With its economic growth, Cebu has been lucky to have various private enterprises that provide different kinds of services to the public such as air, land and sea transport, telephone and telegraph services, power supply services and water distribution facilities, among others.

POWER

For now, Cebu is relying mainly on the geothermal energy that is being supplied to the Visayas-Panay grid to which the island is part of. The grid has three main power baseloads with a capacity of over 2,200MW of electricity.  Other sources of power are thermal and diesel generating plants.

These sources provide Cebu island with 220V AC electricity.

Power distribution companies for the mainland are the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) for Metro Cebu and the Cebu Electric Cooperative (Cebeco) for the rest of the mainland. Island municipalities, meanwhile, are being served by the Bantayan Electric Cooperative (for Bantayan island comprising Sta. Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos) and the Camotes Electric Cooperative (for the Camotes group of islands composed of Tudela, Poro, San Francisco and Pilar towns).

However, construction is well on its way for Cebu to have home-based power plants in Naga City through the Korea Electric Power Corporation and Toledo City through the Global Business Power Corporation.

The two new projects combined will provide an additional in-land capacity of 436 megawatts of power for Cebu by 2010, which should be more than enough to meet Cebu’s sustained growth in the coming years.

WATER

Distribution of water in Metro Cebu areas is being handled by the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD). Water distribution facilities in the towns beyond the metro are being operated and managed either by local water district cooperatives, or their respective municipal governments.

The Cebu Provincial Government, however, has begun the process of bulk water supply development to supply the whole island and plans to tap private-public sector partnerships to realize this.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Cebu is host to major telecommunications companies, whether landline or mobile phone networks connecting all of the island: the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and Globe Telecommunications, among others.

Whether on business or holiday anywhere in its 44 towns and seven cities, one would not have to worry about connecting with loved ones or the office.

Internet cafés also abound, and several establishments in most places are already making use of wireless internet connections.

AIR, LAND AND SEA TRANSPORT

The international gateway to Visayas and Mindanao, daily flights to and from Cebu island has always been increasing both for cargoes and passengers. The international airport is being run by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), which is set to implement an expansion program to accommodate more flights.

Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific are taking care of most domestic flights, while Silk Air, Qatar Airlines and Korean Air, among others, provide the comfort of travel to destinations in other parts of the world.

As for sea travel, history has always seen Cebu as a natural port even before Spanish colonization. As of now, several shipping companies service inter-island and international destinations: Sulpicio Lines, Gothong Southern Shipping, Cebu Ferries Corporation, Cokaliong Shipping Lines, George & Peter Lines, Inc., Lite Shipping Corporation, Negros Navigation Co., Inc. Ocean Fast Ferries, Inc. WG&A Super Ferry and Trans-Asia Shipping Lines.

The number of shipping companies servicing Cebu will surely grow, what with the Cebu Provincial Government’s endeavor to build an international port in Naga City in southern Cebu and Liloan town in the north.

Around Cebu’s 44 towns and seven cities, the public can ride on Vallacar Transit’s Ceres Buses, Philippine Cebu Bus Liners and Rough Riders’ Bus Company, among others. There are also several taxi companies and vans-for-hire servicing the riding public.