Internet Speed Connection in the Philippines, A Nightmare

      The turtle fast Internet speed connection in the Philippines has always been an issue of anybody who found the world wide web a necessity from students to businessmen and realize the contribution of Internet to progress and development.
      A broadsheet column last July 30, 2010 titled, “Facebook on the Tortoise’s Back” written by Cito Beltran delves into the issue and uncover the real culprit of the crawling Internet connection.
      As a newbie to the innovation of the 21st century, Beltran seek the help of younger individuals who were adept at technology to engage him and his wife to the virtual world with billions of actual people around the world. His concern is the most usual complaint made by the consumers – the lagging connection of the Internet as they struggle to catch up joining social networking sites as Facebook, and Twitter, podcasting and video streaming. All of them blamed all local internet service provider which gives us a patchy service connecting to the rest of the world. Then a Filipino student studying in Chicago talked about the difference between the speed and consistency of Internet DSL connection in the United States and it’s like comparing it to a brand new Porsche to a beat up Volkswagen and another says that DSL provider in Hong Kong and Korea are way much faster than the Philippines. We have the high technology actually when it comes to connectivity but the real cause of slow transmission is that the local providers have been choking up the system in order to sell speed at different levels and different prices. For example, the lowest priced wireless internet connection cost 600 pesos a month and that moves up from company to company going from 999, 2,000 for 2x the speed all the way to 4,000 for 4x the average speed sold to ordinary Filipinos. Some students says that if you are in Baguio City, you should use “Bro” service provider while the young professionals whenever they are in Makati Financial District, they show their “Tattoo” and those who roam around Metro Manila with greater signal will bask under the “Sun”. This tells us that all the DSL and other service providers of different platforms are only good within their established territories, and not only are they slow but are intermittent and inefficient. According to Beltran, when he asked about the price in the United States relative to speed, it turns out after adjusting cost of living, we are already paying the same price as other countries except we are not getting our money’s worth. It also shows us that the telecoms have been making billions of pesos through intentional inefficiency. Beltran further added that it reminds him of all the convoluted tactics and marketing strategies that many telecoms have used is the past in order to squeeze every centavo of profit from our pockets by chopping up services or delaying the full roll out of interconnectivity, roaming and now the internet.
      Unfortunately, Congress and even government officials have dangerously overlooked the DSL – Wi-fi roaming service of telecoms. The current situation is very bad for business as a whole and bad for investment in particular. We are paying the price, but we are not getting the speed for progress!