1. Land lines are none existent making DSL none existent. It is hard to even get an antenna phone. It sometimes seems almost as if no one cares whether they do business or not.

2. The phone and Internet Service companies seem to have a business model that isolates the engineers, planners and managers from their customers. And worse, they seem to have given strict orders to not to give out their name or contact information. This is extremely none customer centric behavior and basically limits the potential customer from anything other than then common sales pitch. The people you do talk to do not understand enough to contribute to a work-a-round. This cuts off solutions that could very well work. For example, Yagi Antennas and amplifiers, planned areas of expansion (you could look for land in these areas), co-installations (would they move to an area, if you provided a tower, or paid for installation and/or equipment?. With the apparent business model, there is no way to tell if any of the alternative solution might solve the problem.

3. Companies are extremely inefficient. We ordered 3 phones and it took almost a year just to get 1 phone. They are so worried (& I can understand this) that they may not get paid, that they actually block good customers. We offered to pay 5 years in advance. We were still told we need financial responsibility. This was a clear case of someone with extremely limited understanding blocking rock solid potential sales.

4. Companies like AzCom Satellite service, advertise rates like 128Kb, but they do not provide anything near that. The service is worse than a poor dial-up and your wasting your money. SmartBro’s wireless (at 2KB) is just as bad, if not worse. If your not in the metropolitan area, you are out of luck.

It would be beneficial if the Philippines had a central depository for Phone & Internet services, the areas, they cover, the areas they plan to expand in, along with methods for improving service. Instructions for and locations for buying equipment from knowledgeable people that can provide the right equipment.