According to the data compiled by Speedtest Global Index in April 2018, Iceland has the fastest mobile internet download speed in the world. It scored an average 65.90 Mbps against the global average of 22.61 Mbps. Among the countries in Asia, only Singapore made it to the top five boasting an average download speed of 56.21 Mbps.
For fixed broadband internet, Singapore tops the list with a download speed of 174.94 Mbps against the global average of 45.07. The only Asian countries who made it to the top five are Hong Kong (SAR) at 3rd place and South Korea at 4th place with average download speeds of 141.05 Mbps and 110.10 Mbps respectively.
What about the Philippines? Well, we can all be proud of this. First, for mobile broadband, we placed 96th out of 126 countries with an average download speed of 14.01 Mbps. At least we’re ahead of Thailand, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and other African nations. Second, for fixed broadband, we placed 83rd out of 135 countries with an average download speed of 17.62 Mbps. We’re ahead of some countries in the Middle East, South America, and Africa.
Not bad, isn’t it?
But I want a show of hands here. Who’s got an average speed of 17.62 Mbps at home? Or maybe 14.01 Mbps on mobile? That’s right. No one – at least for residential customers. Business account holders may get to enjoy faster speeds, but I doubt if it even reaches those levels.
Just like most developing countries, the Philippines is classified as a mass market for everything – including broadband. What does that mean? It means that the services provided to the public can be expensive but hardly qualify as globally competitive. So if you think that free Facebook on mobile is good enough as a market offer, guess again. Mind you, because it’s free, it gets disconnected as it pleases.
This reminds me of the time when the Philippines was dubbed as one of the countries with the slowest internet speed but with the most expensive broadband charges. This hit the headlines in 2015 but I’m still inclined to believe that it’s still true as I’m writing this. Here’s why.
The eternal ‘up to x Mbps’ clause is a punishment. I got a 5 Mbps residential connection plan but guess what I’m getting? On average, I get 3 Mbps. When my ISP is gracious enough, I get 3.8 Mbps. Where does the missing Mbps go? I think it’s up for grabs. The ‘up to’ clause is an antithesis to the Law of Accumulation: get five people to subscribe to the same plan and short sell them for 1Mbps each. Now, you got 5Mbps on a limited-time offer for a sixth person.
The minimum reliability clause is just an excuse. Whether that’s 80% or 90% doesn’t matter. It sort of amplifies the damage to your missing Mbps because it’s not 100% reliable. So if you call in and complain about you not getting the speed that you actually signed up for, you’ll get slapped with the reliability clause. End of discussion. You can fume but you can’t do anything. In short: that’s what you get for paying a ridiculously hefty Monthly Service Fee.
The ISP – Customer relationship is a farce. ISPs say that they care about you. Don’t fall for it. They only care about your money. Regardless of the quality of your experience with their internet service, their after sales team will keep calling you so that they can offer additional products. The question is: how can you be encouraged to do additional business from them if your experience is negative? It’s common sense.
The ISP – Customer relationship is not mutual. For some reasons, the Billing Department of ISPs in this country are very diligent – unlike some of our government agencies. Miss your payment due date and expect your internet connection to disappear at any time. Yes, they don’t cut it right then and there, which is a good thing considering that customers sometimes forget to pay. But you know what’s not fair? It’s when you need them to fix problems of their own doing that they ‘take their time’ and make you wait forever.
Just a few days ago, my ISP experienced a huge network problem in the La Trinidad area. A fewer than 100 subscribers have been affected. I knew that the problem existed and patiently waited for them to complete their repairs. Three days later, the issue was resolved but I still didn’t get my connection back.
This told me one thing: they didn’t care to ensure that all of those who were affected by the network trouble got their connection back just fine. Or maybe they did; they just didn’t care. After all, I don’t pay them millions of money per month.
Another three days later, they told me that a dispatch team will come to my place to check what’s wrong. All in all, I spent six days waiting for a resolution or an update that never came. That’s until I called them and demanded to speak to a Supervisor twice so that my case will be prioritized.
In between, I missed work, spent hours on hold, contained my anger, and missed making money so I can pay my broadband subscription. The only thing I got is that they were looking into it. Is that fair? Aren’t they supposed to be accountable, too? As of this writing, the issue is still ongoing. I’m writing this offline while waiting for a local dispatch team that I know will never come today. Maybe they’ll come next month.
The lock in period is a prison. I get it. ISPs want to keep their people around with limited legal options and I think that’s fair – until the ISPs start breaking the beautiful promises they gave you once you’re in. It’s much like love. You fall in love only to discover what an obnoxious person your partner is after you’ve signed the papers.
So even if you’ve managed to come to your senses about how blinded you were, you’re left with no choice but to wait for your lock in period to expire. By then, you’ve had enough emotional breakdown. By then, you’re so used to it that you don’t even care. That’s classical conditioning – the digital way.
They frown upon competition. Ever wondered why postpaid subscribers are charged extra for making calls to an outside network but are given unlimited air time for calls made to the same network? I did. And I thought that instead of going head to head with each other, ISPs managed to plan something out in order to create the perfect storm for their customers. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours is what they say.
Sometime in 2016, Australian giant Telstra gave the Filipinos a glimmer of hope when it announced its intentions to come to the Philippines. I’m among those who actually breathed a sigh of relief. But alas, the deal fell through with San Miguel. And you know why? Because we’re a country ruled by oligarchs.
News had it that at that time, stores who’ll dare stock San Miguel’s telco products were threatened that they will be banned. There was even news that key players and their political cohorts lobbied to bar new players from coming in. Now that begs the question: are we really a country open for trade? I guess not.
I agree with Mike Wootton when he wrote in his The Manila Times article referencing the aforementioned issue, “Contrary to certain recent quotes, the Philippines is not open for business, at least not to any foreign business that would threaten the local vested interests, unless of course those same vested interests thought that they could use and control some foreign involvement that would provide them with either money or technology.” It’s all about greed disguised as a pro-Filipino effort. Whoever the responsible people are, I bet that right now, they’re wallowing on their evil ways.
The concept of customer service is only theoretical. You call your ISP and then the call mysteriously gets disconnected. You know what? You probably have called one of the local call centers hired by your ISP somewhere out there. You never even got to finish your grievance and the line gets cut.
Right now, when I talk about it with people, I see a general resigned sentiment: it’s the way it is; just accept it. My answer is a firm no. I thought that I did something really bad to deserve this kind of treatment from people I don’t even know. But I didn’t.
In some cases, some people who answer the phone are rude or that they don’t have the ability to listen or to place themselves on their customer’s shoes. They interrupt you without allowing you to give them a full picture of what’s going on. They don’t realize that once they get out of their work, they automatically become customers as well. Thing is, I have a strong feeling that their broadband connection is under a different service provider – not the one they’re working for.
Their social media pages are only for show. Half of my work is on social media. I’m not a guru of some sort but I know it if a social media page intentionally ignores the grievance it sees on its wall. Imagine a video with an advertisement showing a family in the living room who are happily dabbing on their gadgets and not talking at all. The video is dubious (only to those who think) but instead of getting a thumbs up, the post gets more angry emoticons and a barrage of negative messages brimming with nasty adjectives.
If it was me looking at it, it’s a sign that a problem is massive and customers are desperate for answers. But what do these pages do? They post another video. This time, it’s about how to enjoy the summer.
Their management don’t talk. These are the powerhouses. The big names who are walking home with huge bonuses from the money we pay. Where are they? Somewhere, delegating their tasks to their executive assistants while they enjoy their office suites. Where’s accountability in that? Most of all, where’s ethics – the fiber that’s supposed to radiate to all units in an organisation as an operating principle?
They got their marketing wrong. If you walk along session road or visit major areas where people converge, you’ll see stalls encouraging new broadband applications. So you spend long minutes going through an initial verification process only to find out that your area isn’t serviceable. What a waste of time – yours and theirs. If they can only see the importance of improving their services for their existing customers first, then they can look forward to expanding their network in untapped territories.
So it’s all the same to me: if ISPs fulfill their obligation and focus on improving their infrastructure rather than aggressively luring new customers to their digital demise, they’ll be on a more stable ground. If only they can focus on quality and efficiency rather than productivity, they’ll get the kind of patronage that they want. Problems mount because they’re taking in more than they can eat. But who can blame them? We’re a country ruled by capitalists.
If anyone who is working for any of the ISPs in this country happens to read this, your thoughts are welcome. I know that the opinions written in this article are not absolutely correct but I stand by them until I’m told what I don’t know. I bet that people out there are very much interested in what you have to say as well.
This article was first published in the Baguio Midland Courier. Please follow this link to view the published version.
Thank you Quang Nguyen Vinh for the image.