REP. ALEXIE BESAS TUTOR
Bohol 3rd District
Member, Committee on Appropriations
https://www.facebook.com/Cong.AlexieTutor/ | 09177292437
HOUSE RESO NUMBER 946 – MAKE FASTER, MORE RELIABLE, MORE AFFORDABLE INTERNET SERVICE UNDER ‘NEW NORMAL’ POSSIBLE
STANDARDIZED NATIONWIDE RATES ON LGU FEES ON COMMON TELECOMS TOWERS SUGGESTED
[LGU consultations, performance standards, forensic audit, deployment of BGANs and VSATs also proposed]
Bohol (3rd District) Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor has urged government agencies to recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the issuance of an executive order on "a standardized schedule of reasonable administrative and other regulatory fees LGUs shall pay to LGU hosts of the common towers."
Tutor said the standardized schedule of rates of fees "factor in current and future estimates of usage for telecom and internet purposes."
The congresswoman address her House Resolution No. 946 to the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and
She said these agencies can cite the Ease of Doing Business Law (RA 11032) as legal bases for their collaboration.
Tutor said, "meaningful usefulness of the Internet to Filipinos is limited because only a little over 4 million subscribers have broadband internet subscriptions at home, only 55% have smartphones, and only a minority of 20 % have laptops or desktop computers at home, according to various studies and authoritative sources."
She said faster execution of the common tower policy now because "the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced Filipinos and other peoples of the world to, by necessity, self-quarantine at home to avoid getting infected , but continue to interact with family, friends, co-workers, and online communities through the use of the Internet to access cyberspace and social media."
Tutor noted, "data transmission speeds in the Philippines are among the poorest in the world with the country ranking 121st out of 139 countries at 12.09 Mbps for mobile internet speed and 110th out of 174 countries at 21 Mbps for broadband internet speed, according to the Speedtest Global Index" citing test results as of April 2020.
Tutor’s proposed HR 946 called upon the government agencies to address the difficulties in rolling out the Common Tower Policy at the local government levels through direct consultations stakeholders in the provinces, cities, and towns.
She wants them to identify and publicly disclose the issues, concerns, background facts, and decisions at such LGU stakeholder consultations for transparency purposes, and issue joint memorandum addressing the solutions to issues raised in the LGU consultations.
Tutor also suggested the agencies set "performance standards telecom firms and internet service providers must meet in their provision of 4G and 5G level of access to mobile phone users and at least 30 to 40 Mbps internet speed for households and higher ranges of internet speed based on types of business and institutional clients."
Her HR 946 also called for regular performance review and forensic audit, and exercise powers of visitorial inspections on the services telecom firms and internet service providers render.5
Tutor also proposed the deployment of BGAN and VSAT equipment at strategically located campuses of public schools and state