MANILA – Local business groups are strongly pushing for the immediate enactment of the proposed Open Access in Internet Services Act, a landmark legislation seen to address poor and unreliable access and unaffordable Internet services that are affecting the digitalization of the Philippines.
Nineteen business groups are scheduled to sign Wednesday, July 5, the Joint Statement of Support for the proposed legislation now pending in both Houses of Congress.
“An Open Access law is critical to supporting the Marcos administration’s goal of promoting universal, seamless, and secure connectivity for Filipinos. We call on the 19th Congress to approve Open Access to make the Philippines a truly digital nation,” the draft Joint Statement of Support stated.
In its draft Joint Statement of Support, the business groups also expressed optimism that the “Senate will fast-track the approval of the bill and the President will sign this landmark legislation into law.”
The business groups said major challenges in Internet access, quality, and affordability are affecting the digitalization of the Philippines.
They cited the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT’s) National ICT Household Survey 2019, which showed that the country entered into the COVID-19 pandemic with only 47 percent of Filipinos using the Internet and 18 percent of households subscribed to an Internet connection.
According to the group, during the height of mobility restrictions, a survey by the Department of Education survey revealed that 52 percent of public schools and 83 percent of their enrollees were unable to go online. “Moving forward, the digital divide threatens to undermine our economic growth, and must be addressed for the government’s push for e-governance to truly succeed,” the groups noted in the draft joint statement.
Despite some improvement over the past two years, they noted that the country still continued to suffer from a broadband infrastructure gap, which is worse in the rural areas. Legal obstacles brought about by outdated laws restrict the building and operation of broadband networks.
These obstacles are manifested in high barriers to entry and a costly and inefficient way of installing broadband infrastructure.
As a result, they said, poor and unreliable access and unaffordable Internet services persist. The Philippines’ mobile broadband was about 40 percent slower than the median speed of its ASEAN peers, although its fixed or wired broadband is doing slightly better (Ookla, March 2023).
They also cited data from the World Data Lab, 2023, which showed that excluding Singapore, the Philippines has the second highest number of “mobile Internet poor” who find mobile data unaffordable and, inversely, the second lowest affordability score in ASEAN (Alliance for Affordable Internet, 2021).
“The Open Access bill is a curative law that will address the legal obstacles and binding constraints, which have long stifled the growth of the Philippines’ Internet industry,” the draft joint statement added.
The proposed bill has two key reforms. First, it will lower barriers and cost to market entry of Internet network operators by simplifying the registration and qualification process for providers.
Second, it will make broadband network deployment faster and more efficient by promoting infrastructure sharing and streamlining the approval process for permits to install broadband infrastructure.
On December 12, 2022, the House of Representatives approved, on Third Reading, House Bill
No. 6 or the Open Access in Data Transmission Act. Starting May 2023, the Senate Committee on Science and Technology has initiated public hearings on key digital connectivity and cybersecurity bills, including Open Access. These bills include SB No. 1383 Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri; SB No. 1611 Sen. Joel Villanueva; SB No. 864 Sen. Grace Poe; SB No. 183 Sen. Imee Marcos; and SB No. 1845 Sen. Raffy Tulfo.
In the Senate, counterpart bills on the Open Access in Data Transmission Act were filed as SB No. 815 by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian; SB No. 1213 by Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.; SB No. 1876 by Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid; and SB No. 2146 by Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada.
The draft joint statement of support was signed by heads of the 19 business organizations comprising Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Internet Society – Philippines Chapter, Fintech Alliance.PH, Philippine Cable Television Association, Inc., National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, Foundation for Media Alternatives Democracy.Net.PH, and Better Internet PH.
“We, the undersigned organizations, express our full support for the immediate enactment of the proposed Open Access in Internet Services Act. Through this Joint Statement of Support, we are optimistic that the Senate will fast-track the approval of this bill, and that the President will sign this landmark legislation into law,” the groups concluded. (MB)
