Capitol plans to connect entire island of Cebu to the internet

The Cebu Provincial Government wants the entire island of Cebu connected to the Internet through WiMax or Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access Technology.

Malaysian company Prosat Technologies proposed a joint venture with the Cebu provincial government regarding this matter.

Prosat officials Andre Foresti, chief executive officer, and Stephen Chia, chief operating officer, recently visited the Office of the Governor to present their proposal before the economic enterprise council (EEC).

Sugbo, the Cebu Province’s official publication, reported that Prosat aims to establish high-speed broadband wireless network infrastructure for Cebu to support future information and communication technology (ICT) needs.

If this is realized, remote barangays will have access to the Internet.

Sugbo stated that one of the goals of the Provincial Government is to bring ICT to the towns.

The Capitol distributed at least 10 computers for each high school in the province.

However, Cesar Atienza, Capitol consultant on information technology, said only 42 percent of the high schools in the province have Internet connection.

”Existing internet service providers are still looking for commercial viability. They won’t go beyond the poblacion, because doing so has no attractive commercial returns and they could not survive,” Sugbo quoted Atienza.

Prosat first visited Cebu last year for the ICT summit. It is there that they were “encouraged” by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s ICT aspirations for Cebu.

“Our vision is to develop an effective broadband wireless telecommunications facility to support government and industries, based on open global standards,” said Chia of the proposed joint venture with Cebu Province.

The Provincial EEC is still scrutinizing the proposal.

WiMax is a wireless digital communications system intended for wireless metropolitan area networks. It can provide broadband wireless access of up to 30 miles for fixed stations and three to 10 miles for mobile stations.

WiMax is similar to the more popular wireless fidelity (WiFi), but the latter is limited to 100 to 300 feet. It is gaining popularity as an alternative to cable and DSL-enabled broadband access. (PNA)

Cebu Pacific opens direct flights from Cebu to Bangkok and Macau

Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) has opened two direct flights from Cebu to Bangkok in Thailand and Mactan over the weekend, strengthening Cebu’s position as an international gateway.

Romulo Orense, CEB corporate communications manager, said the new routes will make it easier for tourists to reach the two destinations.

The Cebu-Macau flight will fly twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday, while Macau-Cebu flight is every Wednesday and Sunday.

The Cebu-Bangkok route and vice versa will fly thrice a week every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Orense said the new flights will also increase the number of tourists coming to Cebu especially Bangkok, which is a destination for European tourists.

The Macau route will also serve the overseas Filipino workers’ market, said Orense.

Orense said around 130 passengers flew to Bangkok last Saturday, while more than 100 passengers flew to Macau last Sunday during the inaugural flights.

Jenny Franco, president of National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, Cebu Chapter (Naitas-Cebu), considered the Bangkok and Macau routes as positive development in the travel industry.

”Travelers from Visayas and Mindanao have been clamoring for those direct flights. It is also an opportunity for us to promote Central Visayas in Thailand,” Franco said.

”But we are targeting not only Thai tourists but mainly the expatriates living in Thailand and tourists coming to Thailand. We want them to extend their holidays in Cebu,” she added.

The Department of Tourism welcomed the new routes as “good news that will benefit the tourism industry.”

”This is a very helpful intervention. The more direct flights, the better to increase accessibility and convenience of tourists,” said Phineas Alburo, DOT undersecretary for Visayas and Mindanao.

Alburo said airlines, such as Cebu Pacific, also serves as an effective promoter of tourist destination in the country.

”Because of this, we are more than confident that we will reach the three million tourist target this year,” Alburo said.

Orense said they will soon be launching direct flights from Davao to Hong Kong and Singapore and vice versa.

”The market in Davao is already developed. It is already very strong with a healthy pool of tourists and business travelers in Davao. We are the potential of these routes,” said.

Orense also said another local route --Davao to Iloilo will also be opened soon.

Last week, CEB also launched its new Avion Regional Transport (ATR), a 72-passenger aircraft from Toulouse, France, which will fly from Cebu to Caticlan in Aklan province daily.

The new flight will support the increasing number of tourists going to Boracay.(PNA)

Online recruitment firm opens Cebu branch

A pioneering online recruitment firm recently launched its Cebu office in time for the company’s 10th anniversary, after two years of checking out the local corporate scene.

JobsDB.com, which started operations in Hong Kong in 1998, has established presence in more than 10 countries. It chose Cebu for its first regional branch in the Philippines.

Jayjay Viray, JobsDB general manager, said after holding two successful job fairs in the Cebu City, the firm decided to establish the regional branch at the 10th floor of Keppel Center, Cebu Business Park.

“There is an overwhelming and vibrant atmosphere in Cebu that pushed us to do it now,” Viray said, adding that JobsDB.com should have opened its Cebu site sometime ago.

The online recruitment company wants to give clients and jobseekers in Cebu the same access that its clients in Manila are enjoying.

Viray said although jobseekers can access the company’s services through the Internet, there are still those who want to drop by JobsDB.com’s office and ask for assistance on how to go about their job applications.

Viray could not disclose how many clients the company has in Cebu, but she said that since JobsDB.com started campaigning for its Cebu opening, through a soft launch in 2006, the number of resumes deposited in their database has “picked up.”

The firm has also partnered with local schools and universities in Cebu to allow graduating students to fill out their online resumes, which are deposited in JobsDB’s database.

Expansion efforts in Cebu, Viray said, also included forging partnerships with 1,500 Internet cafes, which use the JobsDB.com website as their homepage.

Aside from being an online recruitment firm, Viray said, JobsDB also organizes seminars to assist and update jobseekers on the latest techniques in applying for jobs.

She said she has also made a commitment to government leaders in Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City that the company will help hold job fairs in local government units.

“This is our goal, to be part of every Cebuano’s life,” Viray said.

Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Eric Ng Mendoza, who attended the opening of JobsDB.com Cebu office, said the online recruitment company has come at an “opportune time, when Cebu has dramatically grown in information and communication technology, as well as in the business process outsourcing industry.”

In his keynote speech, JobsDB chairman Samuel Sung said that the firm recognizes Cebu as having achieved “spectacular growth” and that he was amazed at the transformation of the city since his last visit 10 years ago.

Aside from JobsDB.com, Sung also promoted 88DB.com, which the company considers as a “racket central,” since budding entrepreneurs can post their products and services at the site for free.

Sung said he supports entrepreneurs since they are “they new drivers of the economy.”

In line with this effort, JobsDB and 88DB will hold the Career and Entrepreneurship Fair 2008 in July, in Cebu. The activity will include a paperless job fair through the use of the Career Card System, which Jobs DB initiated.

The system allows the applicant to give his career card during job fairs and his resume can then be downloaded online.

There will also be a multi-sectoral exhibit by multinational companies, private organizations, government agencies, universities and colleges and recruitment agencies.

JobsDB has 10 million jobseekers with free accounts in the firm’s website. These registered jobseekers have access to job postings from 200,000 companies. The company also said that its website gets 12 million visits monthly.

The JobsDB Cebu office opening was also attended by Cebu City Councilor Eduardo Rama, who came on behalf of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena, and Bonifacio Belen, executive director for the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology.(PNA)