Telecommunications for every one

Netizens in the Philippine are raising their arms up in protest at having to live with conspicuously slow upload and download Internet speeds which unfortunately have to be paid at comparatively higher rates than what netizens in other countries pay for.

Luckily for the country’s telcos, PLDT and Globe, the dominant local telecommunications carriers, the Filipino netizen community today is not able to muster enough noise and attention just because there are far too few people who really care yet.

In other words, there are still far fewer people who are irked by this fact to make a revolution of sorts, even if a senator has already proposed an inquiry on why the Philippines has one of the slowest and more expensive Internet connections in the world.

Nevertheless, the fact still stands true that the Philippines suffers from poor Internet service while being penalized by much higher rates. And the telcos have remained silent about this issue.

Regulator’s role

Well, even the National Telecommunications Communications has sort of washed its hands off the issue. It could even be suspected to taking on the role of spokesman for the industry by not even asking the telcos to kindly please reply to or comment on the reported data.

Two sources of late had found its way in various local media. One is from the Akamai State of the Internet Report for Q4 2013 which stated that the Philippines has an average Internet speed of 2.0 megabits per second (mbps).

The other source is Asean DNA where the Philippines has been reported to have the lowest Internet speed in the Asean region at 3.6 mbps behind Laos at 4.0 mbps and Indonesia at 4.1 mbps. This report said that the average for Asean is 12.4 mbps, with Vietnam, Thailand, and China having speeds of 13.1, 17.7, and 18.3, respectively.

Unfortunately, such an appalling behavior is not only relevant to Internet and other Web-based services, but even for mobile communications.

Bureaucratic attitude at NTC

While many Filipinos are now owners of a mobile phone, there are still many areas in the country that are not accessible to the satellite clutches of current telecommunications companies. Heck, how do you even explain why you lose your signal in some spots in Metro Manila?

Filipinos need to see better services in terms of pre-paid text messaging and calling. Why should the value of a pre-paid card that is not used for a certain period of time expire? The consumer had paid for that service, and he should not be forced to use it up within a set number of days.

Most recently, with the appearance of more smartphones, telcos are selling Internet use on mobile devices. The service is still spotty, and can even be downright poor especially in areas that are densely populated where everyone is trying to access Facebook on an hourly basis.

Then there’s the 4G service that you need to know where it can be accessed and used by your 4G smartphone. Was it four years ago when telcos announced its introduction? It now seems more of a competitive ploy to be able to claim being the first to offer 4G services, even if it’s just in a few select spots.

All these makes one realize that the current government regulator is more a bureaucrat that goes after registrations and re-registrations rather than setting goals for telcos to aspire for. Heck, the NTC does not even pass the grade when responding to consumer complaints.

Telco side

If you ask a telco official who’s a bit more involved in top management what the heck is happening, he will explain in carefully chosen words – perhaps trying to remove all the tech jargon? – how the Philippines’ archipelagic land structure is a major deterrent in bringing quality mobile and Internet services to every Juan.

He says it’s more expensive building repeater stations and satellite receivers when you have to contend with the 7,000-plus islands in the middle of oceans. I hope I didn’t look too obviously naïve listening to this when I barely understood what he meant.

Then, he adds, that the Philippines is still an underdeveloped country where the purchasing power of an average Filipino cannot quite justify the acquisition of new state-of-the-art but costly equipment. Proof, he says, is the very high pre-paid market share in the mobile telecommunications business, which accounts for a small percentage of telcos revenues and even earnings.

Well, this sounded more understandable, being a finance man myself. But not seeing exactly the actual numbers, and having to trust him on his face value alone, was not really the most comforting and ideal situation to accept hook, line and sinker what he was telling me.

Finally, he says, the telco industry is a truly capital-intensive business that has to contend with quick obsolescence of equipment and even soft infrastructures that had been bought at great expense. Many times, new models become available when the existing variant’s cost has not yet been fully recovered.

Common good

It’s good to try to have a better understanding of all sides of the issue. This way, discussions don’t end up in slanging matches. This way too, there is scope to move forward, to hope for improvements and win-win formulas for the government, business and the country.

The NTC has to be imbued with a desire to break away from a bureaucrat’s servile mode, and become an instrument to introducing interventions that will create a better business environment that will truly benefit the Filipino consumer. We need more government agencies that think this way.

For our telcos, transparency while operating their business is of critical importance, especially when the service they offer is as crucial as connecting Filipinos to one another. Helping poor communities is great, but making Filipinos understand that you are a business that can be trusted is more important – even if there are not enough complaints to initiate a full-scale Congressional hearing. Let’s hear it from you.

Lastly, may our countrymen continue to demand for their just rights, as this column will continue to work for the common good.

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.