On 01 December 2025, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (“IRR”) of Republic Act No. 12234, also known as the Konektadong Pinoy Act, was uploaded on the official website of the Official Gazette. The IRR took effect fifteen days later, on 16 December 2025.
The Konektadong Pinoy Act, among others, provides a framework over the data transmission sector, with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (“DICT”) as the lead agency in charge of planning, developing, and promoting the national ICT agenda, and the National Telecommunications Commission (“NCT”), an attached agency of the DICT, as the principal regulatory and adjudicatory body over the data transmission sector.
The IRR of the Konektadong Pinoy Act specifically applies to all Data Transmission Industry Participants (“DTIPs”), which are entities principally engaged in the provision of basic telephone services and data transmission services.
Under the IRR, the data transmission network is divided into the following segments: international gateway facilities, core or backbone network, middle mile, last mile, and other segments. The IRR authorizes the NCT to formulate criteria and register DICTs in any segment of the data transmission network, under the general policy that all segments shall be competitive and open. In the determination of eligibility criteria for applicants for registration, the IRR provides that the NCT shall take into account legal eligibility, technical capability, financial capacity, and commitment to comply of all prospective applicants. The IRR further sets out general terms and conditions of duly registered and authorized DTIPs, requires the NCT to act within the periods set by law, and requires that all DTIPs obtain prior NCT approval before selling, assigning, leasing, encumbering, or otherwise transferring their Certificates of Registration (“COR”) / Certificates of Authorization (“COA”). The IRR further provides that the NCT and DICT shall publish a registry of all DTIPs within 3 months from effectivity of the IRR, and sets performance standards for each segment of the data transmission network.
The IRR further requires the formulation of a Spectrum Management Policy Framework (“SMPF”), to ensure that the spectrum is managed in a manner that ensures fair competition, supports adaptability to technological advancements, and maximizes its efficient use. Within 3 months from the effectivity of the IRR, the NCT shall review the existing spectrum allocations and assignments, while the DICT shall constitute a Spectrum Management Consultative Group to develop the SMPF, which should be promulgated within 1 year from effectivity of the IRR, and shall be subject to annual review and updating at least every 4 years.
The IRR further mandates all DTIPs to adopt, implement, and maintain cybersecurity measures, commensurate with their risk profile and risk exposure, and comply with the minimum cybersecurity requirements to be prescribed by the DICT. All DTIPs are further mandated to secure the appropriate cybersecurity certification for their risk profile as may be determined by the DICT. The IRR further provides that DTIPs are subject to periodic cybersecurity audits.
The IRR further provides that DTIPs are mandated to allow access to digital infrastructure and services on an open, fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access, subject to technical feasibility of the request. The IRR further provides guidelines on Reference Access Offers to be published by each DTIP, and the allowable grounds for refusal of the above offers, as well as mechanisms to govern negotiated access and disputes over access.
Similarly, the IRR also mandates the DICT to promulgate policies to ensure that passive infrastructure are made available for co-location and co-use, built to ensure maximum access, and proliferates in the most cost-efficient and timely manners. Such infrastructure shall be made available for access to all DTIPs on an open, fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory basis, subject to technical feasibility of access, and subject to rules on access and disputes over the same.
Finally, the IRR provides the rights of data transmission service users, and the administrative penalties for violations of the Konektadong Pinoy Act, its IRR, and the above-mentioned rights.