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[av_heading heading=’Make telecoms industry ‘open to all,’ gov’t urged’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Tuesday, November 28, 2017
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MANILA – The government was urged to make the telecommunications sector “open to all.”
This will improve internet infrastructure and allow more players to come in and offer better services, according to Sen. Joel Villanueva.
Currently only two telecom providers offer internet services in the country, Villanueva said.
“Considering the duopoly in the telco sector, it is high time to declassify the country’s telecommunications sector as a public utility,” he said.
Villanueva filed Senate Bill No. 695, which seeks to amend the 80-year-old Public Service Act or Commonwealth Act No. 146 by excluding telecommunications from the category of public utilities.
A Supreme Court ruling defined “public utility” as “a business or service engaged in regularly supplying the public with some commodity or service of public consequence such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, telephone, or telegraph service.”
Public utilities are permitted to operate as regulated monopolies for providing basic services necessary to public consumers, it added.
Citing the latest Akamai report, Villanueva noted that the Philippines has the slowest average internet speed in Asia-Pacific.
The country has an average internet speed of only 5.5 megabits per second (Mbps), much lower than the 7.2 Mbps global average, Akamai’s 2017 State of the Internet stated.
“Removing the telecom industry [from] the limitation for public services will harness competition and bring in more investments and technology that are certainly geared to improve the state of internet services in the country,” said Villanueva.
Earlier Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte offered China an opportunity to provide a third telecom player in the Philippines./PN
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