Mobile phones key to universal ICT access - NTC official

MANILA, Philippines - Mobile phones and their applications hold the key to reaching universal access to information and communications technology (ICT) in the country, not the Internet or broadband, an official of National Telecommunications Commission has said, pointing to the lack of fixed lines in rural areas. Speaking at the International Telecommunications Union Telecom Asia 2008 conference early this month in Bangkok, NTC Deputy Commissioner Jorge V. Sarmiento said telecom-munications companies should “promote the widespread and affordable use of ICT content and applications … to the masses via mobile phone services." Since “Internet and broad-band driven" outlets are not widespread in developing countries like the Philippines, especially in rural areas, the “next best thing" is to market mobile phone applications like “m-banking" and “m-commerce" services to rake in more revenues. Through these services, mobile phone users are able to make payments, transactions and inquiries, through their phones. Mr. Sarmiento noted that there were less than eight fixed telephone lines for every 100 people in the Philippines. “The reason for this is that installed telephone lines are concentrated in urban cities and centers." In some provinces, it may go to below one telephone for every 100 people, he said. Internet penetration and broadband deployment in the Philippines are not widespread either, he said. Mr. Sarmiento said there were only about 2.5 million Internet subscribers in the country as of 2007. “However, this does not take into account those that access Internet through cyber cafés, schools, offices, [and] local government units, which is difficult to measure." This creates a “digital divide" for the fixed line sector for developing countries, where the communications infrastructure in urban areas is “world-class" or even better, while some provinces are close to having no fixed line connections at all. The reason for this is because for telecommunications com-panies, “rolling out fixed lines in the rural areas are expensive propositions and telephone service providers are not even sure if the masses will subscribe," he said. Meanwhile, 60 out of every 100 people had mobile phones in the Philippines — a number still growing, Mr. Sarmiento said. “In 2007, the country registered a total subscriber [base] of 55 million, and now, as of June 2008, we are talking of 60 million subscribers" for a country with a population of 90 million, he said. Almost the entire country, or 99%, also has network coverage. As a result, Mr. Sarmiento said the “Philippines has been cele-brated the world over for its role in Short Messaging Service (SMS) and is ranked as the most SMS-intensive country in the world," with companies processing approximately one billion text messages a day from the 60 million subscribers. ‘Remote areas ready’ In Cebu City, the spokesman of the country’s largest telecoms firm said that despite the low PC or personal computer penetration in the Philippines, public high school students even in the remote areas are ready for the Internet and the multimedia services that it offers. Ramon R. Isberto, head of the public affairs group of Smart Communications, Inc., said more students especially in far-flung villages can access the Internet as Smart expands broadband services in the next three or four years. “What we have done for the cellular phone, we will do the same for broadband Internet," Mr. Isberto said in a briefing here. Less than 5% of the population have personal computers, the Commission on Information and Communication Technology had said. Meanwhile, less than a fifth of urban households have computers, Mr. Isberto noted. Despite this low penetration rate, Mr. Isberto was confident that Filipino students, including those in the remote villages, are ready for the internet. He cited the survey conducted by Universal McCann early this year which showed that the Filipinos are among the most active users of Web-based social networks such as Friendster, Facebook and Multiply. Universal McCann’s third International Social Media Research Wave, completed in March, said 83% of the Filipinos surveyed were members of at least one Web-based social network. The survey was conducted among 17,000 Internet users aged 16 to 54 from 29 countries. The survey also showed that Filipinos upload the most photos and are the No. 1 Web video viewers. The Philippines placed second in sharing videos and reading blogs. Filipinos, however, did not rank high among those who write their own blogs. This showed that Filipinos don’t broadcast their thoughts, but love to read other people’s thoughts, Mr. Isberto said.— Paolo Luis G. Montecillo and Marites S. Villamor, BusinessWorld