Satellite Internet on the Island costs Php9k

One of my biggest problems when going on vacation in one of the smaller islands in Palawan is lack of internet connectivity. The one we’re staying right now (Coral Bay, Coron) doesn’t even have electricity 24/7 and we’re only able to charge our gadgets in the evening (6pm to 6am).

The most common combo around here is a gas-powered electric generator and satellite internet.

And it’s an effective combo and a really expensive one. The satellite internet alone costs no less than Php9,000USD 153INR 13,001EUR 146CNY 1,117 per month for an entry-level plan. The owner of the resort forgot what was the promised speed but I can tell you it’s no better than a dial-up connection.

It’s so slow I can hardly load Speedtest.net properly.

So okay, I finally got one test out.

But in remote areas like Coron, Palawan where Globe doesn’t even have a decent signal (you’d be glad to see 1 bar but 90% of the time there’s no signal) and Smart can barely sustain GPRS for mobile internet, you don’t have any choice but to go satellite.

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.

https://www.yugatech.com

32 Comments

Rico says:

13 years ago

Anakputa ang bagal. Baby kupal satellite.
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Pusang Kulog says:

13 years ago

If there’s a 1 bar signal, a Repeater and a signal booster will most likely help and speed up the connection… Most probably, it would be better than a 0.08Mb download speed.
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Jonathan says:

13 years ago

On the up side you can really enjoy nature, old school enjoyment at its finest!
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dan says:

13 years ago

^yup that’s the whole idea which is to enjoy nature, tech savy people and remote paradise island doesn’t mix. TF i don’t want to go to the tip of davao oriental just to post a comment or tweet something
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vince says:

13 years ago

for emergencies ther’s always the cantenna or a wok-fi style reflector for increasing the cellphone signals, if you have a neighboring island with a cellsite thats above the horizon
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techjunkeez says:

13 years ago

anyway, palawan is a place where you can forget for a while everything about technology. enjoy being there and don’t stressed yourself too much with the not-so-close-to-dial-up internet speed :P
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manaka_junpei says:

13 years ago

balikan natin ang nakaraang dekada kung ang internet connection noon 56kbps until lumaki pa ang bandwidth, pero ang Satellite Internet noong nakaraang dekada ay 256kbps Download speed, malamang yung 0.08 DL speed is equivalent to 768kbps or less maybe dial-up speed na mga 14.4kbps na parang noong BBSing days pa yan.
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carloxy says:

13 years ago

went to palawan 2 months ago, but in elnido not coron, the internet there is fast, not super fast but enough to watch youtube while doing some browsing. the most relaxing thing i did there is to lay by the beach, watch the sunset while browsing my laptop( cause the our cottage is so close to the beach ). Good thing we went to elnido instead of coron hehe
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Berto Putik says:

13 years ago

Parang ganyan sa province nmn..pro mas malala pa ang oras ng kuryente. from 6pm to 11pm.

Pero sa totoo lang..pag andun ako.di ko na ginagalaw ang netbook at cp(kahit may signal pa) kc uumuuwi ako ng province para mag relax at lumayo muna sa magulong buhay sa syudad pansamantala.
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mattscradle says:

13 years ago

buti pa nga dyan meron kahit .08mbps dito sa tondo ganun din hindi ko ma load ang speedtest.net dahil sa bagal ng internet ng globe.
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Dan_md says:

13 years ago

Anak ng tipaklong, ang bagal nga ng satellite connection na yan. Siguro sa Sputnik 1 pa yan naka-connect.
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SpiderHam says:

13 years ago

I think this is the place you can enjoy the freedom from the grasp of technology. The only problem is you need internet for your work. You will really need to pay a large amount to have one.
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eason says:

13 years ago

Very true :(

Hope Globe & Smart wakes up now so tourists can go to Palawan more.
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jayman says:

13 years ago

this totally defeats the idea of vacation sir abe hehehe…
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Les says:

13 years ago

that thing is not properly configured, that is not the speed of a satellite internet
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Globe says:

13 years ago

lol ang bagal nga
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garz says:

13 years ago

Come on, you’re on a vacation! Stay away from the internet for a while and enjoy the place.
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w3icehands says:

13 years ago

sun doesn’t even exist in Coron hahaha. we were glad though.
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jonaflormicfren says:

13 years ago

This is much better than nothing. We’re used to have faster speed so that is why we hardly accept this situation.
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kapitan says:

13 years ago

yaiks… kabagal.
well, at least makakapagcheck k ng stats and email mo sa net dba? no one intends naman na magbabad sa net kpag nasa mga ganito kang lugar..
yay, sarap, kainggit si sir yuga ^_^
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jhepoyski says:

13 years ago

well i guess kung nandyan ka sa ganyang island you should forget about internet and stuff. kasi andyan ka for relaxation and break from the usual city stuff. hehhehe, kung ganyan naman kaganda ang lugar malilimutan mo na mag internet niyan. :D
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scout says:

13 years ago

namumukhaan ko yata yang satellite na yan ah! Hahaha…
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Pinoy Android News says:

13 years ago

I strongly agree to Yugatech that carriers in the Philippines should invest base stations to tourist spots for tourism sake!
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Pinoy Android News says:

13 years ago

yes! the carriers of this country should invest on tourist spots by providing base station to remote places for tourism sake.
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Paulpacs says:

13 years ago

This post and THE PICTURES, WOW, got me smiling, HEY you’re supposed to be on vacation, forget the phone, or the internet, just charge your camera and enjoy your vacation.
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Alicea @ Filipinas says:

13 years ago

this is nice Information wanna try have a vacation in Palawan and bring to me my Laptop, wow I can browse While I’m in the beach :D
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Alicea @ Filipinas says:

13 years ago

this is nice Information wanna try have a vacation in Palawan and bring to me my Laptop, wow I can browse While I’m in the beach :D
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marites valdez says:

11 years ago

Need to inquire for the internet satellite for the resort.thank you.need it as soon as possible
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