‘Make Internet access a legal right of every Juan’
THE chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry on Thursday urged the Philippine government to make Internet access a legal right of its citizens.
Nacionalista Party Rep. Mark Villar of Las Piñas, the panel chairman, said more than half of the Filipino population does not have access to the Internet.
“The [Philippine] government must intervene and ensure that the access to technology and, ultimately, information is available to its citizens, regardless of socioeconomic factors,” he said, following the recently concluded Asean Conference on Work-Life Balance.
“Finland already made broadband a legal right. They have recently launched a project that would provide every Finn access to at least 1 megabit per second [Mbps] broadband connection. I can’t see a reason the Philippines should not follow suit,” said Villar, one of the speakers during the conference held in Malaysia.
The lawmaker, citing a study conducted by “We Are Social Singapore,” said only 44 percent, or 44.2 million Filipinos out of 101.1 million, are active Internet users in the Philippines.
“If we look into our neighbors in the Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], the Philippines registered one of the lowest access rates. For example, 73 percent of those in Singapore, 67 percent of those in Malaysia, 64.5 percent of those in Brunei Darussalam and 43.9 percent of those in Vietnam are able to access the Internet,” Villar said.
Villar added that by removing technological boundaries, the government is able to lessen discrimination and provide a freer and liberal access to data, closing the widening gap of urban-rural divide.
“When Filipinos have free and convenient access to the Internet, with speed at par with neighboring countries, not only do we promote efficiency in realizing work objectives; we also protect our citizens’ right to freedom of speech
and information,” he said.
In House Resolution 1658, Villar said the Philippines has the second-slowest average-download speed among 22 Asian countries, with 3.6 Mbps, next to Afghanistan with 2.52 Mbps.
He said there is an urgent need for Congress to look into the state of the country’s Internet connection so that remedial measures may be passed to address the problem.
The lawmaker added the Philippines, with 3.6 Mbps, lags behind Lao PDR (4 Mbps), Indonesia (4.1 Mbps), Myanmar (4.9 Mbps), Brunei Darussalam (4.9 Mbps), Malaysia (5.5 Mbps) and Cambodia (5.7 Mbps).
He said Vietnam (13.1 Mbps) and Thailand (17.7 Mbps) joined Singapore (61 Mbps) as those above the regional average of 12.4 mbps.
Villar said local consumers spend around P1,000 a month for Internet service, with speeds of up to 2 Mbps, or about P2,000 for up to 5 Mbps.
He said studies show the largest telecommunications company offers 15 Mbps of Internet speed for S$36.9, or around P1,312 a month. In Thailand 799 baht, or P1,100, could give consumers 12 Mbps of connection.
“There is a need to address this alarming and poor state of Internet service in the country, as it impacts on consumer-welfare productivity, right to information and, ultimately, on our economy,” the lawmaker said.
Villar, citing Akamai, a major US-based provider, said the Internet connection in the Philippines has an average speed of only 2.1 Mbps.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is making a big pitch for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to migrate to the online space to expand their market base, saying e-commerce is key to enable MSMEs to participate in global trade. The trade agency said it is targeting to aid 100,000 MSMEs out of the more than 937,000 MSMEs doing e-commerce online by 2020 under its recently launched e-commerce road map.
The road map also envisions fast and competitive Internet access and increased Internet users.
To do this, the e-commerce office of the DTI will be ramping up its promotion through conducting nationwide road shows.
“We are focusing our promotion activities on e-commerce, not only within the East Asia subregion, but nationally, to help MSMEs to engage in borderless trade. Given the population with in the East Asia subregion, there is a huge market for e-commerce,” Trade Undersecretary for Special Concerns Prudencio Reyes said in a statement.
To date, Asean has 143.1 million Internet users, of whom 44.2 million are from the Philippines. E-commerce road show for entrepreneurs will focus on E-business Models, E-Payments, E-Commerce Web Site Development, E-Commerce Platform and E-Commerce Marketing.
Prior to training entrepreneurs, training the trainers for business counsellors around the Philippines will also be conducted.
Financing start-ups for MSMEs is also an objective by the DTI in the ongoing profiling of MSMEs. The goal is to set up a system where banks can access specific information, such as the type of business and the capital needed.
This system will reflect the accountability and credentials of MSMEs.
The Philippine E-commerce Roadmap 2016-2020, a product of private, academe and government discussions, sets the direction of the industry toward further development.
(With Catherine N. Pillas)
Source: www.businessmirror.com.ph
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