According to reports from the Philippine News Agency (PNA) and The Philippine Star, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) officially commenced the construction of Phases 4 and 5 of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) project in Butuan City, Mindanao on August 13, marking the official extension of the NFB project to the Mindanao region.

The project will deploy over 1,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables, covering key cities and provinces including Bukidnon, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Zamboanga. Priority will be given to providing high-speed network connectivity for government agencies, public schools, and hospitals. The DICT also plans to gradually deploy supporting facilities along the NFB route to extend fiber optic network services to all rural communities in Mindanao.

Upon completion, the NFB will provide internet connectivity to 772 previously unserved villages, improving digital coverage in the Davao Region and Caraga by 80%，significantly improving the backward state of network infrastructure in Mindanao.

As the flagship component under the PHP 16.1 billion Philippine Digital Infrastructure Project (PDIP), the NFB is the first World Bank-funded digital infrastructure program in the Philippines. Future plans include connecting Mindanao to Visayas via submarine cables to enable high-speed data transmission across the Philippine archipelago.