that it is difficult for someone to decide and  get an Internet subscription at home because there are plenty of Internet cafés where he could get the service at affordable rate.

The call by CICT for the the i-café owners to organize themselves came after the successful holding of the First Internet Café National Summit in late October this year where some currently organized Internet Cafe Associations (ICAs) coming from the various parts of the country and some individual i-cafe owners agreed to work for a better business atmoshere for the stakeholders in the industry. In the said summit, CICT recognized the role that i-cafes play in providing affordable Internet access to the people.

The summit participants were also reminded by CICT to continue organizing themselves so that reaching and implementing ICT policies would be made easier. It said that talking to an organization is a lot more effective than doing it individually with i-café owners.