FILIPINOS desire better telecommunications services, and specifically speedier internet connection at affordable rates. They’re hanging on to the President’s recent State of the Nation Address. He specifically said: “My administration remains firm in its resolve to ensure that the country’s telecommunications services are reliable, inexpensive and secure. A draft Terms of Reference for the entry of a new, major industry player is at hand… the chosen entity must provide the best possible services at reasonably accessible prices.”
At present, the landline telephone is the only basic service within the jurisdiction and regulatory powers of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) under the 23-year-old Public Telecommunications Policy Law. Broadband and other forms of telecommunications that emerged after the law’s passage in 1995 are considered “value-added services” beyond the NTC’s reach when it comes to compelling upgrades.
The Philippines could follow in the footsteps of Canada which has declared broadband a basic telecommunications service. Such declaration puts internet access in the same category as the landline telephone. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has also ordered all telecommunications players to offer consumers in all parts of Canada internet connection speeds of at least 50 Mbps.
The Philippines now ranks No. 12 worldwide in terms of total number of internet users. More than 54 Filipinos now use the internet, or a penetration rate of 52 percent of the population, according to Internet World Stats. Thus high-speed internet access has become essential for every Filipino family to enjoy a superior quality of life, and even for businesses to succeed.
The steep drop in the economy’s competitiveness – the Philippines suffered a nine-notch drop to the 50th spot out of 63 economies in the 2018 World Competitiveness Yearbook rankings of the International Institute for Management Development – may even be partly blamed on our lackluster internet connectivity, which has been rated the slowest in Asia.
Our average internet connection speed is slower compared to other countries, and yet we have to pay a higher price for it. That makes our economy somewhat less competitive. Poor connectivity adversely affects businesses, the consumers and government agencies that have become increasingly reliant on the internet to perform daily transactions.
