In the last several weeks, there has been a lot of noise and positive online sentiment with Telstra’s intention to enter the Philippine mobile internet market as challenger to the duopoly of Smart and Globe.
The plan to launch in the Philippines sometime in 2016 is not yet firm but talks with San Miguel Corporation as the local partner in the joint venture has been ongoing as early as August. However, top brass of Telstra has been quoted that the Australian giant is willing to shell out as much as $1PHP 59INR 85EUR 0.95CNY 7 billion to represent its 40% investment in the joint venture (by law, foreign corporations are only allowed a maximum of 40% ownership in select industries such as telecoms).
The overflowing excitement and support for Telstra is expected as many internet subscribers in the Philippines are dissatisfied with the current level of service and support they are getting from existing providers.
However, very little detail is available as to how Telstra is going to penetrate and compete against the two dominant players. Our best guess is that their service will most likely be thru a wireless network using existing LTE technology. This is the fastest and more cost-effective way to roll-out a national broadband network in the country, considering the archipelagic nature of the Philippines.
We then also consider the track record of San Miguel which funded the establishment of Wi-Tribe back in 2007 in partnership with Q-Tel. That venture was did not quite pan out and they’ve been under rehabilitation for some time now.
Our hope is that Telstra’s venture with San Miguel Corporation will learn from the challenges of Wi-Tribe and the deficiencies of WiMax technology.
Do not expect this new ISP to offer wired broadband connection or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) in the Philippines. The infrastructure and roll-out for that takes much longer and costlier. Do not expect gigabit-level speeds as well. Let us moderate our expectations.
Telstra or even San Miguel for that matter does not have a stand-alone infrastructure in the country. If they were quietly building one, we would have heard about it and it would have been started many years ago.
The San Miguel – Ooredoo joint venture on Liberty Telecoms will continue to operate Wi-Tribe after it exits rehabilitation. That could mean the home broadband services will continue to be offered via Wi-Tribe’s WiMax technology.
What Telstra brings to the table with the joint venture with San Miguel is the international gateway (submarine cables). One of which is the EAC-C2C (Pacnet, acquired by Telstra in April 2015) which lands in Cavite and Batangas, that goes all the way from Singapore up to Japan. It also co-owns APCN-2 with Singtel, Verizon, AT&T and many others which has a landing base in Batangas.
The fibre optic subsea cable network spans 36,800 km between Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore and China. It has a design capacity of 17.92 Tbit/s to 30.72 Tbit/s to each of these landing countries. The EAC-C2C network lands at 18 cable landing stations across Asia.
That way Telstra/San Miguel will not have to buy or lease international bandwidth from PLDT.
What San Miguel is bringing to the table is its experience (with Wi-Tribe) and of course, the 60% equivalent investment of the joint venture.
The second challenge is to build the domestic network all the way from as far as Vigan down to Naga and then connect that Batangas landing base to Palawan, Panay, Negros and Cebu and still move further down in Cagayan de Oro to Davao and Zamboanga.
That’s a pretty long fiber network. One of the longest domestic network we know of was rolled out by PLDT is the DFON (PLDT Domestic Fiber Optic Network) which spans 11,100km from Batangas to Mindoro, then Roxas to Masbate and back to Legazpi. The other is from Negros to Cebu and Leyte then down to Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and Ozamis that goes back up to Dumaguete.
Our best bet is nomadic data services and fixed wireless connection just like SmartBro or PLDT Ultera. San Miguel already owns Bell Telecommunications which applied as a mobile network operator (MNO) for January 2016. It’s possible Telstra’s investment will be poured into BellTel.
Bandwidth for wireless connectivity is very limited so it is easily congested. It is also prone to more external factors or interferences. We’ve already experienced really fast LTE speeds up to 42Mbps during its first few months back then but those speeds are almost non-existent nowadays.
Perhaps, if Telstra and San Miguel put up better infrastructure and wider coverage at cheaper fees and much higher bandwidth allocations it will surely eat up a sizable share of the market right away.
Looking at Telstra’s mobile data plans in Australia, one can only hope that their $AUD25 (Php835USD 14INR 1,206EUR 14CNY 104) a month plan for 1GB or $AUD105 (Php3,500USD 60INR 5,056EUR 57CNY 434) for 15GB data allocation will not be replicated in the Philippines. Telstra would probably price it better than that to be competitive once they launch here.
Otherwise, all these positive sentiment will only be dampened by disappointment and frustration that many Filipino internet users have been experiencing for a long time.
There is huge expectations for a yet-to-be established carrier. It could all backfire once these alleged super fast, super cheap, un-capped and unlimited data services become available to consumers.
It’s unfair for Telstra to take on this big burden — something that they did not even promise in the first place. Otherwise, they will end up being labeled as another incompetent or greedy corporation.
In any case, we welcome competition. It is good for the market and good for consumers. We remain positive and hopeful that we will really get the service we deserve, whether it’s from existing local players or new ones.
The bottom line:
* The Telstra – San Miguel joint venture is still under negotiations so a 2016 launch is still unlikely.
* The partnership is more about San Miguel which will own 60% rather than Telstra that will only own 40%.
* The joint venture will mostly be mobile data services (LTE) and not ADSL, Fiber or even cable.
* The 4th mobile network operator (MNO) could be BellTel to compete with Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular.
* Any new competitor will likely bring prices down which is always good for customers
YugaTech.com is the largest and longest-running technology site in the Philippines. Originally established in October 2002, the site was transformed into a full-fledged technology platform in 2005.
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Balau says:
“Looking at Telstra’s mobile data plans in Australia, one can only hope that their $AUD25 (Php835) a month plan for 1GB or $AUD105 (Php3,500) for 15GB data allocation will not replicated in the Philippines. Telstra would probably price it better than that to be competitive once they launch here.”
don’t compare Telstra from AUS to PH for a single reason Telstra doesn’t hold monopoly here in PH compare to AUS, San Miguel/Telstra price on their internet/mobile plan will vary depending on their competition (SMART/PLDT and GLOBE/BAYANTEL etc . . .) but hey i might be wrong, but the good thing is if there are 3 big company fighting for the best product they can give then the consumer win, compare to the duopoly which 2 companies just doing move and counter-move to each other, I’m not pro-Telstra here but I’m just positive of Good impact to the consumer here in PH
at kung hindi ako nagkakamali 1 Billion $ din ata nagastos ng PLDT sa paglatag ng Fiber optic cable nila dito sa pinas
Jansnipa 123 says:
langya…need to bypass with dummies yang 60-40 rule na yan.. I’m pretty sure most companies do this…
carlshark says:
“Telstra or even San Miguel for that matter does not have a stand-along infrastructure in the country.”
Baka standalone po.
carlshark says:
“The second challenge is to build the domestic network all the way from as far as Vigan down to Naga and then connect that Batangas landing base to Palawan, Panal, Negro and Cebu and still move further down in Cagayan de Oro to Davao and Zamboanga.”
Baka Panay, Negros, tapos move further down to Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Zamboanga po.
carlshark says:
“Perhaps, if Telstra and San Miguel puts up a better infrastructure, coverage and of course, at cheaper fees and much higher bandwidth allocations.”
Parang kulang po.
If Telstra and San Miguel puts up better infrastructure leading to wider coverage, at cheaper fees for bigger bandwidth, the new player is poised to take a greater chunk of market share from the established players.
Suggestions lang po. Happy All Saints’ Day.
coldpluto says:
Yugatech is up to its usual negative publicity extortion scheme to make companies give up money or provide partnerships.
Jim Miata says:
at least its a new competitor that will compete, could mean better prices
Cat Trivinpokita says:
Obvious na naman na binayaran ni Globe si Yuga kasi takot sa Telstra!
Xchapper says:
yugatech is paid by globe or either smart. pretty sure.
Willsee says:
Just what i have thought. telstra’s entry in the ph market is welcoming. But given that smart and globe already have extensive networks / infra in the country, I’d say that I’ll still stick with either of the two. It’s like that offer from sun cellular: good phone, better unlimited offerings and better freebies but their signal is non-existent (even after merging with the PLDT group).
Mayb I can wait around for 2 years and see what will happen then. For now, I’ll just enjoy my Php 1500 per month unlimited internet from Globe. :D
Jocel says:
Yan ang kalaban at dapat pagtuunan ng pansin: ang pag build ng structures. Malabo yan na 2016 or even 2017 siguro if ngayon wala pa nangyayari. Excited much and mga Pinoy
Joestar555 says:
sana Optus na lang…hehehe, pero ayos din Telstra….nakakamiss tuloy yung Net sa Australia…
Pedru says:
Optus is wholly own by Singtel lng nmn. Eh part n din sila ng Globe e.
oliver mia says:
Telstra, in terms of market capture and customer satisfaction, used to be the PLDT of Australia. Telstra is protected from competition until AU started economic liberalization. AU’s telco sector now enjoys Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and other small players.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, local oligarchs enjoys protection from foreign competition. A new foreign player is coming to the telco sector but unfortunately, like the other foreigns (QTEL-smc, SINGTEL-globe, NTT DOCOMO-pldt) that came before here, the new foreign player has to have a local partner – another oligarch.
Summer says:
I don’t like this post.
Summer says:
This post is a much more disappointment than the title says against Telstra. We are trying to find good value for money to live a better life yet we get to see this kind of negative post. Like come on, we are in a third-world country give us some hope!!!
PJ says:
It’s true. It will take time for SMC-Telstra to lay down cabled/wired connections to every household and establishment. I do hope that they do offer wired connections to homes. We switched from PLDT MyDSL to Fibr but difference is negligible.
GPVCayetano says:
Hello, Fiber optic cables was already laid down…. and it was owned by SMC done by a transmission company. Telstra won its partnership kaya not everything on this blog is true. :) Telstra will be launching its high speed internet soon :) – NO TELCO WILL PUT UP INSTANTLY OR ANNOUNCE ITSELF IF THE HIGHWAY IS NOT YET READY :)
BIKTIMA KAMI LAHAT NG SUN CELLULAR says:
SUN VICTIMS 52
WOW NAMAN…
HIYANG HIYA NAMAN KAMI SA PLDT/SMART/SUN…
NOW THAT THE FUTURE OF THEIR BUSINESSES ARE ALREADY THREATENED WITH THE PH ENTRY OF TELSTRA AY “MAGAAYOS NA DAW SILA NG SERBISYO NILA”
REALLY ???… HAVE YOU ALREADY RUN OUT OF LIES, SCAMS, GIMMICKS & CELEBRITY ENDORSERS ???
WOW ANG PA-PLASTIC NAMAN NILA !!!
KAPAG PERA NA TALAGA ANG NAKATAYA TAKOT NA TAKOT NA SILA !!!
WALANG KA KUPAS KUPAS ANG PAGKA-GAHAMAN NILA SA PERA!!!
NOW THEY ARE SUCCUMBING TO THEIR OWN SELFISH GREED !!!
THEIR LYING, CHEATING, STEALING & SCAMMING HAS TOTALLY BACKFIRED. THEY ARE NOW EXTREMELY HORRIFIED & HAUNTED BY THE GHOSTS THAT THEY CREATED THEMSELVES.
TO ALL THE READERS: WITH THE SUPER HIGH RATE OF VIEWS TO THIS ARTICLE, THE AWARENESS, THE PREFERENCE & THE CONVICTION TO END THEIR CURRENT SUBSCRIPTIONS & SWITCH TO TELSTRA HAS SOARED TO GREAT HEIGHTS !!!
PLDT / SMART / SUN ONLY KNOW THIS SITUATION TOO WELL & THEY ARE NOW TOO AFRAID !!!
DEFINITELY, THEY KNOW QUITE WELL THE TEMPERAMENT OF THE FILIPINOS THAT WHEN PUSHED TO THE LIMIT WE ARE CAPABLE OF UNITING AGAINST THE SOURCE OF PAIN & DISCONTENT, AS IN THE EDSA REVOLUTION… DI BA?
THEY ARE ALL NOT SO ACCUSTOMED TO THIS KIND OF THREAT TO THEIR BUSINESSES.
THIS THREAT DEFINITELY MAKES THEM ALL WEARY !!!
EVERYONE, LET ALL OUR VOICES BE HEARD & WELCOME TELSTRA WITH OPEN ARMS… :-)
cris says:
well.. for one we know that yugatech is sometimes a little biased ( can’t remember the details but all fans know that this happens ).. we know that there’s no deal yet and all intelligent readers / followers all know that we can’t expect BIG things to happen here in PH, maybe later.. what I mean here is to let the positive vibes flow until telstra announces something, don’t make your readers feel that a new player won’t do any good.. alam naman namin na concern ka din sa aming mga subs..
but at one point, you still maybe right, I’m no powerful person to judge..
BGF says:
FILIPINOS! ALL OF YOU DONT BELIEVE THIS NEGATIVITY! LET US ALL EXPECT GOD LIKE SPEEDS FROM SMC/TELSTRA! THEY ARE THE FUTURE!!!! REJOICE FOR UNCAPPED, SUPER FAST and SPECIALLY MAGICALLY CHEAP INTERNET ACCESS WHOOOO GO FILIPINOS!
waitingforgold says:
the day that 17.92 Tbit for every Pinoy subscriber will eventually happen, so says Nostradamus.
Jun says:
May ongoing testing na ata ang Telstra. This is according to an officemate who received a sim card from a friend.
Baka gugulatin na lang tayo.
Telstra coming in is still good news however you look at it.
Kabayan says:
“Under promise but over deliver!” if they can do that, that will be a huge advantage for Telstra-SMC, but the fact that a lot of people are raving about this JV even though its not a done deal, Globe and Smart/PLDT may already have plans to counter this.
yugsyugs says:
Guys kindly read 4GX NETWORK NOT LTE and TELSTRA AIR on Telstra website mukhanh yun ang ggwin nla dto sa pinas
Internet-God says:
Things to consider..
How do you qualify a “fast internet?”
What are the contents commonly accessed by Filipinos? Are these contents localized?
17Tbps submarine cable going to where? Can we categorically say that this will lead to fast Internet? Is this solely dedicated to SMC/Telstra? or part of the existing unreliable EAC/PACNET submarine cable?
How about access network? Is this optimized to cater the promised 1G bw per user?
I really don’t give a %$#@ about Telstra/SMC’s press release, but in my opinion, it will take them 4-5 years before they can compete with the 2 giants..
Juan de la Cruz says:
This was early 2004, Our President ordered a faster internet service government own facility nationwide that includes connection of every Municipality and City to our DILG. ZTE China offered us better deals and lowest bid payable in 25 years. It was a government to government deal so no middle man no corruption… But our good son of the speaker of the house Joey paid by the oligarch of this country to counter… Minimum MBPS was at that time was 4, with national independent structure…. Imagine what PLDT, Globe, Smart would go and how far.
BIKTIMA KAMI LAHAT NG SUN CELLULAR says:
FOR US SUBSCRIBERS, FOR THE LONGEST TIME, WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN DECEIVED, LIED TO, CHEATED, SCAMMED & ROBBED BY PLDT / SMART & SUN.
AND TO MANY MORE, WE HAVE HELPLESSLY DEALT WITH THIS SITUATION WITHOUT ANY HOPE NOR RECOURSE.
NOW IT’S ABOUT TIME THAT WE TAKE THE LEAD TO CREATE & TO ALLOW THE MUCH NEEDED CHANGE TO HAPPEN.
THIS WILL ONLY BE POSSIBLE IF WE ALL UNITE WITH OUR ARMS CLINCHED & SHOUT WITH ONE VOICE TO DEFEAT THE TYRANNY BESETTING THE LOCAL INTERNET SERVICE SCENE.
WITH OPEN ARMS & AN OPEN MIND LET US ALL WELCOME TELSTRA TO THE PH.
IT WILL DEFINITELY BE COSTLY & TEDIOUS FOR TELSTRA TO SETUP SHOP IN THE PH, SO LET US ALL HELP, STAY POSITIVE & DO OUR SHARE TO MAKE THIS A REALITY FOR EVERYONE.
Marricar says:
ang bilis lang talaga mag-reklamo kasi ng mga tao, kaya ang bilis din naman nilang ma-uto. kahit ba pagdating ng telstra dito e, kung hindi pa rin papayag ang PLDT sa ip peering, malamang masasakal pa din ang “fast” internet na dala ng telstra, so ganon din. plus, malaki ang babayaran ng Telstra para lang magnegosyo dito since foreign business sila, so para magcover ng costs, syempre mahal din lalabas ang mga “promo” nila. ang bilis ng mga taong mag “BYE GLOBE! BYE SMART!” nang hindi naman nala iniintindi kung paano talaga papasok ang Telstra, akala nila basta-basta na lang bibilis ang internet dahil lang sinabi ng Telstra. Hindi po genie ang mga telco! Hindi dahil minura niyo ang mga telco at sinabi niyong lilipat kayo ay basta-basta na lang mangyayari ang gusto niyo!
willy says:
Sun Cellular entered late the in cellular phone business and they got the residue frequency since Globe and Smart ate most of it … hence weak signal from Sun forcing them to install probably 10x cell sites just to compensate for their weak frequency or signal … can you check if there’s frequency left for Telstra ???
Telstra will be gobbled up by the government in form of numerous taxes forcing them to pass it to their customers …
PLDT and Globe will probably not allow Telstra to peer with them hence still slow connectivity …
Telstra will have to deal with smart and wise pinoy hackers that will hack their equipment to enjoy unlimited internet at low cost or no cost at all just like what happened to Smart’s LTE which has been deactivated because of this incident, and Globe who, ever since has the poorest security in protecting it’s 2G, 3G or even the scarce 4G network.
Telstra will have to deal with their own wise employees and agents who will make money on the sides using their network, equipment and assets …
Telstra will have to deal with revolutionary taxes for the NPA, Rebels, what have you since they will be venturing into wireless requiring towers, cell sites in the remote far flung areas …
San Miguel is not a Telco company hence reason for failures with Wi-Tribe and Bell-Tell .. Telstra will not have his way since it will only hold 40% …
BIKTIMA KAMI LAHAT NG SUN CELLULAR says:
SA
PLDT / SMART / SUN :
“LAGLAG SIGNAL” AT
“TANIM SAMA NG LOOB”
PARA SA MGA SUBSCRIBERS !!!
HIYANG-HIYA NAMAN KAMI SA INYO !!!
J despi says:
Eto ang katotohanan sa kinababaliwan niyong #Telstra! Ano talagang pinaglalaban niyo? Local telcos pa rin ang mangunguna!
Henry c says:
Sa mga excited para sa #Telstra, sorry na lang! Eto ang talagang hinihintay niyo, haha! Hindi porket dayuhan magaling na!
Kate Pedro says:
Ang bilis kasing maniwala ng mga tao! Bakit hindi kayo mag-research muna, di ba?
K Merc says:
Sigurado ba tayo na talagang mas maganda ang magiging mga offer ni Telstra? Porke’t foreigner mabilis maniwala na mas-okay sila? Hay nako, basta ako, matagal nang happy sa telco ko, kahit ba pagpasok ng Telstra, hindi ko kelangan lumipat.
josh chui says:
Bakit ako susubscribe sa Telstra kung mga importanteng tao sa buhay ko matagal nang naka-Globe? Dito na ako, inaalagaan naman kami e.
L Franc says:
Pag lumabas ang mga promo at offer nila at lalabas na mas mahal pa nga ang bigay ng Telstra, kayo din ang magsisisi kasi umasa kayo, haha! Dito na ako sa kilala ko, loyal sila sa akin kaya loyal din ako sa kanila.
pat e says:
ano ba meron ang telstra na wala ang globe? Ano ang magbabago pagdating nila? Asan ang pruweba? May napatunayan na ba?
janelle s says:
Sige maglipatan lahat sa Telstra, kausap mo sarili mo mag isa! Hahaha lahat ng kamag anak ko Globe. Why settle sa hindi sigursado at hindi pa subok?
DDumpit says:
Aysus malamang year 2020 pa yan makakapasok sa Pinas! Asa naman kayo noh. Hindi ganon kadali makapasok dto lalo may mga established networks na.
Lijah Magaspar says:
Sure ba tayo na magiging maganda ang serbisyo ng telstra nayan!! baka puro salita lang
Maykee Cruz says:
Watch nyo mga links kung ano talaga talaga ang TELSTRA nayan guyss! haha
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7qGXo2VEY
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhTBeyZy_Dk
Lijah Magaspar says:
Ipakita nyo muna ang hangarin nyo dito sa bansa TELSTRAA!! lageng nauuna ang salita!!
Lijah Magaspar says:
Baka maging Wi-Tribe lang yang TELSTRA nayan!!
Arnel Pangy Dela Cruz says:
Andaming kunwari hindi excited sa comments pero deep inside, naiihi na sa kilig, para kung sakaling disappointing nga ang telstra, kunwari hindi sila umasa. Sino ba naman ang internet user na hindi aasang maganda sana ang telstra sa kabila ng mga pang gagago ng mga isp natin?
Geo says:
Bottom line is… WALANG PERFECT NA ISP… May kanya kanyang problema.. May iba happy sa GLOBE, SMART, PLDT, SKY, BAYAN. Let them be. We are living in a democratic country, Walang dapat pag away awayan.. Kung san tayo masaya eh di doon tayo… Peace!
jeff says:
nakita nyo na po ba eto? http://www.techronnati.com/forums/network-systems/ related yung sinasabi nila about telstra
Oniitan says:
These statements though..
“Telstra or even San Miguel for that matter does not have a stand-alone infrastructure in the country. If they were quietly building one, we would have heard about it and it would have been started many years ago.”
I’ve read a few articles saying that SMC has been putting up towers since last year (or was it 2014, can’t exactly remember).
“Bandwidth for wireless connectivity is very limited so it is easily congested. It is also prone to more external factors or interferences.”
And that’s why there’s the controversial ‘700mhz’ band because those problems can be overcome and it’s cheaper to deploy and has wider coverage.
“It’s unfair for Telstra to take on this big burden — something that they did not even promise in the first place. Otherwise, they will end up being labeled as another incompetent or greedy corporation.”
It’s not really a burden if the CEO already implied that the current service in the country is lousy by incumbent operators. They see an opportunity wherein given the right spectrum for LTE coverage (which SMC has) they’ll be able to provide better overall services. Though it would be quite stupid if they can’t get any upperhand with the current bandwidth allocations that both the ‘incumbent operators’ currently (and unsatisfactorily) offer.
Well, this is a bit of a cliche question but how much did PLDT pay Yugatech/Writer for this article?