PIA Press Release [ PIA ]
2009/07/07
Zamboanga City (7 July) -- Economic activity in the Zamboanga peninsula and the adjoining Sulu archipelago is being given a boost through the dramatic expansion if this city's information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure; an expansion that includes the installation of a wireless wide area network.
Globe Telecommunication's WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) installation in Zamboanga, which will extend mobile broadband internet access to subscribers in previously unserved areas, is expected to spur the development of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, in particular.
Globe's initiative has received support from USAID's Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, which provided information on population demographics and business forecasts, and facilitated meetings between Globe and officials of the local government.
The GEM Program's initial collaboration with Globe focused on expanding telecommunications in the Sulu Archipelago a decade ago, following the signing of the peace agreement between the national government and the Moro National Liberation Front.
Telecomm firms like Globe and Smart were assisted by GEM in identifying possible cell tower locations and in partnering with local communities and businesses. This resulted in expanding cell phone coverage in the Sulu Archipelago from 20 to 80 percent.
"The expanded coverage provided by WiMax will open wide the information technology gateway for Zamboanga", says Joji Ilagan-Bian, president of the Philippine Call Center Alliance.
Zamboanga City is home to firms engaged in medical transcription, website and software development, animation, encoding and data processing, but the expanded ICT capacity provided by Globe is expected to attract additional outsourcing locators, according to GEM, which is encouraging investment in the BPO sector in Mindanao under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council.
The city has the advantage of substantial human resources, and includes several of the region's top universities, including Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) and Ateneo de Zamboanga, as well as technical and vocational colleges offering training in call center skills. Altogether, these academic institutions turn out about 19,000 new graduates a year.
On the same day that the ICT system expansion was inaugurated in Zamboanga, WMSU formally launched its new language training laboratory, which is a key components of the GEM Program's Job Enabling English Proficiency (JEEP) Project that is designed to improve language skills needed for jobs in expanding industries requiring reasonable proficiency in English, including the BPO industry.
Celita Calma of Nurse Care Review Center, Zamboanga's first training center for medical transcription, encoding and data processing, says outsourcing locators can find a skilled pool of prospective agents suitable for billing and other back office transactions.
"It's one of the best areas for BPO skills," says Nonito Arquiza of L&M Transcript Solutions, Inc., which provides medical transcription services to U.S. clients. "National call centers have been recruiting heavily in Zamboanga."
The city's relatively high levels of education, coupled with and the increased English fluency associated with GEM's JEEP Project, and the multiplicity of cultures and languages, including the Spanish Creole language of Chavacano, have combined to produce skilled and adaptable call center agents suitable for a wide range of markets.
Zamboanga, whose 98 barangays have a population of over 750,000, has been identified as the southernmost link in the government's Cyber Corridor, which consists of interconnected centers of BPO services located along the length of the country.
"Zamboanga has wonderful resources that makes doing business easy for investors," said Bian. (GEM-PIA XI)
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