We have a need for speed!

The road to hell they say is filled with good intentions and chances are many of our well intentioned civil servants in government know only too well that the best laid plans of mice and men can all go to hell because of a slow poke in the plan.

In the case of the Land Transportation Office, I know for a fact that they have been working even on holidays and weekends just to be able to come up with products and services that people expect to get from the LTO. Two weeks ago I even helped them to assess and strategize their plan to roll out the new and improved five-year drivers license cards and during that session we walked through the process and possible problems that the LTO could encounter when they start serving and printing the five-year license cards. We determined that the only two problems that were beyond the control of the LTO were the availability of supplies (such as the blank cards and printer paraphernalia that comes from Germany) and the second would be the required Internet speed of constant 10 Mbps so that the frontline computers could link and transfer data to their data bank and printers. After several test runs and the presence of technical experts from the German supplier on site, the green light was given for the LTO in the National Capital Region to roll out and start issuing the new five-year license cards to walk-in customers only. For all intents and purposes, it would be a DRY RUN to figure out the problems and address them ASAP.

The LTO held the product launch yesterday at their East Avenue head office with no less than DOTr Secretary Art Tugade personally trying the system out. Just to introduce a mild complication, Secretary Tugade intentionally gave a wrong data entry that needed to be corrected so he could see how long such errors and correction would delay the process. Lo and Behold, he had the new card in 15 minutes – consistent with all the dry runs and estimates that were done in the past weeks. While everybody was expressing support and applauding the accomplishment, little did the media realize that the entire LTO leadership were standing on pins and needles like family members standing outside ICU waiting for developments.

In the early hours of the roll out, things went as smooth as anyone could wish but as the morning went further, one problem out of the two things beyond LTO’s control quickly emerged. Even with fiber optics connection, the Internet speed started dropping and with it so did the production speed of the license cards. As reported by LTO field offices “Major problem - down internet, internet connectivity.” The required minimum of 10 Mbps could not be sustained, in one LTO district office they could only produce one card all morning because the Internet connection kept disappearing. By noontime, DOTr Assistant Secretary and LTO chief Edgar Galvante had already sent out an appeal to PLDT, their telco partner to please do something about the problem because LTO will once again be blamed for something beyond their control. Galvante also wrote Globe on the same matter. The LTO leadership is not one to pass the buck or the blame but it is sad and ironic that in their effort to bring better services to the Filipinos, the LTO becomes the victim of the very technology we hope to benefit from.

From the looks of it, the LTO will simply have to redefine technology and shift from artificial intelligence to “MM” protocol: mano-mano or cable and kuryente!  Nonetheless, congratulations to the men and women of the LTO for working hard and trying their best.

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The unpleasant experience of the LTO being unable to deliver basic services because the Philippines reportedly has the second slowest average Internet speed in Asia is not something to be taken in strides. This is government unable to do its job because for the longest time we as a people along with elected and appointed officials have taken this pathetic state of affairs for granted or beyond our control. We are all affected by our poor state of affairs for telecommunications but the blame should not solely be put on the telcos. They pioneered to introduce the technology, transformed it into a business and industry, but being a third world country we may not have the economics to sustain a “first world state of telecommunications.”

Instead of coming up with a list of unrealistic goals or pipe dreams such as free public wifi and a state-run telco network or a national broadband, we should first work out a list of priorities or non-negotiable needs and not dreams. Find out first what is involved in REQUIRING Smart/PLDT and Globe to enhance or upgrade their facilities. Can they and are they willing to do so? What concessions or government support can be extended to these companies for them to commit to unconditional first world standards? We can all whine and stomp our feet in protest but none of that has produced a “First World state of Telecommunications services” in the Philippines. If we at least seriously study the problem and solutions, gather enough information and data to make informed decisions and strategies, we will then know if we are to help the telcos or put up our own national broadband!

When Secretary Salalima co-hosted the first Telecommunications Conference in the Philippines, the participants quickly realized that coming together, talking about the problems and setting solutions and timelines were possible and beneficial to all. Back then it was mostly about bucket lists and clearing misunderstandings, the next gathering should be ALL WORK and no more games. We are all losing money, jobs, opportunities as well as stunting national progress because we don’t have the speed we need!

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