Philippine government urged to review country's laggy Web access

It seems online users in Singapore are the envy of those in the Philippines, where a lawmaker has urged the need to improve the country's slow internet connection.

Representative of Las Piñas City Mark Villar asked the House of Representatives Committee on Information and Communication Technology to launch an inquiry and investigate why online speeds in the Philippines ranked so poorly among its Asian counterparts.

In his House Resolution 1658 filing, Villar is seeking to improve the country's internet connection so it matches up with others in the region, including Singapore and Thailand.

"There is a need to address this alarming and poor state of internet service in the country as it impacts on consumer welfare, productivity, right to information, and ultimately, on our economy," Villar said in a report by The Philippine Star.

The lawmaker referred to Akamai's quarterly State of the Internet report, which measured the Philippine's average speed to be 2.1Mbps and well below those in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam which ranked above the region's average of 12.4Mbps.

In addition, he noted that Filipinos spent some 1,000 pesos a month to access internet speeds of up to 2Mbps. Online users in Singapore, in comparison, were able to access speeds of up to 15Mbps at S$36.9 or about 1,312 pesos a month. Thai users also spent just 799 baht or 1,100 pesos for speeds of up to 12Mbps.