THE Cebu City Council has requested the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to find ways to improve Internet service in the country, which was described by a survey as among the slowest worldwide.
The council’s decision stemmed from a privilege speech by Councilor Nestor Archival.
Archival said that slow Internet connection hinders economic growth.
“While the country is focusing on building tangible infrastructure projects in order to take the country further towards development, it is frustrating to know that our telecommunication system…the severe occurrences of drop calls and slow Internet connection…are not in harmony with us,” Archival said.
Archival cited the results of the Ookla Speedtest Survey last May, which ranked the Philippines as 176th out of 202 countries in terms of download speeds.
Upload
The survey also found that the Philippines’ average upload speed is 1.53 megabyte per second (mbps), which is significantly lower than the global average of 10.59 mbps.
Archival said that a unified local Internet exchange point and a backbone provider are needed to have a reliable Internet connection.
An Internet backbone provider is needed by Internet service providers (ISPs) to supply access to high-speed transmission lines that connect users to the internet.
The international standard for ISP requires countries to have their own Internet exchange point to allow faster exchange of local traffic from other local customers, Archival said.
The Philippine Open Internet Exchange, operated by the Department of Science and Technology, allows the exchanges of Internet traffic among ISPs.
In a resolution, the Cebu City Council requested Congress to speed up the approval of bills that seek to upgrade and rehabilitate the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.