Developers having exclusive internet agreements at their projects with one internet service provider (ISP) has long been an issue. Residents even took their case to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) in 2019 with the body ruling that this practice violated the Philippine Competition Act.
Progress is being made to end exclusive internet agreements and open condominiums and housing projects to all ISPs. According to the PCC, eight of the 13 developers who were identified to have run afoul of the Philippine Competition Act are now compliant.
“As remote work, distance learning, and e-commerce have become part of the new normal, PCC understands the value of consumer choice for fast, stable and affordable internet connection,” PCC Chairperson Arsenio M. Balisacan told the Manila Bulletin. “The lack of competition in this space forced by exclusivity dealings by property developers is an issue that we are determined to solve. We encourage the public to continue reporting to us similar cases and for developers to open their doors to different ISPs.”
To that end, the PCC launched an ISP Task Force last year to help the public report exclusive internet agreements that violate the ruling. According to the newspaper, 104 ISP-related complaints have been received in the past 12 months. Each complaint triggers an investigation with an Enforcement Advisory Letter (EAL) sent to those projects allowing them to voluntarily correct the issue.
Should the EAL be ignored, the ISP Task Force will then take action against the developer, including filing a case against them, which could lead to hefty fines. The end result provides residents with more choices while ensuring real estate firms continue to follow best business practices.
“The lessons of previous abuse of dominance cases filed by PCC should already inform property developers of putting exclusive ISP deals to a stop. Through the Enforcement Advisory Letters, voluntary compliance will add to the firms’ badge of good corporate governance while giving residents the benefit of consumer choice,” Balisacan stated.