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Thursday, July 03, 2003
Internet service providers seek more government support: report
IF no action is taken in addressing the concerns of Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country, more ISPs will eventually close down.
According to a Digital Filipino Stats Report by Philippine Internet Commerce Society founder Janette Toral, there are only 115 ISPs in the country today compared to the nearly 200 ISPs three years ago, and in a year or two, more small and independent ISPs will close down.
The eight ISP respondents of her ISP report gave a poor rating on government support in helping ISPs deal with their present predicament.
One of the biggest concerns pointed out by the respondents was false advertisement.
In the report, the respondents said some ISPs were creating false advertisements to sell their prepaid services, claiming that their P100 cards are worth 16 hours, when in fact, the cards are good only for six hours.
There are also no ratings and standards in the service, and many low quality service providers are killing the better quality providers, the respondents claimed.
Standard ratings, the respondents said, should include the average speed and convenience of connection.
The respondents also called on the government to move into e-commerce itself because the slow adoption of the various government offices of information technology, especially in the provinces outside Metro Manila, is hindering possible growth and adoption.
Aside from the lack of government support, Toral said ISPs, especially those in the provincial areas, would close down because they cannot compete with large ISPs that have the corporate base to sell their services.
The price of power is also increasing.
The operational costs of these provincial ISPs are also higher since they have to apply for the leased lines to Manila.
(July 3, 2003 issue)
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