Globe subscribers, your Internet access is going to be throttled if your downloads and uploads exceed 1 gigabyte in a day. For most of you, whose Internet access involves mostly just emailing and interacting on Facebook or Twitter, this isn’t going to be an issue at all. But for those who use the Internet (via Globe Telecom) for business, a broadband cap is going to be a major problem.

Filipino netizens today are very sophisticated, constantly finding amazing and creative ways to make use of the Internet. Buying and selling online are activities that aren’t so newfangled anymore, and an increasing number of Filipinos are finding jobs through websites and making a living via the Internet. These people are in need of better Internet access, which Globe Telecom would do well to provide.

Everyday, I hear complaints from people around me about their Internet access woes. At home, in the office, in public Wi-Fi hotspots, Filipino Internet users are dissatisfied. But more urgently, the satisfaction of Filipino Internet users whose living depends on the Internet are not being met.

In a news article, Globe Telecom purports that a minority of users are abusing access:

In a recent internal analysis, Globe said about 5 percent of abusive subscribers use 80 percent of the available broadband Internet bandwidth in the company’s network.

This leaves only 20 percent of the capacity to be shared by 95 percent of the remaining users.

Source: INQUIRER.net

They seem to be blaming “abusive” Internet access on illegal downloading of content (music, TV shows, etc.), but are they for certain that these are the only activities going on online? It’s like saying excessive use of knives is bad because it kills people. Do chefs kill people for a living?

I don’t think telecommunications firms in particular, or businesses in general, are in a position to dictate which activities are illegal and which aren’t. That’s the government’s job. In my opinion, Globe Telecom is imposing their broadband cap because they do not want to invest further in their facilities and infrastructure.

Do they really give a damn about Filipinos, about protecting us from illegal online activities? I doubt that very much. And my reason for saying that is this: if they did care, they would be proactively anticipating the fast-paced growth of Internet usage in the country, and addressing this by meeting our requirements. But no, what Globe seems to be doing now is attempting to hide the fact that their Internet service provision is sub-par and does not even meet the minimum requirements of today’s netizen.

I’m quite certain that everyone who’s using the Internet for work or business will agree with me here, that if Globe, Smart and the other telecoms firms provided better Internet access, productivity would soar and we would have more time and resources available.

TXTPower, a mobile users watchdog, has a very cogent suggestion: for the government to conduct an independent review of telcoms companies’ existing facilities and services vis-à-vis consumer demand. Let’s hope that the National Telecommunications Commission finds it persuasive enough. But if you doubt that, then let’s all be vigilant and defend our universal right to a better Internet.

This may be a small matter, but for me, it’s a big deal. For a whole week, we didn’t have Internet at home. (We were on SmartBro Broadband before, but when the service deteriorated beyond belief, we transferred to PLDT myDSL. Not much of an improvement, I’m afraid.) The first time we called their helpdesk, the call center agent said that they were experiencing a “system-wide failure” at PLDT. One would think, when such a thing occurred, that a company would pour its resources into solving such a serious matter, yes?

It took a whole week, despite our calling PLDT everyday. We got ridiculous questions like “Are you using a Wi-Fi router?” — as if that ever mattered to problems at their end! I was telling them that their modem was registering a “DSL” connection but that the “Internet” lamp was dim, so that it was probably a server issue and not a local one. To that, I got canned answers that helped not one iota.

Turns out that they migrated their DNS servers. Changed the whole batch of IP addresses. After seven days, a PLDT technician (a contractor, I’m certain) comes over to the house and reconfigures the DNS server. That straightforward. From 58.69.254.69 to 124.106.4.2. And I got my crappy Internet connection back.

They couldn’t have conveyed this bit of information over the phone??

Last night I was chatting with a friend who’s in London. He has a BPO company in Davao and his office is connected to PLDT myDSL as well. And he was having the same problem. He told me that, for ₱1,000/month equivalent, his connectivity at home is very reliable and stable and maintains a bandwidth of 15 gigs. One thousand pesos for a fifteen gigabyte line?? Now that’s broadband!

Back here, we have to contend with abysmally dismal connectivity. And as if that weren’t enough, we have to put up with customer service that’s moving in retrograde!

So now I’m thinking, should we move to Sun Broadband? I’ve heard that their connection’s pretty good here in Davao. But the question is, up to when…?

The Tattoo conveniently connects via USB and installed without a hitch on my Windows7-powered laptop. When I plugged it in the first time, the modem’s connectivity software installed itself (after my approval, of course) and was up and running in no time at all. Connecting to the network is a cinch, too!

Speaking of which, the Tattoo will be able to detect signal strength as well as the availability of WCDMA or HSDPA in your area. For best download/upload speeds, make sure you’re in an area where either WCDMA or HSDPA is present. (Where neither is available, chances are, you’ll be glad you had Internet connectivity at all.)

I’m happy with the broadband access I get in various places in Mindanao: Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zamboanga City. When I go and visit more cities in the Philippine South, I’ll surely bring the Tattoo with me.

The Tattoo is available as a pre-paid and as a post-paid service. I use the former, and I am charged on the basis of duration. I remember when Internet service providers used to charge on a per-kilobyte basis, which was OK back then because connections were still very slow. But now that we have broadband access, it’s very advantageous for users of Globe Tattoo to be charged on a time-connected basis. We can download (and upload) much more in a short span of time and get charged only for the duration of connectivity.

If you don’t have yours yet, check out the Globe Tattoo broadband gallery of products.