At an online hearing conducted on Friday, July 3, the House committee on ICT (information and communications technology) created a technical working group (TWG) that would consolidate four measures mandating Internet service providers to provide minimum speed standard for Internet connection in the country.
These are House Bill 38 authored by TWG chairman Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon (Lone District, Muntinlupa City), HB 312 by Rep. Joey Salceda (2nd District, Albay), HB 4132 by Rep. Virgilio Lacson (Party-list, Manila Teachers) and HB 4367 by Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto (6th District, Batangas).
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) assistant secretary Ann Claire Cabochan said the DTI Consumer Protection Group has received a number of complaints from subscribers not being able to get the promised Internet speed under their plans.
At the hearing, House ICT committee chair Victor Yap (2nd District, Tarlac) said there also is a need to specify a neutral agency that would determine the measurement of Internet speed in the country.
Meanwhile, the committee also created a TWG for the consolidation of contentious issues contained in a number of related bills that prohibit telecommunication companies from imposing an expiration period on the validity of prepaid load credits and their forfeiture.
On another online hearing by the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture also Friday, DepEd undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan told the panel that the opening of classes will push through on August 24 with a total of 17,009,160 expected enrollees all over the country.
The DepEd official said it will launch a Learning Management System (LMS) that would allow teachers to create virtual classes, monitor the student’s progress, and conduct online quizzes and assessments.
The agency revealed it is also currently in a joint technical working group with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to utilize government televisions and radio stations as additional learning platforms.
