When Philippines was connected to the internet on March 19 nineteen yars ago, the Internet was seen as a high-tech thing only computer nerds would understand and enjoy. It was also very expensive - it costs 10,000 US$ a month to lease a 64K line connecting to the united States.
Now an ordinary Filipino can share photos with tons of friends on Facebook, watch videos on You Tube, and get the largest news online for low as 10 Pesos under the Smart Network. Efforts of companies like a Smart Communications, Inc. to bring down the cost of internet use have contributed tremendously to its pervasiveness and dynamism in the country today.
About half of Filipinos already have access to the Internet, with 30 millions of them having a Facebook account and 10 millions present on Twitter. And sure, also me, living as an expat in the Philippines: yes, you can count me in... .
Now, that the Internet is being used to transmit bigger and bigger volumes of information, improving speed is essential. Indeed, the Internet has come a long way from being the turf or nerds and academics to being an indispensable tool in the daily life of Filipinos.
In a report titled "The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion for All", the UN agency Broadband Commission for Digital Development said mobile broadband usage accounted for 6.9 percent of the growth in Philippine gross domestic product in the past decade.
