City to NTC: fix slow internet connectivity
The city government wants the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to open its doors to foreign telecommunication companies to remedy the slow internet connection in the city.
City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., chair of the committee on public utilities, said members of the City Council have noted the continuing slow internet connectivity despite promises by telcos in committee hearings initiated by the councilors themselves.
Lao pointed out that Cagayan de Oro experienced very slow internet connection in the past weeks.
“We have raised this issue several times already. At first, they had a reason, ingon sila grabe daw kaayo kataas ang proseso para makatukod ug cell sites, which they cited, as one of the main reasons nganung hinay kaayo ang internet, pero we have been addressing this, ug ang ilang gihatag na serbisyo sa katawhan, is the same lang gihapon,” Lao said in an interview.
In a meeting with telcos earlier this year, the PLDT pointed out that slow internet connectivity is a result of too many subscribers, a statement supported by NTC which observed that the lack of cell sites is contributing to the snail-like connection.
Lao said an American company has offered their fast and unhampered internet services to Cagayan de Oro.
He said they forwarded the proposal to NTC for the forging of a possible an agreement.
“Naay remedy nga ang city government ang magprovide sa kwarta sa isa ka american technology ni siya. Ang atong initial na nasabtan, through broadband ug muagi sa submarine cable para direct,” Lao said.
“Gipasa nato sa NTC kay sila man ang nahibalo para ilang tun-an ang technicality, then we can study on an agreement. We will study if kinahanglan pa ba magkuha ta ug franchise, because if dunay revenue na kuhaon sa city out from the fee sa internet service, mao ng kinahanglan ug franchise, which we will ask sa Congress,”
“We will discuss this in a committee meeting. We will not let this opportunity pass kay ato na ning chance naa naa gyud kitay localized, na for Kagay-anons lang na internet connection,” he added.
Lao said he is set to hold another committee meeting with telcos for an inquiry on the internet connectivity.
“We need to address this otherwise we will loose investors, and our growing Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry,” he added.
City Councilor George Goking, chairman of the committee on trade and commerce, meanwhile said he will push for the cancellation of business permits of these telcos if they continue to offer poor and bad services.
He said the City Council already gave in to their demands, particularly slashing the bottleneck requirements to build enough cell sites, and hoping that this could improve the internet connectivity in the city but to no avail.
“It’s either improve their internet connection, or the city government cancels their permit. It’s time they give the people what they promised to give,” Goking added.
In a previous interview, Stephanie Caragos, president of the Information and Technology Council of Cagayan de Oro, said telcos should give their subscribers the kind of service they promised.
“What we need are better priced internet plans and perhaps give a commitment of minimum speed for the plan the people are subscribing to. That way, everyone knows what they are paying for. Should consumers want a higher speed plan, they can also upgrade if only the costs are friendly to consumers,” she said.
“The internet is as a need now similar to electricity. Providers have to catch up with the demand again especially at the advent of netflix, iflix and other streaming sites,” Caragos said.