The Philippine Online Chronicles

Amid netizens' mounting online petitions begging to discontinue plans to limit Internet usage supposedly aimed to fix slow connection woes, service providers will team up with the government next week to finalize the order that will cap broadband use for users.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), together with broadband service providers, is set to hold a public consultation on January 11 to iron out the contents of the draft memorandum order.

The draft order has reportedly undergone several revisions, and has received recommendations from both the public sector and telecommunications firms.

“The latest modification in the proposed draft provided that 'Service providers may set the maximum volume of data allowed per subscriber or user per day,” BusinessWorld quoted NTC.

According to reports, it was the telecommunication companies that suggested such usage capping to fight users bent on piracy-related activities such as movie and software downloading.

NTC implied that while such files with huge volumes are being downloaded, other users accessing service from the same broadband providers tend to experience some difficulty in accessing the net.

“There are some consumers who use [broadband services] for voluminous commercial undertakings... these types of network abuse limit accessibility to a few instead of providing adequate access for all the subscribers,” NTC reportedly said.

Firms providing broadband service also support the usage capping as a move to protect themselves from abusive users.

“We would like also to be assured that in the fair use policy, service providers will also be protected from abusive use of the service,” Bayan Telecommunications' VP for corporate brand and communications John Rojo reportedly said in a phone interview.

Service providers have already submitted their position papers before the NTC.

Draft memorandum

The draft memorandum which orders the broadband usage cap, meanwhile, also mandates broadband providers to specify the minimum broadband/Internet connection speed, service reliability, and the service rates in their advertisements, fliers, brochures, service agreements and service level agreements.

According to the draft slated last December, service reliability should be set to a minimum of 80 percent, measured over a period of one month.

It can be calculated by dividing the number of hours used in a day into the difference between hours used in a day and hours used below minimum speed in a day.

The draft further says that the usage capping, along with the setting of service reliability, are NTC's measures “to maintain and foster fair competition in the telecommunications industry,” likewise promoting the rights of broadband service users.

Broadband usage in the country

Manila Times reported that broadband subscribers shoot up last year by 102.81 percent. It grew to 3.6 million from 1.77 million in 2008.

Reports say that NTC expects broadband subscribers in the country to increase considerably in the next two to three years.

However, the rising figures represent only a fraction of all Internet subscribers in the country, according to a UK-based firm which conducts studies on broadband service providers.

Broadband subscribers in the Philippines either use the fixed broadband service (those that come in a package bundled with an outdoor receiver and modem) or the USB plug-ins. The firm says that in the country, there are more people that connect to the Internet via these plug-in devices than those who use fixed broadband.

'No to broadband usage cap'
Upon hearing the proposal, concerned Internet users in the country have flooded the web to ask NTC and the telcos to consider backing out from pushing the cap, since data needs of users spike up as time progresses.

For instance, Hiraya's blog page at myfjordz.com said that the netizens are still skeptical if the move will be beneficial to the online community since users can be deprived of Internet access if the data limit is exceeded.

“The proposal is limiting our right to information. Remember that Internet is part of a fast pacing technology. In the future, a 100 GB (monthly) cap may not even fit to our growing number of online needs,” Hiraya wrote.

Netizen Cocoy Dayao said in his blog at The ProPinoy Project that not all heavy users of the Internet, particularly those who use the broadband technology, are piracy advocates. Users can in fact download legal media from certain sites.

He said that NTC is pushing for an “archaic” act while telcos are failing to keep up in providing fast service.

Dayao and three other bloggers led an online petition clamoring for improved Internet connection speeds and junking of the broadband cap.

For The Lady Programmer, people who rely on the Internet for income like her, a webmaster who needs to upload and download huge amounts of data, will be affected should the memorandum come into effect. Even ordinary users who are active in using video sharing and social networking sites will be affected.

But the NTC reportedly allayed fears among commercial customers, saying that these high volume users “may avail of other Internet connection packages which have committed higher speeds and allow heavy data exchanges.”