Having a sluggish internet connection can be an annoying experience. Whether you are studying, working, or are simply using the web for entertainment purposes, a slow connection can really be a huge hassle.
Have you ever thought you’ve had enough? Well, apparently, you are not alone. In fact, one group decided to examine the real reason behind this trend in the country and presented the evidences they’ve gathered during a Senate committee hearing.
We Are Paying More For Less
Mary Grace Santos, a researcher from LIRNEasia, a regional Information and Communications Technology organization, came to the conclusion that unsurprisingly confirms that we in the Philippines are spending bigger money for slower service.
Compared with other countries in the Asian region, ours is not only one of the slowest in terms of speed and performance but also one of the most expensive. Adding further insult to the injury, all the internet service providers (ISP) in the country fail to deliver the speed they advertise.
Santos and her group have been conducting testings beginning in 2010 and the results have really been alarming, according to her.
Not The Ideal Scenario
She said, “Based on our study, we tested the basic data plans of the three major ISPs in the Philippines and if you can see here, from 2011, we actually saw deteriorating actual versus advertised speed from 2011 to 2014. That’s not the ideal scenario.”
“In terms of value for money,” she continued, “we also saw that we’re actually paying more for less every year.”
Empty Promises From ISPs
Santos boldly declared that not one of the country’s internet service providers has ever reached the advertised speed.
“Not even once,” she strongly emphasized. “In all the tests we conducted since 2011, the highest average actual speed that was attained by an ISP was only 26.65 percent of the advertised speed.”
In short, internet users are being duped to settle for 80% lower than the speed advertised by the companies.
Among The Slowest (And Definitely The Priciest!) In Asia
Santos also shared some points from Akamai’s State of the Internet Report which were conducted from 2011 to 2015. The report indicated that “nothing much has happened to the Philippines.”
It likewise indicates that the country is the third to the lowest in Asia when it comes to average speed – plus we rank second in terms of connection speed. In terms of peak connection, we only average about 20.3 mbps while Singapore enjoys 98.5, Hong Kong has 92.6, and South Korea is at 19 mbps.
The ISPs also charge their subscribers too expensively since we have to pay for around $25 to $45 per mbps in Manila or as much as $70 if you are in Cebu. This is an extremely ridiculous amount compared with Hong Kong’s $5 and Australia’s $6 per mbps fees.
We hope the Senate hearings about this subject will continue and that the problem will really be addressed. As subscribers, we all deserve better from our hard-earned money. Let’s hope that our internet speed improves and that the service becomes more affordable for everyone.