Court halts broadband project

The Philippine Supreme Court yesterday suspended a USD330 million broadband deal between the government and Chinese technology vendor ZTE, reports news service dpa. The National Broadband Network project aims to set up nationwide infrastructure serving state departments and agencies. However, the plan hit controversy amid allegations of ‘multi-million dollar’ bribes and technical irregularities in the contract. The court issued a temporary restraining order on the project after a vice-governor filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the deal for being ‘unconstitutional’; the order remains in effect until a judge makes a ruling on the petition. The complainant, Rolex Suplico, alleged that the contract violates several laws and would be financially disadvantageous to the government. Under the agreement with ZTE, signed in April, the project would be financed by the Export-Import Bank of China.