“We’re still hoping.”
“We’re still hoping.”
After days of nonstop doses of depressing reports regarding the number of COVID-19 cases which seemed to have stagnated at 20,000, we finally get to hear some refreshing news.
The other day, the House of Representatives approved on second reading House Bill No. 98521, a substitute bill for HB No. 8168, which, if enacted into law, will establish a zero-spectrum user fee policy for Philippine telecommunication entities using wi-fi frequency bands or spectrum.
If ever this measure gets the green light, expect wi-fi charges to dive as small players in the telco industries get their chance to play in the market for internet users.
Presently, the government charges mobile networks at least P500 million per year on spectrum user fees. But with these small players servicing around 1,000 subscribers at the most, even Department of Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Eliseo Rio says it is really impossible for small telcos to set up their own home internet services in rural areas.
Rio says that even lowering the SUF to a mere P50 million will not help as these small players only have 1,000 subscribers at the most.
This kind of exorbitant charges is not only hardly affordable for small telcos. Such charges can also kill them, depriving the poor of reliable connectivity, especially at this time when almost everything is digital, particularly the mode of learning.
But by freeing small telcos from such exorbitant SUF levy, taps them immediately to roll out to the unconnected nationwide and thus widen connectivity to the poor and the underserved small and medium scale enterprises and micro, small and medium scale enterprises.
Stressing that “the State shall administer radio frequency spectrum in the interest of the public and in accordance with international agreements and conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory, a group of lawmakers led by Reps. Paul Daza of Northern Samar and Jose “Bong” Teves of TGP Partylist, pushed for the passage of Zero Spectrum User Fee Bill, the paramount goal of which is to ensure the government allocation for “radio frequency spectrum aimed at promoting the adoption of appropriate technologies, an interference-free environment, best practices, and the highest service standards and shall assign spectrum to service providers capable of efficiently and effectively using it to meet public demand for telecommunications and data transmission services.”
While largely designed to benefit the small telcos, the proponents said the SUF reduction recommended here is not discriminatory as the reduction applies to all telcos, including the major ones like Globe and Smart.
The proponents also allayed apprehensions that major telcos would just absorb the smaller ones. As major telcos operate more on mobile networks using licensed spectrum or frequencies such as those in 2G, 3G, 4G, and lately 5G, at the same time, they will have to put a lot in terms of resource to undertake this let alone put a large sum of money to acquire the spectrum referred to as licensed spectrum or frequency for all such mobile networks to operate in. There is hardly time or resources for them to bother serving the fixed network needs that provide internet particularly in poor and rural communities where population is sparse.
“This is where the small telcos become more meaningful and appropriate. Because of small overheads and the mode of operating using wi-fi small telcos can be tapped to operate in areas where the major telcos have hardly provided service, thus widening access to the internet especially for the poor and unconnected,” according to the proponents.
However, the proposed measure is still a long way before being signed into a law. To date, the Senate has yet to introduce its counterpart bill. Assuming it is filed the soonest possible time, it has to be subjected to committee hearings, plenary discussions, and reconciled with the House version if ever it reaches that stage.
But still we’re hoping. Maybe we can get access to that cheaper wi-fi before the 18th Congress folds up.