1 [email protected]Telecommunications in the Philippines: Perspectives on the Digital Divide Fernando Paragas Instructor Communication Research Department College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines Diliman This paper examines the digital divide in the Philippines by looking at issues of telecommunications access, use and perceived benefits in the context of space. Inasmuch as the presence or the absence of the divide depends on the groups being compared and the indicators being used to compare them, th is paper, by drawing from different scholarly perspectives on communication technology and development, explores macro and micro measures for the study of telecommunications. The paper finds that access to basic landline service seems to reinforce the centrality of urban/commercial areas rather than diminish this as originally purported because of cost and infrastructure considerations, the Philippine telecommunications industry having been reformed only in 1987. There is, however, an emergent proof that mobile phone services, in combination with established landline networks, can perhaps lead to a more equitable delivery of telecommunications services to groups of various demographic profiles and locations. Finally, this paper extends the digital divide discourse from the basic issue of access to include nature of use and perceived benefits from the use of telecommunications facilities. It discovers that while there may be differences in their access to telecom facilities, people generally use these in a generic, or phatic, manner with the same perceived benefits.
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The framework draws on schools of thought that predominate the attempts to encapsulate the
relationship between communication and development (Mowlana and Wilson, 1988) as it seeks
to contribute to the lack of theory to explain this elusive link (Hudson, 1984).
Inasmuch as the digital divide depends on the indicators that are used to measure telecom access
and the groups that are compared, the concept itself may "have changing connotations"
(Compaine, 2000). And since findings depend on the quality of measures (Dordick and Wang,
1993), the digital divide debate now includes not only simple access to Internet but also the
attendant benefits of such an access. The studies now include, among others:
? "the scope and centrality of Internet use among diverse groups" (Jung, Qiu and Kim, 2001); ? "the scope and intensity of the relationship people develop with the Internet" (Loges and
Jung, 2001); ? the discussion of "the Internet in terms of access, political and social involvement, and social
interaction (Katz, Aspden and Rice, 2001)."
Telecom Access & Use Patterns
Telecom Access and Subscription;
Frequency and Cost of Calls; Messages to
Recipients of Calls
Profile Social
Demographic Economic
Dem
and
Sid
e
Area/Group
Area/Group
Su
pp
ly S
ide
Area/Group
Area/Groups
Telecom Infrastructure
Level of Development and Density
Are
a/G
rou
p A
rea/Gro
up
Perceived Benefits
Lifestyle and the Economy Economic
Efficiencies Other Spatial
Integration Effects Social Dynamics
Figure 2. Conceptual-Analytical Framework for Telecommunications Use, Access, and
The types of modes of telecoms access is defined into four categories: ? Own landline-respondents have at least one operational landline telephone at home ? Work landline-working respondents have access to an operational landline phone at their
workplace ? Public-for-pay landline-respondents have access to a landline public phone, either a
payphone directly operated by a telephone company or a private phone whose use is open to the public for a certain fee per call.
? Own mobile-respondents have at least one operational mobile phone in their household
Of these four modes, the only significant difference in the level of access across areas is noted in
the proportion with own landline phones, ie, a greater section of Metro Manila respondents have
a landline phone in their house which is a
reflection of the higher level of development of
landline infrastructure in Manila. Interestingly,
while the difference is not statistically significant,
a bigger group of Bulacan respondents said their
household owned at least one mobile phone compared to their Manila counterparts (see Table 5).
Either way, this shows a possible substitution of Bulacan respondents of mobile for landline
phones for their telecom needs because of cost and access considerations. Landline phones have
fixed service rates compared to mobile phones, and Bulacan's local exchange carriers remain
limited to town centers.
Another interesting interpretation of these results is that even with high teledensity in Metro
Manila, significant proportions (nearly equaling Bulacan), still see the need for mobile phones.
This finding seems to indicate that mobile phones fulfill a function that landlines do not. The
table also shows that a majority of the respondents in either area have access to the four modes of
Table 5. Simple modes of access (in percentage) M Manila Bulacan
Type (n=100) (n=80)
T-Computed
Own landline 79 56 3.31* Own mobile 60 71 -1.60 Office landline 67 64 0.46 Public payphone 79 73 1.01
*Significant at alpha=.05 where T-critical is 1.66
The economic efficiency benefits of telecoms can be verified into three broad categories:
transport substitution, telecommuting
and telemarketing, and other
integration effects.
5.4.2.2. Transport Substitution. A
bigger group of NCR respondents has
used the phone instead of travelling for
a business transaction, a function
perhaps of the bigger sphere of
services available for NCR residents over the phone. Meanwhile, across areas, the primary
reason of substituting phones for travel is the speed of transactions over the phone.
Of the socio-demographic characteristics which were thought to influence the substitution of
phone for travelling among Manila and Bulacan respondents, only age and work status proved to
be statistically significant. A bigger group of older, and working, respondents from Manila used
to phone instead of travelling compared to their Bulacan counterparts. This perhaps reflects their
greater familiarity with services available over the phone.
5.4.2.3. Telecommuting and Telemarketing. Among working respondents, only very few are
able to telecommute, or to work at home while maintaining contact with the office through
telecom facilities. Of the 23 working respondents who telecommute, the biggest group is
composed of businessmen, and though the greatest number of them still go to the office daily, the
Table 7. Telecom and… M Manila (n=100)
Bulacan (n=80)
Extent to which availability of telecom facilities has improved the respondents' situation
Information flow 1.75 (3) 1.98 (3) Labor cost savings 2.44 (4) 2.59 (4) Network/linkages 2.61 (5) 2.90 (5) Time management 1.58 (2) 1.54 (1) Travel cost savings 1.68 (1) 1.56 (2) *Rate of 1 to 5, where 1 is greatly improved; none of the comparison of means across areas is significant at alpha=.05 based on t-test for independent samples run using SPSS
Using the phone instead of travelling for a business transaction (jn percentage)
biggest group accomplish over 75% of their work at home. Moreover, while the two areas
generally have the same portion of telecommuting respondents, Manila telecommuters have
more telecommuting ac tivities and a greater proportion of them do not go to the office at all.
Meanwhile, very few of the respondents have received a telemarketing call, and even fewer of
them have purchased products or services from these calls. These respondents say that the items
they bought were cheap and useable, that the agent was trustworthy, and that the process was
time saving. Those who did not buy, meanwhile, say the items were expensive and the process
was impersonal. They were also not interested
over the items being sold since they did not
find any use for these items.
5.4.2.4. Other Spatial Integration Effects.
The respondents say that of various planning
issues, telecom facilities have addressed the
problem of geographic isolation the most.
Other planning issues which they ranked are
as follows, organized according to how the
respondents deem the issues have been
addressed by telecom facilities (rankings are
in parentheses). It should be noted that there
are no significant differences in the way that respondents from the two survey areas rated the
choices given to them.
Table 8. Other Spatial Integration Effects Extent to which availability of telecom facilities has addressed the following planning issues, according to respondent's experience
Manila (n=100) Bulacan (n=80)
Geographic isolation 1.56 (1) 1.61 (1) Lack of human capital 3.04 (6) 3.18 (5)
Lack of job opportunities 2.70 (3) 2.91 (3) Lack of products 2.92 (5) 3.18 (5)
Lack of services 2.53 (2) 2.64 (2) Lack of urban amenities 2.80 (4) 3.07 (4)
*Rate of 1 to 5, where 1 is greatly improved; none of the comparison of means across areas is significant a t alpha=.05 based on t-test for independent samples run
using SPSS
Ranking of basic necessities in order of importance in deciding where to live*
Manila (n=100) Bulacan (n=80)
Educational facilities 4.92 (7) 4.78 (6) Electricity 2.30 (2) 2.30 (2) Proximity to relatives 6.32 (9) 6.50 (9) Security/peace and order** 3.93 (4) 3.06 (3) Telecom facilities 4.64 (5) 4.53 (5) Proximity to town center 6.26 (8) 5.73 (8) Ease of transportation 3.99 (3) 3.80 (4) Water 1.73 (1) 2.02 (1) Proximity to work 4.89 (6) 5.54 (7)
*Rate of 1 to 5, where 1 is greatly improved; **Significant at alpha=.05 based on t-test for independent samples run using SPSS
6.3.On databases. To implement the study, a comprehensive questionnaire and interview guide
were designed to probe telecom access and use vis-à-vis development. These instruments reflect
an attempt to provide possible measures for telecom issues. This is important insofar as
government databases focus greatly on telephone count and density. By not giving as much
attention to actual patterns of access and use, there is a tendency to attribute to telecom a number
of supposed, albeit still to be verified, benefits.
Furthermore, the databases subscribe to a positivist framework where more units lead to greater
outputs, ignoring the ability of people to adapt to the facilities that they have. Aligning the
measures in these databases to follow a structural framework can better serve telecom policy and
planning.
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Fernando Paragas has been an Instructor of Communication Research at the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines since 1997. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Newsweek-Asian Federation of Advertising Associations Research Grant for his work on the communication patterns of Filipino migrant workers. Last April, he earned his MA in Urban and Regional Planning from the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning. Email: [email protected] ? Mobile: (63 917) 535 6348