Gov’t, LGUs urged to ease requirements for telcos

State agencies and local government units (LGUs) are being urged to ease regulatory requirements for telecommunications companies (telcos) like permits and clearances.

In a statement, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the easing of regulations would enable telcos to speed up the promised improvement of their services.

Telcos have been complaining they have to secure dozens of permits, mostly from LGUs, to put up cell sites, he said.

Aside from LGU requirements, he said telcos have to obtain permits and clearances from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Health.

They are even required to seek the permission of barangay communities and subdivisions where their facilities are to be constructed, he added.

“There is greater urgency for the government and LGUs to help fast- track the establishment of a far-reaching telecoms infrastructure

not only to spell faster and cheaper internet services across the country but also to arrest the sharp decline in the country’s global competitiveness,” Villafuerte stressed.

He noted that in the 2016 global competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum, the Philippines dropped to 57 from 47th place in 2015 due to bureaucratic inefficiencies and inadequate infrastructure, including telecom facilities.

Quoting Akami Technologies, a US content service provider, he said the average internet speed in the Philippines improved by only one mbps (megabit per second) in the past two years, from 2.5 to 3.5 mbps, while it doubled in Vietnam from 2.9 to 5 mbps during the same period.

In Indonesia and Thailand, internet speed increased over 50 percent to 4.8 and 10.8 mbps, respectively, he said.

The same Akamai report placed the Philippines in a tie with India in 14th place in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of internet speed, with Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan in the top rankings, he said.

Globally, the country was in 113th place, though it has one of the most expensive internet service, Villafuerte pointed out.

He urged Congress to prescribe minimum quality standards for telecom services to finally address complaints by customers.

“It is time that we stop settling for below-par services that these companies promise but ultimately fail to deliver,” he said.

He proposed heavier penalties for erring telcos — fines ranging from P1 million to P10 million and/or suspension or revocation of their legislative franchises and NTC licenses.