racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

The issue about the Broadband Cap began with the mobile broadband services that are not really “unlimited” and the fire was set ablaze with the capping of the bandwidth of DSL services. But then again, what is the real issue about this?

The draft memorandum of National Telecommunications Commission about the Minimum Speed of Broadband Connections cites the mandate of RA7925 towards the promotion and protection of NTC on the public telecommunications services for consumers.

Rules are promulgated by NTC in line with RA7925 and Executive Order No. 546 series of 1979 (the integration of previous agencies prior to NTC) in order to maintain fair competitiveness among telecommunication companies and protect the rights of users, subscribers, or customers of broadband services.

Broadband services providers are asked to specify the minimum broadband or internet connection speed. Their minimum service reliability must be 80%. NTC even gives the option for broadband services providers to set the maximum volume of data allowed per user per day on a “best efforts” basis.

NTC also mandates the broadband services providers to properly inform consumers about the broadband connection service that is offered to them.

So what about the draft memorandum on Minimum Speed of Broadband Connections of NTC? For some, it is wrong to have a Broadband Cap, while others give the nod on the Broadband Cap.

How about you, consumer? How does this sound to you?

The issue of ISPs setting up bandwidth limits is a popular one these days. The NTC is even mulling a memorandum that will require broadband providers and mobile service providers to limit the amount of bandwidth served per customer. This is intended to help maintain a high quality of service. Heavy users are then asked to pay more, which should be fair to those everyday users who don’t really need that much bandwidth.

We earlier reported that Globe telecom’s unlimited mobile broadband offering is not really unlimited, but has a daily maximum bandwidth, after which you will be cut off.

It seems other service providers are following suit, either by changing their Terms of Service, adding provisions for bandwidth limitations, or simply highlighting existing limitations that were already in place before.

One such ISP is Bayantel, which is already highlighting its acceptable use policy. Users are said to be limited to 100 Gigabytes per month, but can check for usage through fairuse.bti.net.ph.

Yugatech thinks the 100 GB allocation per month is generous enough, and I agree. I’ve checked my usage history, and my monthly use only amounts to 5 to 10 GB, so Bayantel’s allocation is more than enough for my needs. Now I might sometimes have spikes in usage, such as when I’m uploading videos and photos for sharing, or when downloading media. But for most intents and purposes, 100 GB per month is more than enough.

NTC’s proposal actually imposes a minimum assured level of service from broadband providers, which means they are required to serve you at least 80% of the advertised rate.

Some technology commentaries don’t think a bandwidth cap is fair, though, with the argument that not everyone consumes their bandwidth allocation anyway. This means that providers actually have excess capacity, but may not be willing to assure this service to everyone.

How much bandwidth do you consume per month? Do you agree to the proposal for bandwidth capping?

According to the US FCC, consumers only get about 50% of their subscribed Internet connection speed (PDF report). Yugatech points out that in the Philippines, what matters more is the nominal amount of bandwidth that consumers get. This is because most consumer accounts here are in the 1 to 2 Mbps league. Half of that would be about 512K to 1 Mbps.

Perhaps if you were subscribed to a 10 Mbps account and only got 5 Mbps, that won’t be too noticeable, if all you do is browse the web and send email. However, if you’re fond of downloading media, like music, videos, and the like, then you will surely feel shortchanged. And if your subscribed bandwidth were low enough, to start with, then 50% will surely be something to complain about.

This is why companies advertise their connection speeds as “up to XXX Mbps.” Look at the fine print. Your subscription plan will usually say that quality of service can be affected by congestion, losses in transmission, and the like. Some companies, like Bayan DSL, even advertise their speeds as “burstable,” meaning it’s not a consistent speed, but you can get it during off-peak hours.

It’s even worse when you do get the advertised speed, but the latency is just too much that each item downloads slowly into your browser or software. This is the case with most 3G or even HSDPA connections locally. You do get the advertised speed, but that’s on a per-file basis. You sometimes have to wait for each item to get through the pipes because of the high latency.

Personally, I can say that 90% of my computer use involves web browsing, email, and social networking. The other 10% involves the occasional download of applications and media. And I usually schedule my media download at off-peak hours, when I can just sleep over it and expect the big download to finish when I wake up. Of course, not everyone might have the same habits. You might want your media right here, right now. And so you might want to squeeze out as much as you want from your broadband subscription.

What connection speed are you comfortable with? And do you actually need that much speed at any given time of the day? If you do have a broadband subscription, do you get 100% of the advertised or contract speed?

You can usually check with speedtest.net if your actual throughput is as fast as the claimed speed.

I’ve been on the lookout for an unlimited wireless data provider. Bayantel DSL service is known to be erratic particularly during severe weather, and I do need a reliable backup connection. I do think subscribing to a PhP 1,000 + unlimited subscription is a bit of an overkill, since my main DSL connection costs just PhP 999 per month.

But with an option to pay daily, weekly and monthly for an all-day connection, I think I’ll bite. Smart has recently announced its UNLI SURF plans for Smart Buddy prepaid. You have these options:

• PhP 1,200 for 30 days
• PhP 300 for 7 days
• PhP 50 for 24 hours

I think the 30-day plan is a great deal if you intend to use this as your primary connection. The one-week plan is also good enough, considering you get an equivalent 28 days for the price of PhP 1,200 (PhP 300 x 4).

But what I’m eyeing is the PhP 50 per 24 hour rate. I won’t be using this as my main connection, but it’s good to have this option when you need it. 3G and HSDPA are fast, but latency is quite high, and the throughput is not too reliable, especially if there are plenty of other users in your area.

Mobile WiFi router

I’ve tried using my SonyEricsson Xperia with a Smart SIM subscribed to the one-day package, and so far I’ve been able to use the phone as a wireless router (using this guide) so I can share the connection with my laptops and other gadgets. The speed is acceptable, although it can do better.

Using any prepaid Smart SIM, simply browse to http://m.smart.com.ph/surf on your mobile browser, and then choose your preferred subscription.

To continue my saga on trying out prepaid wireless landlines, I had recently activated Super Duo on my main Globe prepaid subscription. I was very pleased that I could easily call Bayantel lines (which we have at home), in stark contrast to my PLDT Wireless landline, which can rarely connect with my home residence.

But the big issue here is interconnectivity with several networks. For one, I can rarely connect to PLDT landline numbers. This can be very debilitating, since calling PLDT landlines was okay before activation of Super Duo (since this is billed as a regular call from one’s Globe number). But after activation, you effectively lose calling capability to PLDT landlines. Rare exceptions include midnight to the wee hours of the morning. Calling during daytime? Forget it.

Another small issue is calling from Bayantel phones. You get a busy tone, and you get connected after two to three tries. No big issue if you only expect personal calls, but to business users, this can be a deal breaker.

Now I’m not sure if this is only isolated to prepaid subscriptions. I hear that postpaid users are not as badly affected. Maybe that’s the premium one gets with a postpaid subscription. But with Globe heavily marketing their prepaid services such as Tattoo, SuperDuo and the like, they better be sure they have the capacity to service demand.

The bigger issue here is interconnection among the networks. I’m aware that telcos charge each other for each SMS or voice minute. But the charging framework has changed dramatically with the introduction of “unlimited” calling schemes, like the so-called “wireless landline” capability of mobile phones. If we’re going back to the dark ages of walled-garden communications, then we’re screwed. Remember the olden days when Smart subscribers could only text to Smart, and Globe within Globe?

Maybe this is just a honeymoon phase, and things will turn out better. I’m hoping that in the long run, interconnection among telcos would normalize. Things are getting cheaper and cheaper, anyway, and maybe they need to look for alternative business models (rather than charge interconnection fees), in line with the changing trends.