Internet in the Philippines
[4] The early history of the Internet in the Philippines started with the establishment of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) by local computer hobbyists and enthusiasts.
They were able to link their BBS's using a dial-up connection protocol enabling them to participate in discussion forums, send messages and share files.
A precursor to the local online forum, it ran an open-source BBS software on an IBM XT Clone PC with a 1200bit/s modem and was operated by Dan Angeles and Ed Castañeda.
1991–1993: Emergence of email gateways and services in the Philippines, including some from multinational companies like Intel, Motorola, and Texas Instruments, which used a direct Internet connection, X.25, or UUCP protocol.
Local firms ETPI, Philcom, and PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) also operated commercial X.25 networks.
June 1993: With the support of the Department of Science and Technology and the Industrial Research Foundation, the Philnet project (now PHNET) was born.
[9] November 1993: An additional P12.5-million grant for the first year's running cost was awarded by the DOST to buy equipment and lease communication lines needed to kickstart the second phase of Philnet, now led by Dr. Rudy Villarica.
March 29, 1994, 1:15 a.m.: Benjie Tan, who was working for ComNet, a company that supplied Cisco routers to the Philnet project, established the Philippines’ first connection to the Internet at a PLDT network center in Makati City.
[10] August 8, 2009: The Congress of the Philippines granted Converge ICT's (then known as ComClark Network and Technology Corp.) franchise application to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain a telecommunication system throughout the country.
Nine years after their franchise was granted, Converge ICT's coverage and service has matured enough to be a viable contender for the spot to becoming the 3rd major telecommunications company in the Philippines.
The World Bank’s Digital Infrastructure Project for Philippines aims to improve climate resilient, secure and inclusive broadband connectivity.
[15] The project will focus on benefiting Filipinos outside the country’s main urban centres, where presently the connectivity is disproportionately concentrated.
10929 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2017, the Philippine government began providing free Internet in public places.
[27] As the number of subscribers grew, both PLDT and Globe Telecom rapidly expanded their Time-Division Duplex-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) services for Fixed Wireless Broadband.
According to industry data, the Philippines’ TD-LTE network was one of the largest deployments in Asia Pacific with over 200 base stations and an allocated bandwidth of 100 megabits per second (Mbps).
"[31] Even as the Consumer Act of the Philippines states "Unfair or Unconscionable Sales Act or Practice ... the following circumstances shall be considered ... that the transaction that the seller or supplier induced the consumer to enter into was excessively one-sided in favor of the seller or supplier",[33] the practice of inducing extremely long-term contracts with the ultimate pre-termination penalty has not been legally challenged yet.
[35] Internet speed improved drastically after President Rodrigo Duterte in SONA 2020 ordered telecommunications companies Smart Communications and Globe Telecom to improve their services in the next five months,[36][37] and warned local government units to act on permit applications of telecommunications firms within three days or be charged with corruption or face possible suspension.
[42] In 2017, a large number of pornographic websites, including Pornhub, Xhamster, and RedTube, were blocked under suspicion of hosting child pornography.
[49] At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Philippine government under President Rodrigo Duterte pressured the country's internet service providers[50] to hasten their infrastructure development to keep up with the growing demand for fast and stable connection for work-from-home and online learning.
The loan aims to facilitate the country's transition to a digital economy, emphasizing financial inclusion for underserved and unbanked populations.
