Online video
You see everyone using cellphones – executives, academics, students, tennis players, household help, kids. Indeed nowadays, cellphones are as much a necessity as the hanky which we could not do without.
With the ever-advancing technology, CPs now double as crystal screens capable of receiving video streaming for hours on end.
Telco experts noted that a common complaint among balikbayans, especially those from the United States, is the slow internet in the Philippines.
Accustomed to seamless connectivity, they find their online video experience here rather frustrating.
The telco execs assert that customers’ video experience is the true test of network power. When viewing feels like a throwback to the dial-up Internet of the 1990s, we can’t blame foreigners and balikbayans for complaining about slow and intermittent connections.
They say it is regrettable that the Philippines continues to be a laggard in global Internet speed tests, even on a regional basis.
According to Ernesto Alberto, PLDTSmart executive vice president and chief revenue officer, mobile video viewing “has proven to be a powerful driver of data adoption and usage.”
Alberto said positive survey results on video viewing experience in the country suggests that they are moving in the right direction in helping customers take full advantage of the LTE (Long Term Evolution) network through “compelling data packages and services, combined with the best mobile data devices that can deliver the best customer experience.”
Telecommunication experts like Alberto explain LTE as a “4G wireless broadband technology that offers increased network capacity and speed to mobile device users.” They say LTE offers higher peak data transfer rates – up to 100 Mbps downstream and 30 Mbps upstream.
For his part, Mario Tamayo, PLDTSmart senior vice president for network planning and engineering said their company’s initiatives at network transformation has boosted, not just the mobile video experience of customers, but livelihoods as well. He pointed out that in areas where Smart has rolled out the LTE, small business owners and Smart retailer-partners have reported upticks in earnings owing to faster mobile internet service in their localities.
Admittedly, I’m a techno illiterate so pardon my ignorance when it comes to technical facts and figures. But you and I can agree to the experts’ observations that online video in the Philippines is getting more vivid images as attested to by industry surveys and analyses.
“It seems the reality is not as bad as the country’s rankings (in the surveys) depicts,” the analysts said.
For all the online video fanatics out there, Telco experts offer a crash course on the subject. The experts explain that download speeds are measured by Mbps (megabit per second). A recent survey conducted by Open Signal showed that on a scale of 0 to 100, Southeast Asia has an average download speed of 10Mbps.
The region covers the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,Thailand, and Vietnam. These six countries, according to Open Signal lead analyst Kevin Fitchard, made up the bottom six of the East Asia video rankings.
Citing results of Open Signal’s firstever video experience analysis in the region, Fitchard reported that Singapore ranking No. 1 with a score of 66.9 percentage points, while the Philippines got the lowest score of 35 percentage points.
Not very comforting indeed. But there’s a bright side.
According to Open Signal, video experience in the Philippines among Smart Communications subscribers measured 42.21, at par with those in the United States which has such fine carriers as AT&T and Sprint.
The national average video speed, however, is reportedly weighed down by the inferior performance of the other industry players. The ratings showed that Globe Telecom, for instance, had a score of 29.22.
Another study done in August by content delivery firm Limelight Networks indicated that more and more Filipinos are getting hooked on online video habit, spending about nine hours per week glued to smartphones, smart TVs or tablets.
Taken at face value, that’s reportedly an hour longer than they do in the US or in India.
Limelight surveyed 5,000 respondents in 10 countries, namely, the Philippines, France, Germany, India, Italy, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Britain and the United States.
Industry players agree that the trend demands higher quality services.
Citing the survey results, Smart asserts it has the lead in this regard, while Globe has to play catch up involving huge capital infusion.
For Johnny-come-lately telco of Mislatel and China Telecoms, at this point, it’s still a bridge too far.
* * * ON ANOTHER FRONT: It’s saddening when poverty contributes to the death of a person by disease, especially knowing that the right to life is one that is fundamental to every individual.
Both cancer patients and advocacy groups are once again expressing their concerns at the recent budget cut by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) of its medical aid program. Formally known as the IMAP, or the Individual Medical Assistance Program, it includes financial assistance for cancer treatments among various other forms of assistance, to help pay the cost of such treatments, which regularly cost hundreds of thousands of pesos.
According to the Philippine Cancer Society, more than 80 percent of Filipinos are able to pay straight out of their pockets for basic medical care. When coupled with the recent Philippine Statistics Authority reports which showed that cancer is the second most common cause of death for Filipinos, this is something that we need to combat with more support, not by withdrawing it from where it is needed the most.
The PCSO said that its recent budget cut was due to the program exceeding its budget limits, which were in turn due to the rapidly increasing number of program beneficiaries, as well as the overall rise in healthcare costs. This prompted flagging from the Commission on Audit, which urged the PCSO to review its spending. They have gone on record, though, to say that the cut is only temporary, pending the said review.
It’s almost Christmas time. And we hope that the PCSO would already lift the said temporary budget cut. This will be a perfect gift to thousands of cancerstricken Filipinos, and even to their families who are fighting the battle with them. Let’s give them all the options to enjoy more years and the IMAP is one of those options. They have the right to live and let’s not deprive them of that.
Let us hope and pray that not only the PCSO, but the government at large, takes a good look at the bigger picture, seeing the problem of cancer as it really is for Filipinos of all social statuses all over the country, and gives its full support to the treatment of those who are suffering, so that we hopefully never have to go through the pain of seeing a loved one go just because they could not pay for treatment.
* * * Email: dominitorrevillas@gmail.com