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5 things I missed about our tech in the Philippines

For the last 3 weeks now, I’ve been to three European states and have seen and experienced the advancement of technology in these first-world countries. It’s oftentimes amazing but once in a while, I would miss the ones I enjoyed in the Philippines.

We oftentimes feel that we’re shortchanged in terms of technology and for a third-world country, that’s pretty much expected. Yet, every time I go around here and check out some stuff, I’d realize we got it pretty good back in the Philippines.

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

Official Apple Stores — where iDevices are more expensive.

Cheaper Gadgets. I’ve been to at least 3 Apple Stores in Germany, Amsterdam and France and all of them were selling the new iPad for much higher that what we expected if it were officially released in the Philippines. Back home, we’d expect around Php23,999 for the 16GB WiFi-only model but here, it’s between 479 to 489 euros (Php26k to Php27k). This is true with any type or category of gadgets being sold here.

Widespread Access to Mobile Prepaid Cards. Back home, you can buy a prepaid mobile SIM at almost any tiangge or sari-sari store. The stalls will sell it to you like candy. In Europe, you have to provide an identification card (in my case, a passport) for the most part and it’s not easy to find a store that has prepaid SIM cards. In the Philippines, we get it for under a euro; in Europe, it costs between 5 to 15 euros.

Panoramic view from the top of the Eiffel Tower taken with the Sony Xperia S.

Affordable, Uncapped Mobile 3G. Our mobile 3G might be a bit slower or inconsistent in the Philippines but at least it’s not generally capped. Still if you’re talking about that 800MB a day cap from Globe prepaid (postpaid is not capped), then it’s still vey generous. With the 2 prepaid data SIM I used in Germany, it’s 200MB for O2 and 300MB for T-Mobile — and that’s not daily but cumulative. Once you hit the cap, you’re throttled down to 64Kbps until you buy more bandwidth (1GB for 10 euros).

Unblocked Content. At least I experienced this when watching YouTube. A lot of the official MTVs are blocked because there’s no permit to play them in the country (I think it was UMG-produced music videos or something).

Where are the internet cafes? In the entire time I’ve gone around, I think I only spotted 2 or 3 internet cafes. It’s not that popular compared to the thriving net cafe business in the Philippines. I guess it’s because almost every household has a PC and internet already but I’m also looking at multi-player, LAN games.


Great looking Starbucks building in Hamburg. But no WiFi, not even paid.

Oh, there’s not a lot of free WiFi as well. The only time I was able to sniff an open and free WiFi network was inside the Apple Stores in Hamburg and then inside the Louvre Museum. Even our hotel charges for WiFi (9 euros for 5 hours).

Of course, I’m not saying we’re better off. These countries are far ahead of us in just so many levels. Loved that automatic, self-cleaning public toilet; the self-service, credit card-based city bicycle for rent; the super-fast, wired internet service; and so many more.

I guess I could still say that tech is more fun in the Philippines! *heh*

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

29 Responses

  1. Avatar for John John says:

    This article is laughable as it’s complete misinformation. Gadgets of the same quality typically cost 30+% more in the Philippines, if you can find them at all. If you find a cheaper gadget, it’s because it’s a “different” model with cheaper components and less features (including warranty and manual) or a Chinese fake… Mobile prepaid cards (phone and internet) are typically a quick fix, and a complete rip-off, which is why you only find them in the Philippines and is why people text here instead of make phone calls… What you found sounds like the exception, not the norm as internet in PI is highway robbery in comparison to other 1st world countries. With pldt, I paid P2650/mo for 2mbps dsl that was down or slow 50% of the time in a 6 month period for which I never received credit, not to mention the p10000 cancellation fee for crappy service if holding less than 2 years. I would pay considerably less for 5-15mbps in a 1st world country. I found this article due to google searches into why my 2mbps globe dsl connection (for P1299/mo) has been running consistently at .1mpbs for 5 days now. First off, this kind of service is rare in 1st world countries, but then the issue would first be acknowledged and then you would most certainly be credited… I’m constantly blocked on youtube, hulu, netflix, etc. for content not available in PI… Internet is everywhere in 1st world countries for free (coffee shops, McDos, etc.) so there’s no need to pay p20 per half hour as internet cafe’s are generally for people who can’t afford a computer or internet. Plus, all the internet cafes I’ve been to here in PI are running pirated Windows with a multitude of issues (viruses, malware, malfunctioning hardware, etc.) so I don’t know how you could miss that as it takes half your paid time waiting for the computer to respond. Anyway, nice feel good article about PI, but it’s simply false when generally speaking about tech in PI. Feel free to keep dreaming though. For those that have never left PI, you simply don’t know how bad you really have it. Also, feel free to attack my post, but the sooner you accept the truth, the sooner things will be better.

    • Avatar for John John says:

      P.S. I don’t have twitter, so my twitter Id is not 7058, and I’m not sure why it listed that as I left the twitter field blank. No, I don’t have a virus. Let’s see if it does it again when I hit Submit…

  2. Avatar for berto delos santos berto delos santos says:

    I was in Europe last may and had no problem at all finding prepaid cards. I never had to show my ID in France, Netherlands and Germany. I think probably you had a communication problem talking taglish in countries where they understand the oxford english and not the american slang

  3. Avatar for Jacob Jacob says:

    Good point. I agree except the SIM card part. Most countries know and understand how prepaid SIM cards are being used by criminal elements, hence have stricter requirements before purchase. It’s no fun when prepaid SIM cards are used by kidnap for ransom gangs.

  4. Avatar for Fshumayrqan Fshumayrqan says:

    BIAS na bias ang author dahil tourist lng siya, hindi mo maikupara ang isang bansa sa isang araw na stay mo sa isang lugar. talagang mahal kong bisita ka lng, but to be fair majority of develop country ang tourist spot ay asia hindi dahil sa gadget or technology but the cost of living dahil mura lng to stay.

    • Avatar for popsicle popsicle says:

      Yes, Author is Biased because he is a tourist. But tourists coming over to the Philippines experience the same privileges as the locals have. SIM cards, internet connection. Its easier.

      If you travel to another country its expensive obviously. But if you work in another country (which you obviously are), it is one of the rights of those under permanent and work visas to get those.

      I just think that itll take light years from where we are to that first world country technology that we vie for. What we reap is what we will sow.

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