Slow Internet in PH

Sen. Bam: Slow Internet Affects Business Growth

Slow Internet connection adversely affects ease of doing business and hampers the advancement of telecommunication services and facilities in all areas of the country.

This was emphasized by Senator Bam Aquino as he formally filed a resolution calling on the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, which he chairs, to investigate the slow and costly Internet service in the country.

In his resolution, Aquino reiterated the need to ensure that all users of Internet services shall have access to it anytime and anywhere in the country at an acceptable standard of service and at a reasonable cost.

Aquino made the move after it was reported that the Philippines is at the bottom of the list of ASEAN countries (3.6 Mbps) in terms of Internet speed, way below the ASEAN average of 12.4 Mbps.

A report by the Massachusetts-based Akamai Technologies Inc. entitled State of the Internet mentioned that the Philippines’ low use of broadband technology as well as high costs for internet users compared to other countries mean slow average connection speeds for consumers.

A study commissioned by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and released by Boston Consulting Group (BGC), saying the Philippines is trailing its ASEAN neighbors in terms of Internet infrastructure.

The study also mentioned that the Philippines has the eighth most-expensive fixed broadband pricing among 65 countries included in the study.

Also, Aquino took notice of the expensive Internet service in the country where Filipino consumers spend around One Thousand Pesos (Php 1,000.00) per month for speed up to two (2) Mbps and around Two Thousand Pesos (Php 2,000.00) for speed up to five (5) Mbps.

“Comparing the prices of Internet services among Southeast Asian countries, the cost to Filipino consumers is way more expensive than the Internet costs in Singapore and Thailand, which have the fastest connections globally,” said Aquino.

The senator said improving Internet connection in the Philippines is crucial to the ASEAN Economic Integration, which aims to transform the region into a single market and production base, and a highly competitive region.

“We should provide an environment for the emergence of communications structures that will benefit the vast majority of consumers in the country which has a broad economic growth geared towards increasing competition,” Aquino stressed.

 

Sen. Bam Calls for Investigation on Slow, Expensive Internet

Senator Bam Aquino calls for an investigation to determine if consumers are indeed getting their money’s worth from Internet service being provided by telecommunication companies.

The senator made the move after it was reported that the Philippines is lagging behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of Internet speed.

According to ASEAN DNA, the Philippines (3.6 megabytes per second) lags behind Laos (4.0 Mbps), Indonesia (4.1 Mbps), Myanmar and Brunei (4.9 Mbps), Malaysia (5.5 Mbps) and Cambodia (5.7 Mbps).

Other countries mentioned in the report include Vietnam (13.1) and Thailand (17.7), the only two other Southeast Asian countries joining Singapore (61.0) as those above the ASEAN average of 12.4 MBPS.

The senator wants to determine why some neighboring countries in Southeast Asia enjoy faster Internet speed at a much cheaper price while the Philippines bear the brunt of slow connection.

“There are constant complaints about the provider’s failure to deliver on its promised connection speed, which usually leads to slow Internet link,” the senator said.

On the average, consumers shell out around P1,000 a month for Internet service with speeds of up to two megabytes per second (MBPS) while some telecommunication companies offering speed of up to five MBPS for around P2,000 a month.

“This is expensive compared to Singapore and Thailand where we can find some of the fastest Internet connections in the world,” Aquino said.

Singtel, the largest telecommunications company in Singapore, offers 15 megabytes per second of Internet speed for 36.90 Singapore dollars or around P1,312 a month (P87 per MPBS).

Thailand’s True Internet, for its part, provides 12 MBPS of connection for about 799 baht or P1,100 (P92 per MPBS).

“Do we always have to pay a steep price for slow and sometimes unreliable Internet connection? NTC should provide a logical and clear explanation on this,” Aquino emphasized.

The senator added that the investigation should look into ways on how to improve the country’s poor Internet connection, which is crucial to the country’s economic growth.

“We have to find ways to improve the system and fast, especially with the ASEAN Economic Integration happening a year from now,” Aquino said.

Scroll to top