MANILA – Faster and cheaper internet service could be achieved in the Philippines by enacting suitable laws and updating outdated regulations, an advocate said.
The government needs to put up regulations “that are appropriate” for how the internet works, Better Broadband Alliance lead convenor Grace Mirandilla-Santos told ANC.
The Public Telecommunications Policy Act has to be amended while the Open Access in Data Transmission bill, which seeks to impose infrastructure sharing, has to be approved, she said.
“These two policy frameworks, if they are approved and updated, these will bring in more investments and allow new players to use emerging technologies,” Mirandilla-Santos said.
She said the entry of more players with new technologies and pioneering business models would help expand broadband coverage in unserved areas and “eventually lower prices” due to competition.
Both Globe Telecom and PLDT Inc have promised to roll out 5G technology in the coming months to ramp up internet speed in the country, the slowest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, the running third major telecommunications player, Mislatel, promised to offer internet speeds of up to 55 mbps within 5 years.
President Rodrigo Duterte had called for the entry of a third major player citing poor service in the country. (ABS-CBN News)
