TO DELIVER news to a wider audience, the Mariano Marcos State University partnered with the People’s Television Network, Inc. for the establishment of the People’s Television Network in Ilocos Norte.

Under the agreement, MMSU will allow the PTNI to build a one kilowatt digital and analog transmitters, construct a broadcast tower and install equipment in the school’s 500 square meter property in Barangay Payao.

PTNI will air significant MMSU events every week and will disseminate news in the province.

“Moreover, the PTNI will allow MMSU to install an information and communication technology equipment in the tower for the implementation of the latter’s smart campus development plans. This includes the installation of a wireless bridge (point-to-point radio) to connect two or more locations together,” the university said.

The agreement also allows MMSU to send its students to undertake on-the-job training at PTV Ilocos Norte.

“This partnership was formalized through a memorandum of agreement signed by PTNI General Manager Katherine Chloe De Castro and MMSU President Shirley Agrupis in a ceremony held at Teatro Ilocandia on May 12,” MMSU said.

De Castro said the PTV Ilocos Norte will reach a minimum of 400,000 people in the province and in the nearby provinces of Ilocos Sur, Abra and Apayao.

“With this partnership, we are able to deliver the news that really matters to the entire nation, as well as the government efforts in the national and local levels,” De Castro said.

The installation of the broadcast transmitter in Batac City is expected to be done by the end of the year so that the station could start to operate in April 2022.

Agrupis said the establishment of the broadcast network will benefit the university, particularly in reaching the communities, advocating its innovation and training its students.

“We signify our commitment to the provisions in the agreement and we can even go beyond that,” she said.