ARAYAT, Pampanga – The latest in communications and entertainment technology has come at last to this bucolic town.
“Fiber optics for high-definition channels and fast internet services to bridge the wide gap between the rural areas and urban centers, indeed, the local communities with the global village,” said Dennis Anthony Uy, president-CEO of Converge ICT Solutions Group of Companies, at the launch here of the Angeles City Cable Television Network (ACCTN) over the weekend.
ACCTN is part of the Converge ICT Solutions group of companies that holds a congressional franchise for a nationwide fiber-optic broadband to promote access to information and bring technology direct to the households via the internet.
“Beyond bringing entertainment to ordinary families through cable TV, the vision of Converge and ACCTN is to make access to technology easier, faster and less costly for our people,” Uy added.
ACCTN has over 70,000 subscribers in Pampanga, Tarlac and Bulacan. Uy noted the benefits especially to overseas Filipino workers Central Luzon from the expansion programs of ACCTN: “We have a lot of OFWs.
So, imagine, hindi na sila kailangan mag text o tawag. Pwede na silang mag Facetime, pwede na silang mag Viber [gamit ang Internet]. So using this broadband technology, makikita nila ang mga mahal sa buhay sa real picture at real time. Malayo man sila, malapit din ang dating.”
For his part, Vice Mayor Ramon Changcoco assured investors of the “new climate” in his town under the leadership of Mayor Emmanuel “Bon” Alejandrino. “Rest assured po, ACCTN, ang Arayat ay nagta-transform po from the old ‘Wild Wild West’ ng Central Luzon into a bustling investment area as the last frontier of Pampanga under the New Arayat program of Mayor Bon,” Changcoco said.
This, even as he thanked Uy for choosing Arayat to invest in and vowed to be “friendly sa inyo at hindi po kami magiging sagabal sa ano man pong mga desisyon ninyo.”
Former Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus, chair of the Metroworks ICT Construction Inc. and a guest during the launch, expressed his gratitude to the town officials for supporting the establishment of air cable in the locality.
“We are proud that we were able to come to Arayat and provide firstclass internet and cable service,” de Jesus said.
