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They
MUST Have Something Better to Do
By Michael Alan Hamlin
July 14, 2003
With consumer sentiment at a new
low, the government projecting growth next year at the low-end of
its original projections, and corporations increasingly uneasy over
the uncertainty associated with national elections next year, you'd
think that government bureaucrats would have something better to
do than stand in the way of progress. But then you'd be wrong, as
grandstanding bureaucrats at the National Telecommunications Commission
(NTC) demonstrated repeatedly - and with considerable gusto - last
week.
The tempest in the proverbial teapot
had to do with the setting up of Wi-Fi fast wireless Internet access
points by local telecom providers GlobeQuest and ePLDT. Wi-Fi is
a global standard for wireless connectivity and uses the 2.4 gigahertz
frequency. In the view of NTC commissioner Armi Jane R. Borje, offering
commercial Wi-Fi service is illegal because permits have not been
obtained by the service providers. Use of radio frequencies is typically
regulated to prevent broadcasters, and in this case, service users,
from interfering with each other's broadcasts.
But regulation is not really the
issue here, although Ms. Borje apparently is irked that GlobeQuest
and ePLDT obtained only temporary permits for testing their services,
and failed to obtain commercial use permits before launching their
Wi-Fi offerings. The principal issue is that the electric power
distributor everyone loves to hate, Meralco, is using the 2.4 gigahertz
frequency for its internal radio communications, and has complained
to the NTC about interference from Wi-Fi networks.
A 1930s law banning use of the frequency
in Meralco's franchise areas, including Metro Manila, was cited
as the basis for NTC's complaint. "There is a ban in NCR (National
Capital Region), Region 3 and Region 4. Why are they (GlobeQuest
and ePLDT) rolling out in these areas? Why not wait for us to lift
the ban? There is a public hearing on July 17," Ms. Borje is
reported to have complained in published reports.
I can think of lots of reasons why
government shouldn't hold back progress - I believe in fact its
job is to promote progress - but here are just a few. First, let's
consider the public good. Is the public good best served by allowing
Meralco to continue to monopolize the 2.4 gigahertz frequency when
it can be put to much better use allowing fast, relatively cheap
wireless Internet access in the country's principal business center?
Wi-Fi has quickly become a standard feature in most of the rest
of Asia because investors and business demand it. Not having it
available puts the Philippines at an obvious disadvantage in the
competition for visibility, investors, and tourists. And we're supposed
to sustain that disadvantage for Meralco and a 1930s piece of out-of-date
legislation?
Second, Wi-Fi as I've noted, is a
global standard. While it has come into its own this year in dramatic
fashion, there has been plenty of time for the NTC to shift Meralco
to another frequency so that the Philippines can conform to international
convention. Wi-Fi is already used by many of the nation's top corporations
and taxpayers as a productivity-boosting tool, allowing users to
move throughout an organization and always remain connected. Wi-Fi
connectivity is a major feature of chipsets produced by long-term
Philippine investor Intel, which has invested close to U.S. 1 billion
here in the last 27 years. Indeed, the already heavy use of Wi-Fi
despite the NTC is a pretty damning indictment of the agency's irrelevance.
No wonder the service providers - and their customers - lost their
patience.
What NTC and Meralco should have
done seems pretty clear. First off, if NTC had been the least bit
sensitive to global technology trends, it would have started shifting
Meralco off the frequency years ago, and had that silly legislation
repealed. It would have made some major brownie points by taking
such a proactive posture among the business community and investors.
Government could have been seen as leading the revolution, rather
than trying to stubbornly hold it back. Well, that's obviously too
much to expect.
Likewise, Meralco should have taken
the steps to make sure it wasn't an impediment to progress for once.
But no such luck there either. NTC says Meralco is willing to give
up the frequency. If so, why hasn't it done so? Is this merely an
attempt to appear accommodating to mask the covert intent to hold
on to the frequency - and avoid the costs associated with transferring
to another - as long as possible? Well, it's not the first time
Meralco has been convincingly accused of holding the nation back
for its own benefit.
Finally, if the frequency is to revert
back to the public domain as it should, why does NTC insist on holding
public hearings? Why not just save us the grief, the waste of time,
and the senseless use of public resources and do the right thing?
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is
currently at work on High Visibility: The Making and Marketing
of Asian Professionals into Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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