 |
|
|
|
by:
Jack M. Nilles
JALA International, Inc.
Los Angeles and Bonn, November 1999
Contact:
Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH, Oxfordstr. 2, D-53111 Bonn
Tel.: (+49 02 2) 9 85 30-0, Fax: (+49 02 28) 9 85 30-12, Email: info@empirica.com, http://www.empirica.com, http://www.ecatt.com, Contact: Werner B. Korte
9 Philippines
9.1 The economy
The Philippines is clearly in the transition stage from an agriculture-dominant economy to one that is more service and information intensive. Figure 29 shows the history and expected near future of its four-sector workforce.
Figure 29: Estimated composition of the Philippine workforce
In 1992 the Philippines had one of the lowest levels of telephone penetration in Asia: slightly more than1 per 100 inhabitants. By 1995 there were about 60 telephone companies, but most were operating only in urban areas and the long-distance traffic was controlled by a single company, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. In 1995 a new telecommunications policy act was passed which, although still favoring the dominant carrier, acted to both deregulate telecommunications and increase coverage in more rural areas. One result was an increase in the number of phone lines to almost 4 per 100 inhabitants by the end of 1999. However, the cost of a phone call to the United States is more than 120 times the cost of a flat rate local call. In June 1999 the Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications called for a boycott of both local and long distance telephone services to protest the high rates being charged and the threat of incipient call metering.
Still, interest in the Internet in the Philippines is growing. Although there are almost 100 Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, most of them have connections through backbones located in the United States. Internet dial-up connection charges are approximately 2 euros hourly (or 33 euros for up to 60 hours monthly). This fee is approximately 80% higher than similar charges in the United States. Since GNP per capita in the Philippines is only 12% of that in the United States, it is clear that access to the e-world is currently limited to the wealthier citizens and companies. The current estimate of Internet usage in the Philippines is shown in Figure 30.
Figure 30: Estimated changes in Internet usage in the Philippines
9.2 E-commerce
Several events in 1998 lead toward the development of electronic commerce in the Philippines. One was the creation of the Electronic Commerce Promotion Panel by then President Ramos. A variety of issues was addressed by the e-council, including changes in the laws to give legal status to electronic contracts, purchase orders and other e-documents necessary for effective electronic commerce; to develop standards for electronic transactions; and to work on marketing and promotion of e-commerce. Also some joint e-commerce ventures were begun between leading Philippine telecommunications providers and multinational corporations.
But the onset of e-commerce was just beginning in 1998 and no data are yet available as to the results. Hence, Figure 31 should be viewed solely as a preliminary estimate of the growth potential there.
Figure 31: A very preliminary estimate of e-commerce in the Philippines
9.3 New Ways to Work
According to a 1992 study funded by the World Bank, the Philippines was the foremost country for producing remote data entry services, producing more than 100 billion keystrokes annually. The Philippines is still a center for such services but has also expanded in other forms of telework, including computer programming, as well. As the local telephone networks expand and improve-and as traffic in Manila and other major cities in the Philippines becomes even more congested-telecommuting will also grow in importance. The estimate for the rate of growth of telework is shown in Figure 32.
Figure 32: Estimated growth of telework in the Philippines
