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 30th, 2007 at 6:58 am
I’m currently hooked up with a wireless broadband of Globelines (Speak N Surf). Many are saying that this service didn’t even pass up for a broadband connection, and I got horrible stories from the Web about it.
But I have no choice coming from the place where I live where PLDT said all of their DSL slots have been filled up, and that took me almost 10 months of waiting, and counting.
Well, I was able to get wireless internet, and got my broadband for the first time in my 10 years of accessing the Internet. I, in effect was forced to get it though, even if I know that their service has been crappy. It slows down whenever 6PM comes, no matter what DNS server I’m registered into. Plus, they would intentionally slow your line down if you call their tech support for help, saying that is part of their SOP in monitoring and determining the problem.
Now I know that a subscriber like me cannot just call Customer Service to complain because they may slow down your internet connection under the guise of troubleshooting a subscriber’s connection.
I really envy other countries’ internet speeds, especially those coming from Taiwan. How I wish too, these giant telcos will be filled with conscience over the way they now treat their subscribers.The billions in revenues they earned every year will be nothing unless they truly give updated broadband and telco service to the people.
However, I still believe there are some people behind these telcos that have the human heart to listen to our long suffering gripes. To them I’m now clinging to hopes of an even brighter life, as one telco proudly banners in their new, revitalized marketing catchphrase.
June 29th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[...] @play: Do we actually have broadband in RP? [...]
June 29th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
lousy broadband service in the philippines is caused by seperate decisions by their marketing department and their IT department. they take on more than they can chew and we end up on the losing end. this is true not only for home users but for businesses as well. we used to subscribe to a dedicated line which was supposed to be sdsl and never was our upload speed at par with our download speed which would result to high latency and choppy voip service. to think our adsl connections outperforms the t1 connection in terms of upload speed. sigh. consumers in the philippines are always made to compromise and accept whatever lousy service we are accorded to.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:34 am
hmmm
bandwidth meters on the Internet measures your PC’s access to the server hosting the meter and not necessarily your own access
try using MRTG and open as many sites as possible to knwo if your connection clips at the peak
most internet cafe owners subscribe to the lowest plan and connect as much PCs to it thereby slowing the connection. They complain to the telco for slow connection and yet they should be the one to blame
you can have broadband connection here if you have the money to pay for the right bandwidth.
don’t beleive marketing guys telling you you get 384 kbps, 1 Mbps et al. Those numbers are just burst speeds i.e. you can only get them if the common uplink is not busy. ask for CIR (committed information rate) and if you didn’t get it as stated in the contract, complain
June 29th, 2007 at 8:47 am
simply put it this way…
pinagkaka-kitaan pa ung investment nila kaya hindi pa ma-upgrade ung service nila..
imagine buying a cellphone na worth Php30k tapos may lalabas na bagong model with far more upgrades after a month, papalitan mo ba agad?
Actuallly may point nga din na maliit ng Singapore kya almost wired ang country but mind you, the money here always goes to the right pocket…
Customer service is always top priority..
Isa pa wala kasing private company na may funds and connections na pwedeng i-step-up agad ang service nila kaya hindi maka-sunod ung ibang competitor, minsan hinaharang ng ibang agency kuno…
Hay …we could only hope, as I have heard Singapore is projecting by 2015 that all household will be having a pc and a free internet wi-fi connection..sa pinas 20yrs pa? aaahh okay…