Proposed Broadband Cap Scrapped By NTC

Left to right: Dep. Comm. Douglas Michael N. Mallillin, Comm. Gamaliel Cordoba and Dep. Comm. Jaime M. Fortes Jr of NTC

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) scrapped the proposal of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to allow them to limit the Internet usage of their subscribers, following stiff opposition aired by the industry and consumer advocacy groups and individual internet users in a public hearing held last January 11, 2011 at the NTC headquarters in Quezon City. A day after the well-attended hearing, the regulating agency announced that it would now focus on ensuring the improvement of services delivered to Internet users.

NTC also said that the broadband cap or the limit in the amount of data that subscribers can use would only hamper the industry’s growth. In view of this, the agency  announced that the provision on Internet data cap has been deleted from the draft circular. NTC Deputy Commissioner Jaime Fortes disclosed the information to participants of the Communications Convergence Forum between the Philippines and South Korea held in Makati on Wednesday, January 12, 2011.

The public consultation on Tuesday was held to hear comments from users regarding a draft circular published by the NTC. The draft rules seek to improve the quality of Internet services in the country. However, a provision on broadband cap that would have allowed ISPs to limit the amount of data that users can download every day caused a loud protest among Internet users.

The scrapped broadband cap provision was added to the original draft rules on the request of the ISPs who said it  was meant to curb the abuse of broadband networks by some users who download excessive data illegally in the forms of movies, music videos and software installers. They said that the "bandwidth hogs" comprise 5 to 7 percent of internet subscribers who corner 80 percent of the available bandwidth leaving only 20 percent of the capacity to be shared by 93 to 95 percent of users of the technology.