The Philippines' National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has set the stage for the introduction of a benchmarking facility for broadband services.
The regulator is requesting that 15.5 million pesos ($347,000) be set aside in the nation's next budget to pay for the purchase of benchmarking equipment, ABS-CBN Newsreported.
Benchmarks would be used to determine the quality of the broadband services on offer by Philippine ISPs.
The NTC is also seeking to have broadband classified as a basic telecom service to give the government more authority to regulate the sector, allowing it to impose standards on speed and pricing, the report states. Local telecom law currently classifies broadband as VAS.
The regulator is also reportedly considering requiring operators to drop potentially misleading marketing terms such as 'unlimited' or 'up to' when referring to speeds and data allocations.
A number of Filipinos are dissatisfied with the speeds and quality of service provided by Philippine ISPs.
Quality of service experience tests conducted by Telecom Asia contributor Grace Mirandilla-Santos show that major ISPs are falling far short of delivering on their advertised speeds, with real-world speeds regularly falling below the threshold for the definition of broadband.