ANOTHER wakeup call rang yesterday for the Philippine Government and the private sector to speed up initiatives on improving internet connection in the country.
Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma made a strong statement on Wednesday, October 25, at the De La Salle University on the obvious, decade-long crawling internet situation in the country.
“I arrived late last night (Tuesday) and I tried to test the speed of Philippine (internet). It's no good,” billionaire online entrepreneur remarked.
Last May, Akamai's Global State, a content delivery provider, released a report that the Philippines has the slowest average internet speed in Asia Pacific with an average of 5.5 megabits per second (mbps), a performance far from the global average internet connection speed which is at 7.2 mbps.
If economic development and inclusive progress is where the government’s direction is heading, then internet connection must be covered and included in all development roadmaps as internet holds key to ensure progress in today’s digital era. If Philippines opted to remain to where it is now in terms of connection, stagnation will best describe the nation.
Slow internet connection has been a challenge for years since internet broke the global norms, but who’s to blame? The government or the telecommunications players?
All are to blame.
But the key to this roadblock is not the blame-game which the industry movers and shakers are doing, but through greater cooperation between government and the private sector.
As what Ma suggested, "I encourage government, entrepreneurs, everybody to work together to improve speed and coverage of internet. If we are not covering internet, it's gonna be worse just like a hundred years ago. Our cities, our countries are not connected."
Telecom companies must seize the opportunity to invest in better services, and government must also accelerate internet infrastructures and support systems while maintaining or even lowering the cost paid by consumers.
Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is setting up the National Broadband Plan that would address issues on affordable broadband access to every community and Improve broadband connectivity.
Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte has created an interagency body mandated to review the government’s broadband plan and come up with proposals to improve internet access in the country. DICT said the broadband plan will be formulated and expected to be adopted within the year through a multi-stakeholder process.
All these established, Philippine internet connection must be seriously considered by all stakeholders. All efforts must be directed to one vision: to upload a high-definition video in a second or two and for all Filipinos, including those living in the far-flung communities enjoy the advantages of being connected 24/7.