Villanueva: Entry of 3rd telco player to boost ‘work-from-home’ bill

Senator Joel Villanueva. PHOTO FROM JOEL VILLANUEVA FACEBOOK PAGE

Senator Joel Villanueva on Wednesday said the entry of a third telecommunications service provider could aide in the implementation of the proposed Telecommuting or Work-From-Home Act.

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“The entry of a third telco player will create competition and provide better services amid consumer problems on the country’s slow and expensive internet,” said Villanueva, author and sponsor of the proposed measure.

“It will accommodate the potential influx of reliance on technology that may be brought about by the subsequent implementation of our Telecommuting Bill,” he added.

The proposed law would allow employees to offer “telecommuting” or working from home.

Telecommuting, according to Villanueva, is the partial or total substitution of computers or telecommunication technologies, or both, for the commute to work by employees.

Villanueva cited a global state of the internet report by content delivery provider Akamai in May 2017, which showed that the Philippines is reported to have the slowest average internet speed in Asia Pacific with an average of 5.5 megabits per second (mbps) — much lower than the global average internet connection speed pegged at 7.2 mbps.

 At present, internet services in the country are being offered by only two major telecom providers—the PLDT and Globe Telecom, the senator noted.

“We want to push for our Filipino workers to have a meaningful work-life balance by encouraging employers to explore telecommuting as a way of allowing work flexibility,” Villanueva said.

“We therefore urge the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the private sector to work together to upgrade our existing internet infrastructure for our employees to afford an option to work under a flexible work arrangement,” he added.  /kga