Brief Telecom History in Philippines

History

In the year 1867, some members of the Telegraph Corps of Spain received the Royal Order instructing them to proceed to the Philippine Island.[1] The Spanish colony in the Pacific then established a telegraph training school in the Philippines and installed nationwide telegraph systems that connected all of the colony’s towns and cities.[2]

The Philippines, being an archipelago consisting of 7,107 islands and having a population of more than 92 million people; one would readily notice the importance of good service from telecommunications to the country.[3]

The first telephone system in the country was put into operation during 1890.[4] For a time, after the installation of the first telegraph line, expansion of the Islands telecommunications network was a bit slow.[5] On April 4, 1871, during the administration of Governor-General Rafael lzquierdo Y Gutierrez, telegraph lines were installed and telegraph services became available in more areas.[6] 

            From then on, more telegraph lines were installed so that by 1897, there were already 65 government telegraph offices in operation in the country.[7] Advances in technology eventually led to other means of communication such as telecom services.[8]

Today, two of the country’s leading telecom service companies: Smart Communications and Globe Telecom are currently caught in a controversy regarding their service not meeting the standards of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) par.[9]

The NTC, being the government agency that regulates and supervises the provision of public telecommunications services, is looking at possible sanctions or fines against inefficient service providers as prescribed by the Public Service Law.[10] One of the sanctions NTC is currently studying is the possibility of sanctioning telecommunications companies for poor service by barring them from signing up new subscribers.

NTC...