Telstra: A future Breakthrough in the Philippine Internet Market

[JAKEBAB]

 

Telstra can sometimes get it good, but it's rare:

 

When we signed up for our plan, we got a $100 plan that includes a landline and 200gb worth of bandwidth. About 6 months ago or so, we got a letter in the mail that our bandwidth had been increased by 300gb at no extra cost, which is great. They've given me 2gb of free data on my mobile about 3 times in the last 6 months, which is handy because I almost always go through my 400mb if I'm not careful. They're sometimes quick to give us free months if their service has been bad. 

 

That's all the good stuff we've experienced over the entire time we've been with Telstra (more than a decade).

 

Dude your getting screwed, 6 or 7 months ago i was paying $120 for 1TB and free phone calls with Telstra, you should atleast be on 500gb.

 

Op i suspect there moving away from Aus being there primary market as there monopoly is slowly dying here with the NBN now being in control of rates and a ton of new isp's starting up with much much much better value, i feel sorry for you guys but at the same time it doesn't sound like it can get any worse for you's.

[DigitalHermit]

Dude your getting screwed, 6 or 7 months ago i was paying $120 for 1TB and free phone calls with Telstra, you should atleast be on 500gb.

 

Op i suspect there moving away from Aus being there primary market as there monopoly is slowly dying here with the NBN now being in control of rates and a ton of new isp's starting up with much much much better value, i feel sorry for you guys but at the same time it doesn't sound like it can get any worse for you's.

 

Well, if their entry does screw up multiple markets big time, we'll be praying to Google to come and bail...

 

Related:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/537363/scitech/technology/ntc-3-isps-deemed-compliant-one-failed-web-speed-test

http://www.pinoytechnoguide.com/2015/09/ntc-speed-test-result.html

http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/172-telecommunications-media/106342-bayantel-fixed-broadband-ntc-testing

(article is mostly in Manila Tagalog + English)

[Lethal Seraph]

Any third player on the Filipino internet market is good really. It'll get a competition going, enticing upgrades and maybe a lower rate on current existing rival plans.

[Technous285]

Well, if their entry does screw up multiple markets big time, we'll be praying to Google to come and bail...

Personally, I'd vote Google in to be our new overlords (as if Parliament isn't doing that job already) if they rolled out their gigabit Google Fibre to EVERY house and/or business (even if it'd be mostly buying the pre-laid Dark Fibre here and lighting it up where it lays).

[JAKEBAB]

Well, if their entry does screw up multiple markets big time, we'll be praying to Google to come and bail...

 

Related:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/537363/scitech/technology/ntc-3-isps-deemed-compliant-one-failed-web-speed-test

http://www.pinoytechnoguide.com/2015/09/ntc-speed-test-result.html

http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/172-telecommunications-media/106342-bayantel-fixed-broadband-ntc-testing

(article is mostly in Manila Tagalog + English)

Wow those are bad speeds! On Telstra i was getting 1mbps down during the day until 12pm at night then it would go to 11mbps due to horrendous congestion on there network thats why i switched, hopefully they buy enough back haul in your country.

[Cheddle]

Telstra are usually the most expensive service provider in Australia.

(half the data for the same price as other providers http://broadbandguide.com.au/plans)

 

Telstra hold a large monopoly - reselling their service to smaller ISPs's at a high costs to ensure they are not undercut.

(https://delimiter.com.au/2014/05/27/telstra-still-abusing-monopoly-powers-warns-accc/)

 

Telstra actively hold back development of new infrastructure where it is not in their interests - sold back the copper network to the government as a "quick and easy" NBN solution - when in reality the network is fucked and redundant and is worthless

(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/nbn-network-deal-with-telstra-sealed/story-e6frgakx-1227415694169)

 

Telstra are not enthusiast focused, they don't give a shit about giving you a quality service, they are focused on providing generic service to the masses who believe paying more means getting a better service. - they regularly pacakge/force you to have a landline (home calls) to be able to use their ADSL services, the minimum "land line" plan is $25 AUD per month (830 phil peso)

(https://www.telstra.com.au/home-phone/plans-rates)

 

TLDR; I don't like Telstra. anyone who suggests copper is worth revitalizing, in an age where the internet is becoming increasingly bloated and using a computer relies more and more on high-bandwidth internet, can go jump

(http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2347668)

 

I also appreciate that we have it preety good over here, so Telstra might be a great step up for you guys. good luck.

 

P.S: I am fortunate enough to be on the NBN FTTP (national broadband network, fiber to the premisis) getting 100mbit downloads / 40mbit uploads with 600gb traffic per month for $115 AUD p/m via Internode. I was on Telstras Copper network for many years and I was getting 4mbit downloads / 1mbit uploads with 250gb traffic per month for $60 AUD p/m

[DigitalHermit]

And suddenly PLDT announces Gigabit...

 

http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/172-telecommunications-media/110005-pldt-fastest-broadband-service

 

Dis gon git gud...

[Lethal Seraph]

1Gbps at $200 guess that's only viable if your have high income or have an booming Internet Cafe. Taena mahal nm.

[DigitalHermit]

1Gbps at $200 guess that's only viable if your have high income or have an booming Internet Cafe. Taena mahal nm.

 

Pwede din maki-share sa mga kapitbahay ( :

(It's fine to share with the neighbors)

[MrOptimistic]

Let's all hope for the best! right now i have no internet connecton here at home because of pldt sh!t service! Haha every 2hrs disconnected and after reconnection you will 512kbps speed the fuck... I'll try my luck on globe next year

[Qwertious]

Actually Telstra is the best wireless carrier here in Australia.
Their home broadband is also one of the best in terms of real world internet performance. certainly on the level of iiNet and internode.

[Dabombinable]

Actually Telstra is the best wireless carrier here in Australia.

Their home broadband is also one of the best in terms of real world internet performance. certainly on the level of iiNet and internode.

Then they refuse to upgrade the network in certain areas to force people to use mobile broad band, and pay $160 for 25 GB a month of shitty, overloaded Internet that is slower than dial up and is far less reliable.

[vanished]

Actually Telstra is the best wireless carrier here in Australia.

Their home broadband is also one of the best in terms of real world internet performance. certainly on the level of iiNet and internode.

As a Canadian, I can't comment of whether or not that is true, but I've heard enough about them to know they are terrible.  Never confuse "good" with "best"; something can be terrible, and still be the best

[SubTract]

Actually Telstra is the best wireless carrier here in Australia.

Their home broadband is also one of the best in terms of real world internet performance. certainly on the level of iiNet and internode.

 

Sitting in my lounge room with 2 phones. 1 on Telstra, The other, Optus. My telstra phone says "Emergency calls only". My Optus Phone Full reception. 

 

My home internet is Telstra, Because they own the lines, The other providers can give me Off net (Which runs on Telstra Lines) for more than Telstra does.

 

I had no home phone for 3 years, my internet would disconnect every 10-15 minutes, and when it was connected I was getting 60kbp/s with ~1000ms ping to perth (around 250km's away, Now I get around 14ms to perth for comparison) because Telstra insisted there was no problem with the line. I kept Calling, They kept sending people out saying I would be charged if there was no problem, I never got charged but it never got fixed.

One day I called them and blasted them (Poor person at the call centre) Basically said that I would be going to Consumer affairs if they didn't fix it and that I wanted to be credited for the last 3 years of being screwed around and having no service (For which the lady actually laughed at me although I was completely serious). They sent out an "Expert" From Melbourne (The other side of the country, Really would have sucked to be this guy!) The guy knocks on the door and asks what the problem is. I invite him in, Make him some tea, Give him the home phone and say "make a call" he looked at me hesitantly, Then proceeded to call a number. The second he hit dial you could hear the static screeching out of the line, Considering the phone wasn't on loud speaker you could still hear it from a few meters away.

The guy looks at me almost with shame/disgust. He ask's me what the 27 previous service techs had done (I'm not even joking there were literally 27 before him) 

I told him they walked into my office, Plugged a box into the phone line, It told them everything was OK and they left. (Even if I did the phone thing to them as well) He was getting pretty mad at this point (not at me, At the fact that he had been sent across the country because a bunch of incompetent twats couldn't do their jobs) He then proceeded to ask me what my internet was like.

(For those who don't understand how DSL works via a phone line, Your line contains 4 wires, The inner pair are used for the telephone and the outer pair are used for internet. Depending on where you live depends on where these wires end up going there different ways to the appropriate connections. In my case there is a box at the end of my short street where the internet and telephone are sent their separate ways and only for the last 50 meters are run along the same cable. )

So we proceed to my computer where I turn it on (BAM!) open chrome, "Go nuts" He sits down types in google ctrl + enter after about 15 seconds the page loads up. Next bigpond.com.au after about 2 minutes it finished loading. The guy is gobsmacked that it is like this and that no body has fixed it (Probably thought he was being sent for some person that was just complaining for complaining sakes) He says "I'm not even going to bother trying video" I laughed. 

He plugs his box into the phone line. (This one looks fancier than the others) Sure enough it passes all the tests, He did mention that It took much longer than it should have. He says "I suppose that makes sense, Technically your services are working they're just unusable"

He goes out to the road verge, Digs up the buried Telstra box, Takes the lid off and then just stands there, Shocked. Almost like he had seen a ghost. I walk up there, Have a look in the hole. The junction box is full of mud and water. He grins and says "well there's your problem" in a pretty bad american accent. He went about his way replacing everything and re-sealing the box so no more water can get in.

Once he finished he went inside picked up the phone and called again. This time clear as anything. This felt like the best day of my life. Went to the computer bought up youtube (Something that seemed like a long lost legend at this point) BAM! straight on the screen. HD Video. Streamed straight away. I felt like I could kiss this guy at this point, But that would've been weird. Oh man Life was great. He then pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls his supervisor, Talks for about 20 minutes, Heard a bit of shouting. Came back to me afterwards and told me I would be getting credited my account from the date of the first incident report. (This isn't even a techs job but somehow he pulled it off) Next month I was in credit a couple of thousand dollars (So like $20USD these days) I now call this man SuperTech. 

 

TL;DR 

Internet and telephone don't work 3 years. 27 Techs later I get Supertech, He fixes the problem and gets my account credited for 3 years.

 

I can honestly say, With the exception with the 1 man. Telstra has been my single worst experience as an Australian resident. I wouldn't wish them upon anyone. I feel bad for you guys and just hope that they do something there that they never did here.

[DigitalHermit]

-snip-

 

Meetings with great techs... Damn... haven't had that in a long while...

 

Somehow the subcontractor of Globe for line maintenance and installation in our area deteriorated in quality since they got larger...

I've had 3 techs come to replace a broken DSL modem (legit broken) with 2 refusing and the third reluctantly replacing it...

 

If the third would've refused, I'd have smashed the modem with a hammer just to get it replaced...

 

and no... non-ISPs don't sell DSL modems here...

[ApolloEleven]

As a Filipino living in Australia all I can say is this - Don't get your hopes up.

[Guest]

Well I only saw this now, and I've got to say

 

My country's last hope is Google

[ashtaroth]

Well at least you guys wont have PLDC anymore.

[DigitalHermit]

Well at least you guys wont have PLDC anymore.

 

PLDC only exists through wimax in my area...

[ashtaroth]

PLDC only exists through wimax in my area...

In some areas when it rains.

[Salty]

[Qwertious]

 Well what I'm trying to say is that as an ISP they are very good and there's a reason why I'm with Internode and not Telstra

[jmatrix11]

after a week of rumors spreading about a new challenger that could enter  the country, our ISPs plans suddenly gets cheaper and faster. you'll know they can offer this kind of service a long time ago, they just didn't do it because why would they? Filipinos are known to be "matiisin" or patient people and these companies took advantage of it, with their own countrymen. 

[DigitalHermit]

after a week of rumors spreading about a new challenger that could enter  the country, our ISPs plans suddenly gets cheaper and faster. you'll know they can offer this kind of service a long time ago, they just didn't do it because why would they? Filipinos are known to be "matiisin" or patient people and these companies took advantage of it, with their own countrymen. 

 

Rather than patient, I think "penny-pinching" is more appropriate since money flows really thinly in our country...

 

I mean, I'm willing to dish 2k PhP max monthly for a fixed line internet connection but the speed at that price point is not that great of a value compared to what I get at 1.6k PhP...

 

but with the new plans, I might switch over to a 50M plan at 2.6k PhP once I'm employed... but the condition is that it must be fixed line (copper or FTTP/H) since I find wireless to be unreliable and inconsistent in my area...

[limetech]

How much is San Miguel's share on this? Who knows if they'll play a good role in improving the service. Or is that nonsense since Telstra is still the owner? Can somebody lecture me on this haha.

 

 

Any third player on the Filipino internet market is good really. It'll get a competition going, enticing upgrades and maybe a lower rate on current existing rival plans.

I'm not really hyped about the whole "Telstra iz comin' to PH" now (at least not as much as the idiots around in the Philippine cyberspace who keep liking the fake 'Telstra PH' Facebook pages), but yeah I agree on the statement above.