SINGAPORE–As usual, being in Singapore has reminded me how unfortunate we Filipinos are when it comes to our information technology infrastructure.
Frankly, I don’t know how our telcos do it. I don’t how, year after year, they can get away with providing us with lousy service while still raking in money. While the availability and affordability of broadband has, to be fair, improved over the years, it doesn’t change the fact that what passes for broadband in the Philippines is laughable by the standards of other countries, such as Singapore. And forget quality of service — if all the horror stories we hear about the quality of broadband in certain areas are anything to go by, even when we part with our hard-earned money, we’re never really sure just what kind of service we’ll get, depending on which area we happen to reside.
So why do telcos get away with providing broadband services that are sometimes much slower than dial-up connections? Why are we consumers expected to grin and bear it if the service in our area is horrible due to some technical problem or lack of adequate coverage?
And to think of all the money they spend on glowing ads that tout how cutting-edge their technology is and how much they’re improving the lives of Filipinos. How many Smart Bro users out there feel like puking whenever they see those ads claiming that this service is the “broadband ng bayan”? Where exactly are these areas where Smart Bro actually has speeds that qualify as broadband? And if you’re one of those users who doesn’t get to enjoy these speeds, sorry ka na lang ba. tiis na lang?
You hear horror stories about all broadband services in the Philippines, whether it’s from PLDT, Globe, Destiny, whatever, that you start wondering if availing of these services in the Philippines is a crapshoot, a game of chance, only we keep ending up with crap.
So what’s the solution to finally ensuring that Filipinos won’t have to put up with shitty service? Is it finally time to get rid of the service area scheme, because quite frankly, I’d like to have as many choices as I can — if only to get the lesser evil. How much are telcos actually investing in their infrastructure?
It’s a pity, because we Filipinos do have world-class talents and skills. We can compete with the best of them when it comes to creativity. But unlike Singapore and countries more blessed than we are, we’re held back by private companies that keep dropping the ball when it comes to infrastructure — and a government that keeps letting them get away with it.
So tell me, who’s your broadband provider, and what’s your horror story?
June 28th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Hello,
Akala ko, ako lang ang madalas ma-high-blood dahil sa kabagalan ng internet connection jan sa Pinas.
We Filipinos are shortchange in many ways by just living in our own country. But the good news is many of us now are finally recognizing the bad. And by just talking about it we raise the level of awareness and hopefully some brilliant soul could stumble upon it and resolved this paralyzing issue.
I can’t imagine a company that is PLDT that earns 33 Billion Pesos every year could stomach the slow internet connection these days. Hello! Internet is everything now, and speed matters most.
I do online PSE stock trading here in Korea in such a breeze but I dread the moment of coming back for a holiday in Phil for a nightmarish internet connection.
Not that I am proud of connection here in Korea or that of Japan where I live for 6 years with fantastic internet connection…but my God, I am praying that our countrymen wise-up, stand-up and deliver and show to the whole wide world that WE FILIPINOS CAN !!!
Desmer
Seoul
June 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Let’s have a REVOLUTION para matapos na pagdurusa natin. Walang kwenta lahat ma Gov’t., Politicians, NPA, Bayan Muna and etc.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:21 am
Facts/Figures:
Singapore: Area = 704.0 km², Population = 4,483,900.
Philippines: Area = 300,000 km², Population = 88,706,300.
Metro Manila: Area = 636 km², Population = over 10 million.
It’s not fair to compare the internet services of “the smallest country in Southeast Asia” to that of the whole Philippines especially when the former’s population is not even half of the NCR’s. The thing is, kahit man lang sana sa metro manila ay maayos ang internet (after all it’s the center of the country). Sadly though that’s not the case. Kahit hindi na ganun kabilis (kuntento nko sa 384kbps), basta wag lang paputol-putol (intermittent according to SmartBro) or worse totally walang connection.
That’s the big problem here - it is the quality of service/connection. Of course, quality comes with infrastructure. Singapore is already a developed country (sa liit ba naman e), whereas ang ating inang bansa, ayun, nghihikahos pa rin (20 years pa daw according to GMA bago tyo maging developed - wish ko lng). So magtitiis na lang ba tyo? Well, kung di nyo matiis mgabroad n lng kyo!!!
The definition of “broadband” or broadband internet access varies from country to country & from standard to standard but in general, any connection to the customer of 256 kbit/s or more is considered broadband internet. So going back to the question do we actually have broadband in RP? YES, absolutely. Next question, is it at par with developed countries like singapore? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
naku kung i post ang mga horrific stories sa broadband connection offered by different telco baka hindi kayanin ng hardware storage ang magpopost…
I got a very disappointing experience with SMARTBro lalo na ang kanilang customer care grabe kung ano ano tinatanong sa akin sinasagot ko naman pero yugn needed action di nila ginagawa. Hindi nila ma maintain ang speed na ina-advertise nila. hindi na sila na hiya. Itututo nila ang isa pang sub-contrator company nila e sila naman ang kumuha nito. bad.. very bad ang speed. It took me 1 week to down load 340MB file. lagi pang wala connection sa Las Pinas Area ako. Tapos sabi ng customer care na i check ko daw ang speec connection ko sa internet. Paano ko kaya macheck e sabi ko wala nga ako connection. Ang galing ng customer care ng SmartBro ano?
Isa na lang sana may Batas or Law for this to protect us. kasi ang nangyayari I advertise nila na ganito ang speed ganito ang services tapos may lock in period ka na 12 months babayaran mo yun and suffer ka if you experiencing bad service. tangalin ang lock-in period para kugn di ko gusto ang services wala na akong pananagutan kanila. Ang kakapal ng mukha ng mga taga SmartBro.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:26 am
damn, i wonder how it feels surfing @100Mbps speed…whoah!
it’s a pity how we languish here back home with all these telcos fooling us all around and round and round…
nice one joey!