Gov’t prodded anew to act on sluggish Internet services

The Aquino administration was urged again yesterday to prioritize the improvement of the country’s Internet services in order to help develop the local e-commerce industry and help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) penetrate the global market along the way.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, said he believes ecommerce is one sector beaming with potential which the government has yet to tap.

“We are known to be big users of social media and given the amount of time we spend on the web, Filipinos will no doubt embrace online shopping,” Angara said.

The senator earlier lamented the country’s poor Internet connection based on a 2015 study by Internet performance data provider Ookla, which showed that the Philippines has the second-slowest download speed among 22 countries in Asia, next to Afghanistan.

The study showed that the Philippines, with an average of 3.64 megabit per second (mbps), which is way below the average broadband speed of 23.3 mbps, was ranked 176th out of 202 countries in the world.

Aside from being one of the slowest, the country’s Internet services also emerged as one of the most expensive (61st), with an average value of $18.19 per mbps, exceeding the average global cost of $5.21.

In a bid to improve the country’s Internet service, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) signed this year a memorandum setting the minimum broadband speed at 256 kbps and mandated service providers to disclose to the public their average data rates per location.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), local buy and sell transactions coursed through the Internet were valued at $1 billion last year, and is expected to double this year.

Last month, e-commerce was identified by APEC economic leaders as one of the key strategies that will empower and help MSMEs participate in global commerce.