Friday, March 29, 2024

House resolution filed to probe poor Internet connection in PH

Las Pi?as City representative Mark A. Villar has called for an inquiry into the slow Internet connection in the Philippines compared to neighboring countries in Asia.

Photo credit: ITU.int
Photo credit: ITU.int

In House Resolution 1658, Villar urged the House Committee on Information and Communication Technology to conduct an inquiry on how to improve the country’s poor Internet connection.

Citing a report from the Akamai, a major US-based provider, Villar said the Internet connection in the Philippines has an average speed of only 2.1 megabits per second (Mbpps).

“The data from another Internet metric firm Ookia show that the Philippines have a general average speed of only 3.55 Mbpps,” Villar said.

“There is a need to address this alarming and poor state of Internet service in the country as it impacts on consumer welfare [productivity, right to information and ultimately on our economy,” Villar said.

Villar said 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).

Vietnam (13.1) and Thailand (17.7), the only two other Southeast Asian countries joining Singapore (61.0) as those above the regional average of 12.4 Mbps.

Villar said local consumers spend around P1,000 a month for Internet service with speeds of up to two megabytes per second (Mbps) or about P2,000 for up to five MBPS.

Studies show that the largest telecommunications company offers 15 Mbps of Internet speed for 36.90 Singapore dollars or around P1,312 a month. In Thailand, 799 baht or P1,100 could give consumers 12 Mbps of connection.

“There is an urgent need to enhance effective competition in the telecommunications industry in order to promote the state policy of providing the environment for the emergence of communications structures suitable to the balanced flow of information,” Villar said.

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