Philippine Internet: How Fast Can It Go?

I am a daily internet user because I basically work on the web. I am a work-at-home mother and the internet is my biggest partner in fulfilling my job.

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The amount of work I am able to do and the amount of money I am able to produce purely depends on the speed of my internet connection. It is too

much of a hassle for me whenever my internet connection slows down and sometimes even seems to hang.

I have tried using almost all the big internet providers in the Philippines and all of them have disappointed me in one way or the other.

PLDT DSL

Way back before pocket wifi use was even introduced in the Philippine market, I have tried using PLDT for my home internet connection. The speed was okay and was never affected by bad weather, which is my major problem now whenever I use the internet.

I just had to have my PLDT connection cut when my family moved to the province. Now that I’m back in the city, I went to PLDT to inquire about their new internet offers. The staff recommended me to use their DSL with landline because the speed is not signal based but would instead be based on their landline connection.

I was convinced to apply for the PLDT Home DSL Plan 1299, which would have an internet speed of 3 megabytes with unlimited internet access. It comes with a landline though, so the fixed full monthly fee would be around PHP 1699, which would then include the landline fee.

I didn’t really need the landline because of the fact that the use of cell phones is more utilized nowadays but I was willing to take the risk of paying for a landline fee as long as my internet speed would be fast enough for me to be able to function well on my chosen career.

PLDT though still had to undergo a survey of my area to check for availability of slots because most of their internet slots in the city were already occupied. So my hope of finally being able to increase my internet speed was slightly lowered.

I was advised to wait for a call or text message from their staff once the survey is done. It could either be the good news of informing me that there is an available slot for me, or the bad news of telling me that I would have to wait for a slot to be emptied for who knows when.

And so came the day of informing me about the result of the survey. I was on my laptop, patiently using my slow internet connection, when I received a text message informing me of the bad news that my application wasn’t approved because of unavailability of slots.

So there goes my only hope for ever acquiring a faster internet connection.

SMARTBRO

Right now, I am using Smart Bro’s pocket Wifi enabled with their ever boasted LTE (supposedly ultra fast) internet connection. When I was reading about LTE and other stuff about it, I was really convinced that the internet speed would be fast (if not ultra-fast).

So I went to a Smart office and bought my Smart Bro Pocket Wifi for a little more than PHP 700. Knowing that it is signal based, I didn’t really have a very high expectation with regards to the signal strength and speed. I just expected it to be fast enough for my usage.

I am not a heavy internet user because I mostly use the internet for browsing, posting my blog posts, email, and checking my social media accounts. So I was at least expecting that my needs would be satisfied by my pocket wifi with LTE.

I was wrong, I was so disappointed. I loaded my wifi with a one month LTE unlimited surfing promo, which costs PHP 995. The internet speed was very slow. I never felt the ultra-speed telecommunication companies were bragging about.

I would even get so sleepy surfing the net because it’s really slow. There are times when the speed catches up and I am able to finally publish my posts, check my email, social media account and surf a bit for some research. I would have to rush doing all those things though, because when the speed goes down, it’s lullaby time for me once again.

At times I would have to sleep very late until around 2 a.m. because the internet speed peaks up from around 10:30 p.m. up until a little past 1:30 a.m. It’s an advantage for me when it comes to internet speed but it’s also a disadvantage because my mind can no longer seem to function during those specific times.

GLOBE TATTOO

I have also tried Globe Pocket Wifi with their Tattoo sim card when I was still in the province. I noticed that Globe’s internet speed seemed to be faster in the province than here in the city. It’s the other way around with Smart; their internet speed is faster in the city than in the province.

The service that I have experienced with Smartbro’s Pocket Wifi was also the same service I have experienced with Globe’s Pocket Wifi. They’re both practically the same when it comes to internet service.

MY CONCLUSION

Overall, I can summarize that basing from my experiences with the 3 biggest telecommunication companies in the Philippines; PLDT is still the best when it comes to internet speed. I haven’t tried out their new product ULTERA though, which is also signal based (similar to Globe & Smart).

INTERNET ISSUES IN THE SENATE

Now, there was a recent senate discussion regarding internet speed and pricing in the Philippines, which is very expensive compared to other neighbouring Asian countries. I’m glad senate has finally taken the time to address this issue because internet in the Philippines is really low when it comes to quality and high when it comes to pricing.

A research conducted by a researcher from LIRNEasia revealed that consumers are actually paying more for the kind of service they receive. It turns out that the internet speed which are advertised and promised by the telecommunication agencies are not really reached in actual consumer usage.

I can say that this is really unjust and unfair for internet users who are willingly paying the high monthly service fees that these telcos ask in knowing that they are receiving the kind of service they are paying for; but in reality they are being robbed off their money.

RISING INTERNET USE IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is rising fast as a technologically advanced country, with an increasing number of internet users. Internet users nowadays do not merely use the internet for fun and leisure, but also as a means of living.

I myself depend on this wide world of internet to reach out to my audience and be heard from all parts of the world. Without a good internet connection, people who work in the internet industry here in the Philippines would lose heart and find other means of living that would lessen the popularity of the internet.

We use the internet to interact with friends and with business transactions. But if we have a very slow internet connection, it definitely turns off our business dealings and transactions.

We as a country should be speeding up instead of slowing down. The internet could even be our way of competing with our other Asian neighbours when it comes to working for foreign companies because we have the English Language advantage.

A CONSUMER’S PLEA FOR FAIR SERVICE

My only plea for our Philippine government and for the concerned authorities such as NTC, is for them not to stop with just the promise of monitoring the internet speed that the telcos are providing but for them to also find and allow other companies to bid in their offers if there are others out there who are willing to invest in the Philippines and offer much better services than what our tried and tested telcos are offering.

As what LIRNEasia suggested, there should be a good means of competition for our telecommunication service providers for them to also provide a competitive service to consumers.

I can clearly observe that our telcos are not really competing upwards but instead competing in a steady gait. They just have fairly the same kind of services with not much difference to choose from.