MANILA, Philippines – An internet advocacy group has criticized ongoing efforts of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to probe the P70-billion buyout of the telecommunication assets of San Miguel Corp. as anti-consumer since it prevents the use of the idle 700-MHz frequency.
Ramon Jose, lead convenor of the Internet Surfers Guild of the Philippines, said the 16-page preliminary statement of concerns released by the PCC’s Mergers & Acquisitions Office (MAO) distracts from the real consumer issue which is the immediate improvement of the state of the internet in the country.
He said both PLDT and Globe were given a deadline by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to improve their internet services as a condition for the approval of the deal and co-use of the 700-MHz and 2600-MHz frequencies.
“The government and the public will hold these telcos accountable if they fail to deliver within the given time frame. However, seeing that the PCC is hampering the telcos from using these frequencies, all the more the dream of having high speed internet will remain just a dream,” Jose said.
ISGP said the role of PCC to look into the welfare of consumers and businesses must be recognized but they must not treat the SMC deal as an ordinary anti-competition case because of a bigger underlying concern which impacts consumers – that of the frustratingly slow internet speeds in the country.
Jose stressed that the telecommunications sector should not be treated as an ordinary consumer industry like many of the anti-competition cases because of its utility function.
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“The delivery of efficient telecommunications services to the public such as a faster internet connection must not be hampered especially in today’s digital economy ,” he said.
Historically, the country’s telecommunications sector has been the most neglected industry in terms of regulation and legislation, according to Jose.
“The only governing law on telecommunications, RA7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act, was ratified way back in 1994 when internet was still in its infancy stage,” he said.
Compared to other countries that ranked high in the global internet connectivity speed index whether it is from Akamai or Ookla for fixed line internet or Open Signal for mobile internet, the Philippines is the only country without government support for national broadband policy covering investment and infrastructure.
