The House Committee on Information and Communications Technology has approved the amended substitute bill on “Faster Internet Services Act” which provides for minimum standards for internet services in the country.
The bill substituted House Bill 312 of Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of House Committee on Ways and Means.
Once enacted, the bill will set minimum broadband download speeds and protect consumers from paying for advertised internet speeds that internet service providers (ISPs) do not deliver on.
Faster internet act provisions
Within one year from the effectivity of the Act, the bill mandates the National Telecommunications Commission to require all ISPs to only advertise and offer internet service download speeds that they can consistently provide and work towards providing an average internet connection speed above global average.
PTEs and ISPs would deliver 80 percent of advertised broadband speed to their subscribers at 80 percent service reliability or 80 percent of the time.
The minimum broadband download speed delivered to subscribers would not be lower than 10 Mbps in metropolitan and highly urbanized cities, 5 Mbps in all other cities, and 2 Mbps in rural cities within a two-year compliance period for fixed and mobile internet connectivity across the country.
Moreover, PTEs and ISPs that would expand coverage and offer internet services in “greenfield service areas” or previously unserved and underserved areas, as identified by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), would not be subjected to the minimum download speed for the next five years.
The bill mandates the NTC, in coordination with the DICT, to develop a set of criteria and methodology for the measurement and publication of internet quality of service (QOS) parameters, such as download speed, upload speed, packet loss, jittery, latency, and service availability after public consultation and hearings within six months from the effectivity of the Act.
The NTC would also impose penalties upon entities who do not comply with internet service standards provided in the Act and as prescribed by the NTC.
Salceda amendments on competition, consumer protection adopted
Meanwhile, the House tax chair propped to remove an amendment from the draft committee report that would have prevented ISPs from building networks reserved for Public Telecommunications Entity (PTE).
“The more competition, the better for the consumer. Internet service is no longer a natural monopoly. It can be provided cheaply with both reinvented and emerging technologies,” Salceda said.
Salceda is also the main author of the Satellite Liberalization Act, which has already been approved by the Cabinet Economic Development Cluster. The proposal will allow more ISPs to serve rural areas and areas where cable right-of-way is difficult to secure.
The Committee also approved Salceda’s “Truth in Advertised Rates and Speeds” provision, which will prevent ISPs from charging hidden fees against consumers, and from charging for speeds that they cannot deliver on.
“Under this amendment, ISPs can no longer overcharge, overpromise, and underdeliver,” Salceda said.