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Philstar.com
January 29, 2026 | 2:00pm
MANILA, Philippines — A senator has voiced support for the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)’s Oplan Bantay Signal initiative but stressed that the pursuit of seamless internet service must prioritize accessibility especially in the countryside areas not just city centers, and reliability rather than focusing solely on achieving higher speed-test results.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo said that while speed is an important component of the initiative, the DICT must give equal weight to the public’s paramount concern for consistent, reliable and widely accessible connectivity.
He explained that although internet speed is often treated as the primary indicator of service quality, robust digital infrastructure and a strong, interoperable infostructure are equally critical, as these ensure the capacity to deliver stable and dependable connections when users need them most.
Infrastructure, Tulfo clarified, refers to the physical digital assets — such as power lines, cell towers and fiber cables — while infostructure represents the information layer, including data, software, platforms and systems that enable those physical assets to function effectively.
The senator emphasized that the quality of online services — measured through accessibility, reliability, and sustainability among broadband providers and operators — goes beyond speed alone and is key to delivering efficient internet connectivity for Filipinos.
He further noted that while the telco industry has been conscious about delivering lower costs of internet services in the Philippines, still cost of internet services must be carefully examined, underscoring that every Filipino should be able to afford internet services at this time when internet is essentially a basic human right.
Tulfo expressed support in reviewing how cost of internet services can be reduced through subsidies in power costs. It is widely known that the Philippines is among the highest in power costs across its Asian neighbors which impacts data centers, internet services and other industries.
Data from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) show that average household spending on home internet connections accounts for about 13% of the monthly income of poor families and up to 7 percent of the monthly income of low-income households.
The senator also highlighted accessibility as another crucial factor in assessing internet service quality nationwide.
PIDS reported that the absence of broadband infrastructure and services is most pronounced in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 41%. In the Cordillera, mountainous last-mile constraints contribute to a high number of areas without any Internet Service Provider (ISP), while Region IV-B faces challenges due to its archipelagic geography, resulting in zero “complete presence” of internet services. Limited Wi-Fi access is also evident in far-flung rural interiors across regions.
In an earlier statement, Stratbase Deputy Managing Director Orlando Oxales echoed similar concerns, emphasizing that service quality should focus on reliability and sustainability, not merely speed-test figures.
“A connection can be ‘fast’ but still feel terrible if it’s unstable, keeps buffering, or falters in crowded places. Users care less about peak speed and more about steady performance when everyone is online,” Oxales said.
He added that strict quality regulations heavily centered on speed targets have shown little evidence of improving real-world internet performance across the Philippines.
Oxales stressed that resilient networks, backup power systems, improved capacity planning, and transparent communication during outages are just as important as advertised speed claims.
The think tank executive said the overarching goal should be to protect consumers by ensuring reliable internet service, noting that broadband speed is only one part of the overall service experience.
He further called for a realistic approach to digital infrastructure investments, warning that when “policy piles on costly compliance while deployment hurdles remain, the public pays twice — through poorer service today and slower improvements tomorrow.”
For context, South Korea’s highly urbanized network includes roughly 1.5 million cell sites, combining macro and small cells, while the Philippines had an estimated 152,213 combined macro and small cell sites as of 2021.
Despite infrastructure gaps, Filipinos ranked third globally among the world’s heaviest internet users, spending an average of eight hours and 52 minutes online per day. Within ASEAN, average mobile data use per connection stood at 12 GB per month in 2023 and is projected to increase to 44 GB by 2030. (Contributed story)
