In the beginning…

Internet in the Philippines, like in any other country, has its own beginning. Its birth dawned on March 1994 when the Philippine Network Foundation (PHNet), a consortium of private and government institutions, enabled the Filipinos to be connected live via a 64 kbps link to Sprint in the United States. It was then considered to be the country’s only public gateway to the Internet.

Prior to this, since 1986, the hobbyists operated the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). It soon got connected and formed the local dial up networks. This served as the vehicle for the development of cyberspace by exposing technically-minded people to the possibilities and training them in netiquette and online way of life. Consequently, these systems got connected to international BBS networks, such as Fidonet. This allowed them to receive e-mail and download shareware programs and informational files.

A year after its birth, in March 1995, the Public Telecommunications Act of the Philippines was signed into law. It removed the need for value-added service (VAS) providers to secure a franchise.

This paved the way for many other organizations to establish connections to the Internet, such as to create Web sites and having their own internet services or providing internet service and access to other groups and individuals. All these developments now comprise the history of Internet in the Philippines.

The development and growth of Internet in the Philippines is not without struggles. It was even smeared with scandals and scams. However, despite all these hurdles, there were people who had the optimism, innovation and determination to move forward. As one writer said, some of the firsts were not necessarily the best. But our Net history is marked by those who hoped and tried (Net History, 2002).

The development of Internet in the Philippines is gaining more importance from a personal, human vantage point because more and more laymen and non-technical people are getting connected to the Internet and finding it very useful to meet their personal needs and interests. This increasing demand poses many challenges in terms of technology, infrastructures and facilities, human resources, and the need for the government to set control mechanisms without hampering progress.

The most important lesson that one can learn from the Internet history of the Philippines is that it can never be isolated from politics, economy and culture. An Internet Provider must have a thorough understanding of these various factors to become an effective link to the rest of the world.

Before Internet was made available to ordinary citizens, live internet connections were enjoyed only by the offshore offices of transnational companies which have their access through their respective company’s private networks. These experiences served as building blocks to the application of internet practices in the local setting.

The government policy plays a very crucial role in the development of Internet in the Philippines as in any other endeavor. Government Policies always affect growth. It determines the general direction of any sector and the internet sector is not exempted.

Commercialization of the internet has various options. One has only to decide what it wants to sell and to whom, what it wants to buy and from whom. However, one cannot definitely sell everything to everyone. To be able to stay competitive in the market, one has to add value to its service. In this regard, it is very important that ISPs need to be connected to the community by being a part of the community. This means, knowing what the community needs and being able to not only meet these basic needs but be able to offer more. It is important that the needs of the users are satisfied despite the constraints within the environment. In addition, ISP’s should always be aware of the current trend and be innovative to try new ones.

The good thing that happened among the ISPs is that despite the competition to have more subscribers and control more area, an active cooperation grew. The first clue of formal ISP cooperation was the setting up of Philippine ISP Mailing List to discuss matters of common concern which later on evolved to become a technical forum, a political issue sounding board as well as a general chat area among the people who make the Philippine network move forward.

In relation to this, the next development came when the Philippine Internet Service Organization (PISO) was organized within the first half of 1996. It tackled issues of common concern and acted as a voice to represent the internet industry.

As mentioned earlier, development is not without struggles and hindrances. The absence of centralized Internet connection for the country resulted to the lack of interconnection between local ISPs. Another problem is the lack of bandwidth. Moreover, there is also the problem of sustainability – of having the right people with the necessary technical know-how to handle growth and advancement.

The Future…

Today, there are more than 100 ISPs in the country. Much of the growth in the Internet industry in the Philippines can be attributed to the entrepreneurs who had the vision and the drive to do their best. They were able to turn the problems into opportunities and continue to strive for more creative growth and development, which will continue to invigorate the rest of the IT industry – the economy, the country as a whole, the region, and the world. There is more ahead – more opportunities and challenges.