Globe
Telecom supports the National Telecommunications Commission's position that a
mandatory IP peering among carriers should be put in place to improve internet
services in the country. The telecommunications provider maintains that there
should not be any access charge to this to maintain or lower internet costs.
"A
mandatory IP peering among major internet service providers (ISPs) in the
country would greatly improve internet speeds. The absence of an effective and
applicable IP peering agreement among major telecommunications providers in the
Philippines has been huge deterrent in further advancing internet development
in the country," Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo said.He added, "It is high time that the NTC addresses this issue squarely amid mounting calls of Filipino consumers for faster internet speeds."
At a recent joint hearing of the Senate committees on trade and
public services, the NTC cited the lack of IP peering among local ISPs as one
of factors that contribute to slower internet speeds in the country. The
regulatory body pointed out that in the case of Singapore and South Korea, for
instance, internet content are mostly generated internally, as a result of an
effective IP peering policy, which in turn enhances internet speed.
IP peering allows one ISP to connect with another provider, giving
both entities a direct route for fast exchange of information. "Establishing a direct connection among ISPs
would greatly improve throughput and latency performance of ISPs and enhance
bandwidth utilization. This will enable ISPs like Globe Telecom to provide
faster internet speeds for their respective customers," Castelo added.
According to him, around 15% to 23% of all internet traffic in the
Philippines is domestic. This means that domestic traffic originates in the
Philippines and terminates in the Philippines. The origin and destination may
be as far away as across the country or as close as across the street from each
other.
However,
instead of remaining local, up to 70% of this local traffic is being routed
externally, such as in Hong Kong and the U.S., before returning to the
Philippines. This means that instead of getting routed directly between origin
and destination, data is routed outwards through large ISPs that sell transit
before the data is routed back to its target destination, thus causing delay in
data transmission and effectively slowing internet connectivity.
Castelo emphasized that the absence of applicable IP peering
agreement among major ISPs in the Philippines makes the country dependent on
international cables, which poses a threat to the overall internet connectivity
of the country in times of disaster. He cited as a case in point the 2008
earthquake in Taiwan which caused breakage of major international cables,
resulting in inaccessibility of even local internet sites and government
websites. Also, lack of an applicable domestic IP peering policy in the
Philippines entails huge operating costs for ISPs like Globe Telecom.
Source:
Globe Telecom
