IN the age of the Internet, mobile technology remains “king” for the country’s information economy (IE).
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said around 15.4 percent of firms use cellular mobile phones to conduct business, compared to the 11.1 percent who use the Internet for e-commerce.
Across regions, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao—where not a single business has used the Internet—reported the highest use of mobile phones for business.
“The ARMM [at] 33.3 percent reported the highest business transaction via cellular mobile phone, and the lowest was in Eastern Visayas at 2.2 percent,” the PSA said.
However, the PSA added the use of mobile-phone technology is declining since in 2010, as only around 16.1 percent used cellular phones when conducting business.
The PSA’s survey data showed there were 4,251 establishments classified as part of the IE in 2013, an increase of 78.7 percent, from 2,379 in 2010.
About 98.8 percent of the IE firms used computer and other hardware in their business operations. This was higher than the 97.5 percent reported in 2010.
All establishments under the content and media sector reported 100-percent computer and other hardware usage.
This is slightly higher compared to the 98.5 percent reported by the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
Meanwhile, of the 371,520 IE employees, 46.6 percent used computer routinely at work in 2013, lower than that the 48.5 percent, or 303,882 employees, recorded in 2010.
Those in the content and media sector at 68.1 percent had a higher percentage for this indicator compared to those in the ICT sector at 44.6 percent.
Data also showed that around 26 percent of establishments in 2013 maintained a web site. This is lower than the 38.7 percent posted in 2010.
The content and media sector at 26.6 percent had a higher percentage with web site than those in the ICT sector at 25.9 percent.
The data was obtained from the 2013 Survey of Information and Communication Technology conducted in 2014.
It was primarily designed to collect and generate information on the access and utilization of ICT among establishments in the country for reference year 2013.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano