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 23rd, 2007 at 11:18 am
patawa yung ad ng smart bro ano? broadband ng bayan, kahit saang sulok ng pilipinas daw. eh wala naman ako sa bundok, along the road pa, hindi town proper, pero di ako abot ng coverage. i am using a 3G phone to get online via smart internet na crawling at 230.4 kbps mas babagal pa pag mahina ang signal. don’t ask me how much i pay smart on a monthly basis just for the data sessions. yun nga lang problogger ako so tiis, i need internet at home so badly.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:30 am
[...] Alarilla asks “Do we actually have broadband in RP?“. Yeah, we do, it’s called Digital Substandard Lines. [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
Mr. Joey,
Nag place ako ng comment dito in reaction sa write up mo.Bakit po nawala?Is it too intimidating?Panu kaya aaksyon mga taga DOTC if those people who removed my comments are too scared publish people’s strong comment.Alam nyo naman na manhid mga taong gobyerno kaya ang kailangan nila maanghang ng comment para magsing.
Takot ka Mr Joey mawalan ng trabajo kung ikaw bilang moderator ang nag erase ng comment ko?
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
I feel sorry to see what the services our telcos are providing to us filipinos…
And for most of those still living in the provinces, the broadband Internet of the information age is far far away from their life till now, and clearly there is no hope that this will be improved very soon, say, in three or five years.
Even the government, who want to connect their office together with broadband connections and build e-government applications, began losing patience with these slow developments and poor services across the country provided by private operators, and decide to build government owned national broadband infrastructure for public services with no charge and better services than the private…
Year after year there are arguments that privitaziation provide big development in telecom sector. Somewhat, it’s true, remember you are in metro manila or those big provincial capitals. You can even apply for a 3G terminal which can provide you realtime tv videos even you are running a car in Makati CBD. But, imagine you travel out of metro manila, then you muse be wondering where am I? where are those cute services? why no telephone, why no broadband? why no 3G video call?
I agree that the government need aggressive actions to push forward the development of our national communication infrastructure for better public service and better efficiency. Think about the e-government applications, you will know that no private operator are interested to this government affairs. Instead they are focusing on invest more in big cities to make more money…
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:55 am
Me and my friends already filed complaints with regards to PLDT Plan888 and PLAN 990 which promises “Hi Velocity Broadband Internet”. Well, They only offer 88kbps for Plan 888, is this broadband to them? It runs at par or even slower than dialup. Nobody seems to regulate and check all these lies companies promises to us. NTC did received my/our complain, but until this very moment we all suffer.