Poe urges public to complain vs bad telco service

Senator Grace Poe urged the public on Sunday to air their complaints against the poor service of telecommunications companies (telcos) in the country.

“We deserve good telco service, kaya’t i-share na ang inyong karanasan sa serbisyo ng text, call at internet ninyo (so I urge you to share your experiences on text, call and internet services),” Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, posted on her social media accounts.

The post was instantly viewed and shared by social media users, and generated comments about the inadequate service of the country’s telcos. The complaints of netizens were slow internet service, poor connection, dropped calls, exorbitant charges, and disappearing load, among others.

“It’s a pity hearing the same old complaints about speed, affordability and coverage in the age of fast technology,” the senator said in a statement.

“As a consumer, I can very much relate, and so our united call to the telecommunications companies is to give us our money’s worth and improve your services,” she added.

Despite little or no improvement in their service, Poe said telcos have been raising rates and using creative marketing strategies in guise of promotions.

The senator also noted that telcos have slowly removed their unlimited data plan in their mobile subscriptions and shifted to volume pricing and introduced caps on prepaid and postpaid plans. This way, Poe said, they are able to charge more per customer as data consumption increases and at the same time, able to cut down on heavy users.

“Meron pa silang tinatawag na (They also offer) Anti Bill Shock Guarantee at Shock Proof Data Charging, pero sa huli ay shocking pa rin ang buwanang bill natin (but in the end, our bills end up shocking),” Poe said.

The senator assured that the complaints from netizens would not fall on deaf ears and would be raised in appropriate Senate committee hearings.

“The complaints of netizens will not fall on deaf ears. We will gather them and raise them in the appropriate committee hearings, so they will have a voice in the reforms we want instituted in the telco industry,” she said.

The senator pointed out that there are several bills pending before the Senate and the House of Representatives seeking wide-range reforms in the telecommunications industry to improve internet and mobile services in the country and make them at par with international standards.

Even President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Poe, had warned that he might push for the opening of the local telecommunications industry to foreign competitors if they do not improve their services.

Poe said this reflected the same sentiment of a netizen who made a comment in her Facebook page.

The Facebook user said, “There’s no real competition. Here, it’s comparing a rotten apple with another rotten apple. It’s a duopoly, there’s no real incentive to improve service.” CBB