Internet and e-commerce industry in Philippines

The Philippines – is one of the most amazing archipelago countries, comprising 7,107 islands and having the 5th longest coastline in the world populated by almost 98mn of people. The country, divided into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, is located western Pacific Ocean of South East Asia. Multiplicity of islands led to appearing and developing variety of ethnicities and cultures, as well as one of the most diverse tropical climates in the world. Despite country consist of various of ethnic and cultural groups, it participates in different processes of the international relations and world economy, being a founder of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is also a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary fund (IMF), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Colombo Plan and the G-77 and other International organizations. This participation also includes involvement in the processes of Internet communication technologies development as well as electronic business penetration.

Broadband Internet connection in the Philippines is offered by two types of Internet Service Providers: cable and DSL operators. Broadband internet connection is also widely available at public internet cafes and offices, especially in major cities.

Cable ISPs are represented by:

• ZPDee Cable
• Parasat "Cable21"
• Caceres "C3"
• Skyline "Cheetah"
• USATV1
• Viacomm
• Aeronet
• KwikNET (Los Banos, Laguna) usually starting at 64 kbit/s.
• ComClark (Pampanga) usually starting at 384 kbit/s.

DSL Internet connection can be available via the following companies offering from 128 kbit/s up to 5 Mbit/s:

• PLDT offers ADSL from 384 kbit/s to 5 Mbit/s.
• Bayan Telecommunications, through BayanDSL (formerly SkyDSL), offers ADSL from 768 kbit/s to 2.5 Mbit/s. [2] They also offer cable internet from 64 kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s through ZPDee. [3] Sky Broadband cable also offers speeds up to 12 Mbit/s.
• ETPI offers SDSL from 256 kbit/s to 2 Mbit/s.
• Eastern Telecom (ETPI)
• Globe Telecom, through its subsidiary Innove offers ADSL from 512 kbit/s to 4 Mbit/s.
• PT&T offers ADSL and SDSL from 384 kbit/s to 2 Mbit/s.

As for the Wi-Fi Internet service it has also is progressively being deployed since 2005 owing to Smart Communications that presented its "Smart Wi-Fi" service for the public, which, however, make use of wireless internet connection via its cellular infrastructure. Thus, the service supplies wireless fixed connection at 384 kbit/s 512 kbit/s and 4 Mbit/s for corporate lines, like coffee shops, malls and major airports around the country, through the use of Motorola's Canopy equipment. The service was later rebranded as "Smart BRO" on April 2006. Since 2008, it has become available in pre-paid through the use of a USB modem where users can purchase load/credit at different handphone loading centres.

The following operators supply the variety of Internet connection services, including cable, DSL, Wi-Fi.

• Solid Broadband Corporation, better known as Destiny Cable, is the first to offer residential broadband through its Cable internet. They also offer sDSL services of up to 1.5 Mbit/s on hi-rise buildings.
• Smart Communications offers wireless fixed broadband
• ComClark Network and Technology Corp offers Cable internet known as Surestream, Wireless (WiFi) known as Wireless Anywhere Metro, Wireless fixed broadband known as Extreme Wireless, Instanet Prepaid Cards Pampanga Only and Fiber Optics
• Mozcom Communications offers a variety of dial-up services such as Nitro cards.
• USATV1 Inc.offers a 1Mbit/s service for only 900 pesos a month.
• Sun Cellular offers 3.5G-enabled wireless internet up to 2 Mbit/s. This also uses USB modem and can be used nationwide.

Internet country code top-level domain or ccTLD for Philippines is .ph, sponsored by the PH Domain Foundation, a social outreach arm of dotPH Domains Inc, the official domain registry. Aside for being the registry, dotPH also sells domains and web-related services such as web hosting and web design. It also offers free blogging services through .i.ph domains. Two year registration agreement’s cost is relatively low – $149 for .ph or .com.ph.

As for the second-level domains managed by dotPH they are listed below:

• .com.ph — Businesses/commercial entities
• .net.ph — Internet-oriented organizations
• .org.ph — Non-commercial organizations
• .mil.ph — Military
• .ngo.ph — Philippine non-governmental organizations
• .i.ph — Domains for individuals

The other ones, such as .gov.ph — for government agencies, .edu.ph — for educational institutions are conducted by DOST and PHNET, respectively.

Interestingly, in 1995 during the Internet Society (ISOC), the idea to connect all the Internet Service Providers of the Philippines through a common backbone or Internet Exchange Point (IX) for efficient infrastructure was suggested. A joint project of Philippine ISPs Philippine Internet eXchange (PhIX) became the first Internet Exchange Point in the country.

Philippine Internet eXchange was established in a move to achieve the number of targets, to improve the efficiency of internet routing in the country, to enhance the overall quality and reliability of Philippine Internet services, to maximize existing and future bandwidth capacities of ISPs, to reduce the size of the routing tables worldwide, to create a truly Philippine-centric Internet.

Currently, PhIX is currently interconnecting 8 ISPs in exchanging local Internet traffic:

• Evoserve
• Infocom
• IPhil
• Moscom
• Pacific
• Internet
• Tridel
• Virtualink
• WorldTel.

Currently, Member ISPs getting the benefit of exchanging local Internet traffic, are considering the opportunity of upgrading their bandwidth. Thus, owing to Philippine Internet eXchange service usage growth, Tridel Technologies is thinking of upgrading its bandwidth to 512 kbit/s from a 64 kbit/s leased line. Meanwhile Moscom Internet is in the process of upgrading its connection to E1.

G-Net, the ISP of Globe Telecom, a member of the Ayala Group of companies, is in the process of joining the Philippine Internet eXchange. G-Net would be peering via an E1 connection.

Despite there are about a hundred of Internet Service Providers operate successfully in the Philippines, most of them have connections via backbones located in the US. Internet dial-up connection charges approximately equal $2 hourly (or $33 dollars for up to 60 hours monthly). This fee is approximately 80% higher than similar charges in the US.

Until 1992 the Philippines used to have one of the lowest levels of broadband penetration in Asia, slightly more than 1%. By the beginning of the century the amount of subscribers moves up slightly to the volume of over 2.5%. In 2005 the number of Internet users in the Philippines grew to almost 9%, with over 8mn people connected. By the middle of this year, Internet penetration level has almost reached 25% with 14mn Filipinos linked to the Web. In spite of the fact, Philippine’s ICT level is relatively low, the archipelago country managed to grab the 6th position amid Asia top 10 Internet countries, outstripping Vietnam, Pakistan, Malaysia, Taiwan. (internetworldstats.com)
 
A lot of Filipinos apply to the Web for the purposes of playing online games, and their number is growing fast, having exceeded already 6 million. The increase is driven by the availability of new online gametitles and more broadband connections. Notably, the communities of friends or families forming "clans" when playing online also that is also a driving force of social aspect in Internet development.


Electronic commerce commenced to be rolled out in 1997 with the founding of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society (PICS), an advocacy group promoting e-commerce development in the Philippines. PICS lobbied successfully for the passage of the eCommerce Act in 2000. Philippine Internet Commerce Society is also a sponsor of the annual National eCommerce Congress and Exhibit, established in 2002. It is also organizing the Annual PICS-IT SME awards recognizing small and medium enterprises across the Philippines who have chosen to embrace e- commerce.

As for the e-commerce providers, the number of which is constantly increasing, dmoz.org offers the following companies:

• Digital Filipino - an e-commerce research portal in the Philippines.
• Information Managers Inc. - global supplier of products and services for developing, deploying and managing e-business applications. Includes detailed information on e-commerce products and services. Offers income opportunities for resellers.
• make money on the Web - learn to run a successful internet business.
• SEO Pinoy - Filipino guide to online marketing, it provides basic understanding on e-commerce.
  • Philwebservices Global solutions - Filipino guide to e-commerce site management, helping to find the right way of development.

Moreover, every Filipino can become a member, joining as individual, SME, or corporate club one, of the DigitalFilipino.com Club that is eager to learn and exchange ideas on e-commerce development, Internet advertising, search engine optimization, blog marketing, electronic payment, social networking, software process improvement, among others (http://www.e-commercephilippines.com).

Well, the Philippines level of ICT progress is relatively low, that consequently leads to stagnation of e-commerce development. Nevertheless, this archipelago country has managed to overcome technological and communication difficulties over the last several years, and currently it can pretend to be named one of the most ICT developed Asian countries. However, a number of problems still exists, and of course, they need to be solved by the Philippines in order not to lose gained positions.