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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| Image courtesy of Pixabay |
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.
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