Telecoms

NTC hearings on Minimum Broadband Speeds looks promising

Abe Olandres June 7, 2015 · 2 min read

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Since November of 2014, the National Telecommunications Commission has been holding public hearings about the issue on Minimum Broadband Speeds. Recent updates about the results of the series of hearings have yielded promising results.

In a summary update by @ceso, there are a number of regulations and adjustments in the manner by which ISPs will market and service their subscribers.

Here are the more plausible outcome of the hearings:

Possible removal of the “Up to X Mbps” in the subscription plan. It will be replaced by an indicated average data rate per area.
Service downtimes will not be billed. Computation for rebates will be automatic and does not need to be reported by subscribers.
Data caps or Fair Use Policy will be limited to just 80% of maximum possible limit. Example: For a 1Mbps, the maximum limit is 128KB/s x 60 secs/minute x 60 mins/hour x 24 hours x 30 days = 331GB. Data cap shall be no less than 80% of 331GB or 265GB.
NTC will regularly conduct independent tests of internet speeds on several areas to check for consistency and reliability then report it to the public/subscribers.

Perhaps the biggest and most critical of all these will be the data caps. ISPs have started phasing out their unlimited services and replacing them with volume-based subscription.

Customers who still have their old subscription plans that indicated unlimited data will be the ones who will benefit the most (so remember to not change that plan to anything new they will offer or else the “unlimited” service will also be removed or replaced with a data volume).

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

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.

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62 Comments

Jeneric · 11 years ago

the fact that these telcos have been ordered to revise their policies indicates that there is an actual malpractice. Therefore it is not enough that they just correct wat theyre doing and they get away with it like nothing. they should be fined.. heavily… so that they learn their lesson, and hence consult first with their regulator. for reference, the US fined a telco 100 million dollars in a similar case

Ar Ar · 11 years ago

Di na ko aasang gaganda pa serbisyo ng mga telcos na yan diti sa bansa naten, walang ibang inisip kundi pera mga punyetang telcos yan, mabuti pa mga kalapit bansa naten sulit yung binabayaran nila sa internet. Dito saten may mga naghain na ng petition pero wala.

reireirei · 11 years ago

Well this is good news if this push through, but as always, things are slow to move. And by these times our Telcos have already created ways to bypass this law, welcome VOLUME BASED plans and goodbye UNLI Plans.

Justin · 11 years ago

They should make their internet speed higher at the same price, hindi naman yung 1599 for 5Mbps lang may capping pa.

I’m not comparing Philippines to Singapore pero were so behind in terms of internet, Singapore has 1 Gbps internet for $69 or 2300 php (based on SingTel plan) kung tama na SGD ang pagkakaintindi ko sa pricing.

I never wish for that kind of speed in the Philippines but at least we should have an average speed of 10 Mbps and make it reliable.

nego · 11 years ago

“Customers who still have their old subscription plans that indicated unlimited data will be the ones who will benefit the most (so remember to not change that plan to anything new they will offer or else the “unlimited” service will also be removed or replaced with a data volume.)”

My Unli LTE Plan 1500 is already gone and I think Smart replaced it with Surf Plus Plans capped at 7GB. Can I retain the plan when my subscription ends?

angelique · 11 years ago

“Service downtimes will not be billed. Computation for rebates will be automatic and does not need to be reported by subscribers.”

current rebate for downtime is a joke. If connectivity is not restored within 48 hours, since it was reported, automatic rebate on your monthly bill should be no less than 25%. One week of non-service, 50% rebate. anything more monthly bill is waived. fucking telcos!

SpiderWak · 11 years ago

useless pa rin.. 5mbps ako sa pldt pero yung mga videos naku! sobrang bagal kahit 144p. Tae talaga..

james · 11 years ago

hi sa wakas I figured out if how to bypass FUP with globe,,now i can download movies , youtube videos as much as i want,,and guess what !! ita 100% legal.you still has to spend 1200 on load. but i’m more than happymmkasi dati 3 to 4 times a day ako ng lo-load ng SUPERSURF50 ,ginagamit ko sa internet shop namin,pero kahit 4 times 800 mb = 3.2 gb is kulang pa rin,,pero gayon sawa ang mga customer namin mg nood ng youtube videos in HD 720p pa.ang pasalamat ko sa GOD,,
so if anyone wants to know more about that please feel free to contact with me on my email gh****@yahoo.com
by the way my internet speed is upto 25 mbps download with 23 mbps upload,, ung pinaka mahina is 7 mbps download at 3 mbps upload,ang sya sya di vah..

Mon · 11 years ago

As much as I hate data caps, the 80% rule sounds reasonable… 265GB cap for 1Mbps connection is fine (for me personally), that means that 3Mbps should have a data cap of 795GB and so on…

unlimited data should still be the way to go but unfortunately ISPs are hell bent on having data caps

hope this gets implemented and properly monitored by the NTC

‘mate · 11 years ago

I’m paying something like P3300 for 100/50 Mbps(down/up)here in Oz on NBN capped at 300 gigs/month. What I actually get averages around 92/36 Mbps. For 1 Tera of data a month, that’s something like P4300, around the same price PLDT is offering for residential 10Mbps which is at best shitty and peppered with RTOs. Anlaki ng diperensya, hindi dahil australian telcos are more honest here (imo, telcos are scums anywhere) kundi dahil naginvest ang gobyerno sa infrastructure through proper legislation, mahigpit sa pagpapaptupad ng advertised speeds at QoS, at demanding but well informed and involved na mga konsyumer.

Sa atin sa pinas, magandang bagay na lumalakas yung boses natin sa pagsasabing tigilan na yung pangaabuso sa mga customers ng pldt, globe, bayantel, etc pero kung hindi aayuda ang gobyerno tska yung mga congressman nating ibinoto, wala ding patutunguhan yan. Remember Gloria’s NBN plan? It got junked even though it was one of the best projects to come from government. She even got impeached for it. Malakas lobbying power ng PLDT at hanggat monopolyo nila ang imprastraktura, wala ding mangyayari. Sad but true.

corruption · 11 years ago

kaya naman na junk yong deal na yun is dahil sa may anomalya. kaya siguro dito nagalit ang China sa atin dahil nagbayad na sila kay Gloria at sa mga kampon niya na sina Benjamin Abalos tapos biglang hindi natuloy. Hindi na nila mabawi ang bilyon na naipampadulas nila.

Nette · 11 years ago

I agree on up to Xmbps. It’s like paying 2 sacks per month but the provider is only delivering until 1 sack of rice only. How about Globe’s double NAT/NAT3 or private IP broadband implementation? DDNS/port forwarding is globally accepted design schedule so that subscribers can share any dynamic public IP address with different port assignment but GLOBE would request you to pay additional PhP770 to have a static IP address.

erfgthwefdcs · 11 years ago

It doesn’t change the fact that ISPs are over rated in the Philippines.
We are still the country with the most expensive Internet rates.
Why remove the unlimited data plan when other countries are still offering it at a competitive price?

bryan_mmx · 11 years ago

Are they going to do something about Globe’s FUP? A lot of us are on UnliSurf until Globe’s implementation of FUP just outright replace our Unlisurf with some stupid version of GoSurf that none of us ever signed up for. What a loyalty program, so much for “leader in postpaid”.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 11 years ago

As mentioned in the article, FUP will be set at 80% of maximum.

bryan_mmx · 11 years ago

Yes I understand that. But my concern was they (Globe) forced changed our plan from UnliSurf to a modified version of GoSurf against our will. Now if, let’s say, the bill pushed through and is implemented, will I be able to enjoy the said benefit?

good knight · 11 years ago

Hello yugatech

Pls edit
– has been holding pubic hearings
:-)

Louie Diangson · 11 years ago

Edited. Thank you!

John Nieurzyla · 11 years ago

But Globe is already changing their rules, and over time I time I have noticed their Fair Use limits are reducing further to what we can download, also to get maximum we have to purchase extra units add-ons, like Speed boosters, these do not work except they get extra money from us.

Easy E · 11 years ago

Sana magmatigas ang NTC sa panukala nila. Madaya ang mga telco, dahil sa hindi nila kayang i accommodate ang volume ng subscribers kaya nila bino-volume-base ang plans.

eldiecancino · 11 years ago

Im BlackBerry user, dati I enjoy unlimited services but suddenly last January 2015 capped to 3GB which is illegal. May panabla ang mga telcos, di na sila nagbibigay ng hardcopy ng contrata ng subscription na anytime pwede nila i-shift sa Volume plans. Wais talaga… kahit ireklamo mo sa NTC wala ka naman patunay na unlimited ka pa nuon pa kasi wala ka mapakita na unlimited contrata mo. Bad telcos

cindy · 11 years ago

Perhaps this is how NTC is teling the Telcos to limit their greed.
I hope this is not just a case of Attack and Collect, then Defend and Collect (AC DC)

Jonathan · 11 years ago

What if they automatically change the subscription? I haf a unlimited post paid subscription then they suddenly changed me into a 3 gb a month plan.

bern · 11 years ago

I hope these matters materialize, data caps are just self-justification of telcos to charge us more rather than to improve the user’s browsing experience, after strict implementation of FUP speed has not changed yet.

Old subscribers with unlimited data get the short end of the stick when they top out their monthly cap, their browsing speed is throttled down to 15kBps as their maximum and from then on internet is unusable.

As an old subscribers with unlimited data I get lesser than I used to. I have experienced this situation many times and the only way to get by is to avail their GoSurf promo which the price would be added on top of your monthly flat rate or just wait until the end of FUP monthly cycle just to come to terms with.

miko · 11 years ago

So what’s the minimum they set?
2mbps? 3mbps? or is the minimum was about only when data capped is reached?

Jiron · 11 years ago

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130118/17425221736/cable-industry-finally-admits-that-data-caps-have-nothing-to-do-with-congestion.shtml

Jiron · 11 years ago

Yes please! Data cappping is just an excuse to charge the consumers more.

manil · 11 years ago

may disasvantage at advantage.the bad aalisin na yung unlimited service sa mga broadband users

manil · 11 years ago

mawawala na pala ang unlimited service papalitan ang volume data plan sa mga new subscriber..

abe · 11 years ago

Nice, sana lang magkatotoo. At makonsensya si Manny Pangilinan.

mvp_matakaw · 11 years ago

Hindi naman maka Pilipino yan. Hahanap lang yan ng ibang paraan kung paano niya sisipsipin ulit ang dugo ng mga subscriber. Ginawa na niya yan sa Smart sa pamamagitan ng pag partner sa mga Content Providers na siyang nagpapadala ng mga text messages na umuubos ng mga load ng mga kawawa at walang kamalay-malay na mga subscribers. Ito namang mga Content Providers na ito, isa pa ring mga ganid sa salapi. Hindi na nakonsiyensiya. Karamihan sa mga naka prepaid ay mga walang pambayad sa mga nagmamahalang plan, nanakawan pa.