Broadband connectivity in the Philippines continued to be a laggard among Asia-Pacific counterparts, but it seems that green shoots of recovery are starting to bud, as the government moves to make faster Internet speeds a national priority.
This is according to the latest State of the Internet Report of Akamai Technologies. The report said Filipinos may expect better Internet connectivity in the coming years, as President Duterte decided to take the issue on Internet access and speed more seriously than his predecessors.
“In the Philippines there is reason for optimism,” the report read. “The new administration has made faster Internet speeds a national priority.”
Sadly, the Philippines continued to lag behind its peers in terms of broadband connectivity. It continued to land on the lowest spot with an average speed of 4.5 Mbps in the fourth quarter last year, which is a 44-percent improvement from the same quarter the year prior.
South Korea was named as the country with the fastest broadband connection in the region with an average speed of 26.1 Mbps. It was followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.
Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima of the Department of Information and Communications Technology has repeatedly said the government will do its best to improve the sorry state of the Internet in the Philippines, as the Web provides Filipinos with a slew of opportunities that they could harness to make their lives better.
Specifically, Salalima said he will cut red tape for cell-tower building, a problem that Globe Telecom Inc. has been complaining about for many years now.
His department will also deploy free nationwide broadband and Wi-fi access.
Just recently, Salalima’s office spearheaded the creation of a National Broadband Network, whose initial draft showed that the government will focus on the development of Internet access in the countryside, particularly in areas where Web access is scarce or is very limited.
Under the first draft of the P77.9-billion National Broadband Plan, key cities and provinces—particularly the rural areas where commercial telecommunications services are absent—will have Internet access by 2022.
These areas are based on the National Economic and Development Authority’s National Spatial Strategy for 2017 to 2022 and the National Telecommunications Commission’s Fixed and Wireless Broadband Data Survey.
Also included in the draft are key suggestions to promote new media, local content and applications; the development of a rural technology road map; the process by which the government will monitor the development of the plan; optimization of spectrum usage; development of satellite; and the institutionalization of collaborations with other agencies, among others.