Page 6 - Hello Philippines November 2015 'B' issue

6 www.hello-philippines.com BUSINESS & FINANCE November 2015 / Fortnightly – No. 22 • UK & Europe Edition

HighcostofinfrapreventingPHfromattainingfastInternet—MVP
MANILA – PLDT chairman and the amount that Filipinos can He explained that international calls
Manuel V. Pangilinan admits that spend, he added. had “declined significantly”. Meanwhile, Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT chairman. InterAksyon.com
the Internet in the Philippines is the accounting rates, what he described
slow, attributing this to the lack of Pangilinan had earlier revealed that as the permitted charges per call, had Back then, landline networks of Japan, with fast Internet, the average
infrastructure which can speed it PLDT had spent about P203 billion also dropped. From one dollar per call, were built to accommodate voice. revenue per user was at P10,000.
up. from 2010 to 2015 to improve its it was now at twelve cents. When cellular phones became
network. popular and texting predominant as Improving speed and enlarging
Such infrastructure is expensive, “So the international revenues of a service, networks were then built to broadband pipes domestically and
he explained at “Business Icon “The telco industry is in the throes PLDT are down to about 18 percent accommodate voice and text. internationally would cost a billion
Chat”, a forum with students, faculty of huge transformation,” he told the from 60 percent,” Pangilinan said. dollars in infrastructure, he added.
members, and parents at Southville audience. “If you turn back in time to “Now that is becoming passé very
International School and Colleges the original business model of PLDT, He added that this business model quickly,” Pangilinan said. “And so the Filipinos liked to browse the
in Las Piñas City on Tuesday. “The why was it called Philippine Long was not different from that of the network has got to be reconfigured to Internet, but most of the content
kind of pricing that our people can Distance Telephone company? Because aviation industry in the 1950s and the accommodate a huge demand for data was United States-driven, making
afford…is really quite modest.” at that time in the 1970s, 1980s, even 1960s. The latter’s profits were made services, whether they’re video, Viber, it an expensive process. “For you to
the 1990s, when cellular phones on international routes rather than instant messaging, Facebook, etcetera. download content from U.S. content-
There was a disconnect between became popular here, majority of the domestic ones. So when you switch, that means providers like Spotify, Facebook,
the capital expenditure needed to revenues of PLDT were international new capex…so the telcos themselves whatever — that takes money. We pay
build proper Internet infrastructure traffic.” “PLDT was also losing money on are struggling with huge capital for that. Most of your Internet services
domestic business,” Pangilinan said. expenditure, but at the same time the are practically free,” Pangilinan said.
pricing has not moved.”
Customs: Business as usual during #APEC2015 PLDT Chairman Manuel V.
MANILA - The Bureau of Customs and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport In the Philippines, the average Pangilinan also chairs TV5, where
revenue per user was about P200 per InterAksyon.com is the online news
advised the public Friday that it will be (NAIA) will be fully operational and open month, Pangilinan said. But in the likes portal. n Tricia Aquino / InterAksyon.com / November

on a ‘business as usual’ mode during for public transactions on said dates. 11, 2015 / 5:20 pm

the four-day Asia Pacific Economic Customs gave assurances that its

Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Metro employees assigned to operations and

Manila. assessment are working on a 7am-7pm

This is in line with Proclamation shift even on weekends.

No. 1072 declaring November 18 and Early this week, the bureau expedited

19 as Special Non-Working days in clearing of shipments as part of its initiative

the National Capital Region, and to pull out heavy volumes to clear the ports.

Memorandum Circular No. 84, s. 2015, This was done in order to avoid the huge

suspending work in government offices backlog of shipments needing clearances,

for November 17 to 20. worsening the port congestion in the run-

The Port of Manila (POM), Manila up to the holiday season in 2014. n Chantal The Bureau of Customs dockyard, InterAksyon.com
International Container Port (MICP), Reyes / InterAksyon.com / November 13, 2015 / 2:56 pm file photo.