YugaTech’s Top Stories of 2017

There were several really important stories that caught much attention in 2017 from our readers. Most of the time, it’s about telco because, well everyone concerned was using the internet.

Here are the top stories on YugaTech for 2017.

NOW launches fiber to air up to 400Mbps: 16,211 pageviews

This relatively new player in the ISP sector if trying a new approach with broadband connectivity and they called it Fiber to Air. While they’ve been servicing enterprise customers for many years, this is the first time they will be getting residential subscribers as well. To top it off, they promise speeds of up to 400Mbps.

This little known ISP is challenging the duopoly: 22,440 pageviews

Broadband customers always look forward to alternative ISPs, especially that there’s not of them available in their neighborhood. So when Converge ICT started offering their services in Metro Manila, they made the headlines for 2 things — they’re cheap (starts at Php1,500USD 26INR 2,167EUR 24CNY 186 for fiber connection) and they offer unlimited internet (yes, that still exists).

Ragnarok Online Relaunch: 26,890 pageviews

2017 is the year of nostalgia and among them is the return of Ragnarok Online. The re-launch was announced in April and has been running since May 7, 2017.

Smart to charge Php2USD 0.03INR 3EUR 0.03CNY 0.25 per MB: 27,176 pageview

Late November, Smart has announced that it will shift their default data charging rate from Php5USD 0.09INR 7EUR 0.08CNY 0.62 for 15 minutes to Php2USD 0.03INR 3EUR 0.03CNY 0.25 for every 1MB starting November 28, 2017. This caused a lot of uproar and Smart eventually postponed the effectivity to January of 2018 (should be anytime soon).

Spotify Premium for Students: 30,726 pageviews

Spotify announced that they were extending a 50% discount on the monthly subscription for all students. This puts the Php129USD 2INR 186EUR 2CNY 16 subscription fee down to just Php65USD 1INR 94EUR 1CNY 8 and students can available after signing up and providing necessary documents.

BPI’s Mysterious Account Transactions: 45,547 pageviews

Bank of the Philippine Islands was in a hot seat back in June when reports of customer accounts having mysterious and random transactions. Most of the accounts had random amounts deducted from their bank accounts causing panic to a number of depositors, some of whom even had zero balances. The glitch turned out to be human error and after several days, the problem was resolved.

How to Spot a Fake Nokia 3310: 47,196 pageviews

Even before Nokia released the Nokia 3310 in the Philippines, there have been a lot of knock-offs going around and selling like hotcakes. We wrote a detailed guide piece on how to spot a fake 3310 and it became one of our most popular stories of the year.

No Cellphone While Driving Law in Effect: 57,710 pageviews

The announcement that the Anti Distracted Driving Law will be enforced last May 18 caused a lot of confusion and complaints especially that it comes with very heavy fines. The implementation was later suspended and implementing rules and regulations were relaxed.

Porn Sites are Blocked in the Philippines: 60,917 pageviews

The government, thru the NTC, sent out an order to ISPs to block specific porn sites. This was due to alleged “child porn” content found on these sites. While some ISPs complied right away, others delayed the request to look for legal remedies. Up to this day, a few popular porn sites are still blocked by certain ISPs.

BDO to Charge Php10USD 0.17INR 14EUR 0.16CNY 1 per transaction to other accounts: 69,547 pageviews

At the start of the year, BDO made a not-so-obvious announcement that they will start charging Php10USD 0.17INR 14EUR 0.16CNY 1 per transaction to other BDO accounts. While the charges were only limited to non-enrolled accounts, customers complained about BDO’s scheme to milk them of their savings.

Undersea Cable Cut caused slow internet: 73,503 pageviews

Strong typhoons back in September caused several international under-sea cables to break causing internet traffic to the Philippines to slow down.

The Story Behind Kimstore Raid: 202,766 pageviews

Our biggest story of the year was about the biggest online gadget store being the subject of a raid by the Bureau of Customs back in February. The popular online retail store managed to return to normal operations after several months of silence.