Cheaper, better Internet service seen

Finally, having cheaper Internet is now within reach!

These were the words of Senator Imee Marcos as the Konektadong Pinoy Act lapses into a full-fledged law.

This was after the Palace on Sunday announced that the Konektadong Pinoy bill, which seeks to broaden internet access, streamline licensing processes, and reduce connectivity costs, has lapsed into law.

“Because of this good news, lower prices and better internet service are now guaranteed in the country. It is time to end the slow, expensive, and cumbersome internet in the country; it should no longer be a privilege for a few, but a service for all,” the senator said in a statement in Filipino on Sunday.

The lady senator and presidential sister further stressed that more businesses will surely enter the country’s business environment because of the entry of faster internet company players.

“No child will be late for class, no OFW will have their calls cut off, and no business will be left behind just because of the low internet access,” she said.

Twenty-three minor and major business organizations earlier backed the passage of the said law, but the country’s telecommunications players are not in favor of it.

PLDT of the MVP Group said they are mulling to challenge the constitutionality of the said bill once it becomes a law, citing concerns on potential discrimination against telco players who have invested in upgrading the country’s telco infrastructure.

“You cannot ask us to open all our assets to your access and deprive our subscribers of the infrastructure that we built for them,” PLDT senior vice president and senior legal advisor to the chairman Marilyn Victorio-Aquino said in a virtual briefing on 12 August.

Earlier in March, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, in a press statement, maintained the bill will address roadblocks brought by outdated laws “that [have] stifled competition and innovation for years.”

Both houses of Congress ratified the Konektadong Pinoy bill on 9 June.

Bills downloaded to the Palace for the President’s signature face enactment or veto. However, proposals may also lapse into law when no action is taken on them 30 days after they are transmitted to the Palace.