Introduction, Present Issues
The Philippines ranks 16th worldwide in terms of number of Internet users, with nearly 40 million out of a population of nearly 100 million. Many Filipinos use social media heavily. However, the Internet in the Philippines is in bad shape, being very expensive and slow. The are 9 main providers, PLDT and Globe Telecom being the largest. Complaints about the service quality and internet speed are numerous when it comes to the PLDT and Globe which are the only choice for many not in Metro Manila or nearby.
A recent article in Joe America inspired me to research more on the possible causes of this situation and look for solutions. I would like to thank the members of Joe America’s Society of Honor for assisting me with numerous hints and taking part in a practical check of the Philippine Internet from various locations using the tracert command.
Internet Exchanges, Peering
One major issue is that PLDT and Globe are not directly connected via an Internet Exchange Point in the Philippines. The following links explain more:
- http://telcotroll.com/fact-sheet-the-globe-pldt-ntc-dost-ip-peering-issue/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/2aurzq/how_pldt_deliberately_keeps_local_internet
To put it in a simplified way, Philippine Internet traffic that has to go between PLDT and Globe or the other way around goes abroad first, resulting in inefficiencies for the 20% of traffic that is local. The correct way usually followed by internet service providers worldwide is to have a peering agreement which governs how different providers bill each other for the traffic they exchange. There are three possibilities (Source: Wikipedia) :
- Transit (or pay) – The network operator pays money (or settlement) to another network for Internet access (or transit).
- Peer (or swap) – Two networks exchange traffic between their users freely, and for mutual benefit.
- Customer (or sell) – A network pays another network money to be provided with Internet access.
Contributors at Joe America were able to show how Internet traffic is routed to and from the Philippines. The results can be summarized as follows:
- Reaching PLDT is only easy from within PLDT. From outside the Philippines and from other providers, it goes a complex way and seems slow.
- Reaching DOST from abroad is easier because they are connected via Hurricane Electric, a global backbone provider and have their own promising research network.
- Traces from PLDT to DOST did not confirm that there is peering between the two, inspite of PLDT recently connecting to PHOpenIX which is run by DOST ASTI.
In addition to this, all Philippine Internet Exchanges are located in Metro Manila. Meaning that nearly all Philippine Internet traffic from the provinces must probably pass through a bottleneck, even if the recent opening of an IX in Cebu will most certainly make routing more efficient, at least some traffic within the Visayas and Mindanao would not have to go to Manila first and back, freeing up much needed network capacity. Globe Telecom has been calling for peering with PLDT, but it seems the two giants are not able to reach an agreement.
Submarine cables
Nearly all international submarine cables leave the Philippines from near Manila or at least from Luzon, notable exceptions being Davao and Parang in Mindanao, with another major internation cable passing by Davao under construction. The intra-Philippine submarine cable network looks pretty good, although there is no data available about capacities.
However, the available information suggests once again a bottleneck for international traffic – which comprises 80% of Philippine internet usage – in the area around Manila. Not on EDSA this time, but probably on the way to a submarine cable in Batangas or La Union?
No excuses please
Even if one considers that the number of users and the use of the Internet has probably increased a lot in the past few years in the Philippines and providers probably are doing what they can to catch up with it, they are according to some Internet commenters overpromising and overselling – which is dangerous. And finally, even the profit motive does not excuse them – after all, American robber barons in the 19th century made money but delivered by producing steel, building railways from coast to coast and more.
In Russia wide transcontinental expanses were connected by Rostelecom and as of 2007 all schools are online. In Romania the Internet is faster than in the United States, partly due to small enterpreneurs who built local neighborhood networks and connected them with one another and later with Romtelecom. These are ex-Communist countries that once were far behind.
Progress, possible solutions
More competition could be helpful. Telstra is planning to move in partnering with San Miguel, which could help against the de-facto duopoly that PLDT and Globe presently are. Converge ICT which is mainly located in and around Metro Manila has received positive reviews, meaning that there already is competition in the Metro Manila area and surroundings.
More Internet Exchanges would ease intra-Philippine traffic and open up capacities badly needed for international traffic. An IX in Davao could help in conjunction with the submarine cables already leaving from there and being built to have another conduit for international Internet traffic, easing the bottleneck in Manila that I consider very probable given the indications.
Additional undersea cables not only from Luzon towards international destinations should in my opinion also be built – to increase capacity towards the provinces that are growing quickly economically and will probably be contributing to growing internet traffic.
Expand government network. DOST has a network connected to most of UP, DOST, MMDA, PSHS Diliman, Pagasa, DFA and Ateneo de Manila University, among others. This could be the basis of a government network that connects to schools and to government offices nationwide. Via peering agreements, the network capacity thus built could be billed to others, helping pay for the investment.
Separate network and retail parts. This is done in New Zealand for example. The network could be run by the state or by a state-regulated company while the providers compete in connecting to end consumers. In such a scenario, even Romanian-style neighborhood networks could be possible local players to take care of the last mile. Before doing this, forcing big players to peer, even to provide capacity at fixed rates to other players should be tried so that there is a real intra-Philippine internet backbone for all.
Fast Internet access is a competitive advantage and can help improve governance as well as internal communication and learning, especially for a country that is separated into so many islands. Short-term profits of some should not stand in the way of long-term progress for the majority of people.
Irineo B. R. Salazar, 1. October 2015, Munich
P.S. Thank you JoeAm for the reblog!