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1st Interim Technical Report
30 September 2002
Project Title: “Evaluating the Impact of Universal Access Models,
Strategies and Policies in ICTs on Poor communities in the Philippines.”
Research Institutions
National College of Public Administration and Governance,
University of the Philippines
and the
Center for Regulation and Competition Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM),
University of Manchester.
Research Team:
Prof. Erwin A. Alampay, Project Leader
Dr. Richard Heeks, Research Consultant
Mr. Peter Paul Soliva, Lead Research Assistant
Mr. Leo Justimbaste, Carmona Survey Coordinator
Ms. Carolyn Tenedero, Carmona Surveyor
Ms. Charish Matic, Carmona Surveyor
Ms. Bing Peña, Puerto Princesa Survey coordinator
Ms. Jo Viacrucis, Puerto Princesa Surveyor
Ms. Timotea Jamito , Puerto Princesa Surveyor
Ms. Kristine Follosco, data encoder and researcher
Ms. Jennifer Go, data encoder and researcher
Synthesis:
The problem of aggregated national statistics, especially those that focus primarily on teledensities, and declared number of subscribers is that while it presents a convenient picture that is easily measurable, it does not clearly show who it benefits and how they benefit from it. They also don’t give a clear picture about who remains disadvantaged as well as how they are disadvantaged. The impact of universal access policies and strategies can best be seen in the ground, and this is the primary objective of this research.
At present, the research is still in the midst of its field survey in two areas, Carmona and Puerto Princesa City. The two sites are very different, and their difference, hopefully could highlight many issues that have to be considered in developing future policies with regard to the use and access to ICTs in the Philippines.
Carmona is located very close to Metro Manila. It can be accessed by car from Manila, and is only 10-20 minutes drive from the closest city in the Metropolis (Muntinlupa City). It is a rapidly industrializing municipality, with many industrial companies locating its production facilities in the area. The land area is smaller compared to Puerto, and the houses and barangays are more closely distributed. The topology is relatively flat.
Puerto Princesa on the other hand is part of Palawan Province, an island south of Metro Manila. The plane ride to get to Puerto Princesa takes about an hour from Metro Manila. Puerto Princesa City is one of the largest cities in the country. There, the barangays (or communities/villages) are more dispersed. The topology so also more varied, with some barangays located in the coast and some in the mountains.
The surveys in the two areas have started earlier than scheduled. While it was scheduled to begin this October, Carmona was able to begin the survey in the first week of September, and in Palawan, the last week of September. The Carmona survey is eighteen (18%) complete while the Puerto Survey has only covered less than 5%. Everything is within budget (Refer to accounting breakdown and Financial Report in Attachment E: Form 2) and are either on time if not ahead of schedule.
Results from the pilot test, field interviews and focus group discussion reveal the importance of considering the role of alternative information systems in the communities. Examples of these alternative systems include the use of church bells, roving people, sending letters through friends, two-way radios, AM radio (for announcements and messages).
Another revealing finding are the different levels of access (access ladder) and the increasing importance of ICTs with the trend of increasing mobility of people, either to look for jobs or to study.
What is important, therefore, is for policy-makers to look into the different ways by which people manage their limitations to access, and at the same time consider its implications on how to send and retrieve information that can be considered as crucial or useful for governance and development. In this case, the role of indigenous and alternative models of communication may yet prove useful in preventing information and knowledge-gaps from widening.
Project Title: “Evaluating the Impact of Universal Access Models, Strategies and Policies in ICTs on Poor communities in the Philippines.”
I. Project Objectives:
General Objective: to assess the relevance and the impact of public policy and private strategy on access to ICTs within poor communities.
Specific Objectives:
1. to map current government policies and private sector provider strategies of relevance to the provision of universal service to ICTs in the Philippines
2. to map the gap between policy/strategy as stated and policy/strategy as implemented in the provision of ICTs in two areas of the Philippines
3. to map the access to and impact of ICT-based information on livelihoods of two poor communities, and of sub-groups within those communities
4. to map the gap between policy/strategy as stated and the livelihoods and needs of two poor communities, as reflected in current access to and use of information and ICTs within those communities.
5. on the basis of field observation, to develop the notion of ‘universal access’ beyond the current technical focus of physical and financial access, to incorporate other social, economic and cultural resources that affect access to and use of information; and to develop the notion of ‘universal access’ beyond the current homogenized assumptions, to incorporate differentiated intra-community and intra-household models (e.g. along lines of social group, gender and age).
II. Project Implementation
1. Instrument development:
Prior to the development of the survey instrument, a focus group discussion with members of the community in Carmona, Cavite was held. Findings from this was incorporated into the design of the survey instrument . It was this instrument which was pilot tested from May to July 2002.
2. Pilot Test
The development and pilot testing of the survey instrument was completed as scheduled. Below are some of the issues, problems and findings resulting from the pilot test:
A. Problems and issues encountered:
The sampling was designed to get a mix of fathers, mothers, and household members (children 15 years and older). The sampling frame was taken from a list provided by the municipal city hall. All in all, forty respondents (20 urban and 20 rural) were sampled in the pilot test.
Two areas were selected, one urban and one rural, although they were just geographically separated by approx. 3 kilometers. The urban area was right next to the town center and had access to phone (meaning landline) infrastructure. The rural area did not have access to landlines, although the road network to the town center could allow them easy access by public transport in 5-10 minutes. Also, both areas have access to electricity and cellular phone signals
One problem that was encountered in the sampling was that more mothers were sampled than fathers, even when the surveyor went at night or on weekends. Overall, there were only 10 male respondents, while there were 30 female respondents. As such, one option to consider is to put weights in the answers of male respondents to equalize sample size.
As for the sampling frame used, the data for the names and addresses of residents was a little dated (2 years), and there were a number of cases where the name indicated in the address no longer lived in the indicated address. In such cases, the researchers substituted the respondent with the next person in the sampling frame, rather than using the household currently residing in the said address. To address this problem in the actual survey, the sampling frame per barangay (town subunit) will be validated first with the barangay council.
B. Missing Answers
In encoding the data, a lot of missing data had to be sorted, corrected and cleaned. Some of this may had to do with the fact that some items were not applicable in certain circumstances (like they hadn’t used a phone) and these must be reflected. This has been corrected in the revised survey, with proper directions whenever questions have to be skipped because they are no longer applicable. In the future, enumerators/surveyors have to validate or go over the survey immediately after it has been conducted to make sure the survey has been done correctly and no data has been left blank.
Training has to be provided when the larger survey is to be administered in order to make sure the instrument is delivered uniformly and answered correctly. In the actual survey, the research team will be using more enumerators and as such the issue of uniformity in the administration of the instrument becomes more critical.
C. Findings
1. Use of ICT should be qualified over a certain time duration (say a year). It’s possible a person had been able to use a phone or a computer, or written a letter or a telegram but not in a while.
2. Those who have used a Phone. Everyone in the urban area has been able to use a phone, whereas 20% (4 out of 20) in the rural area have never been able to use a phone. As far as income is concerned those who haven’t used a phone had incomes of less than 4000 pesos (or $80) a month, although it only represented less than 10% of those with incomes below this. There is not enough information to make q conclusion on why they haven’t used a phone, but one of the respondents mentioned that they did not have anyone to call, and that it was not a priority considering how it was already difficult to make ends meet.
3. Ownership of a landline telephone. Everyone in the urban area should theoretically have access to a telephone line. But right now only 8, or 40% of them have a line. It is still not clear whether income is a factor in the ownership of a phone is a function of income because the sample with phones are still relatively small. But, at least from how the instrument has been designed, this can be captured in the actual survey.
4. Disconnections. Five (5), or 25% of the urban sample had their lines disconnected. The issue of disconnection is something worth investigating since it may have to do with costs, or it may have to do with access to other ICTs, or it may have to do with lack of control in the consumption or use of the telephone. I have already tried to get more specific information on this from the service provider (PLDT), but this kind of information could not be provided, as it was considered too confidential. Data collected from the NTC also reveal that while the installed lines have increased by over 100% from 1998-2001, the number of subscribers have declined. This may imply that the use of ICTs may go beyond the simple provision of access. Affordability may be one, and access to other ICTs may be another.
5. Households in rural areas don’t have landlines. If they are going to use a landline, they have more access to it thru public phones, rather than thru the office/school or through friends/neighbor’s phone.
6. Help in Telephone use. Quite a significant number of people (25%) have actually asked someone else to use the telephone for them, and this occurred irregardless of whether it was urban or rural (although proportion-wise it was more common in the rural area). Equal proportion of men and women also asked for help. What might be significant is the educational level attained, since more of those who have reached elementary of high school levels only, have asked someone else to use the phone. This is also even more significant if we consider that the age of the respondents range from 16 and above. All the respondents who have asked someone else to place a call for them are at least 26 years of age. (I may however have to re-qualify the question to mean whether they know how to use a phone by themselves or they actually NEED someone to place a call for them). IN almost 50% (7 out of 15 respondents) of those 40 and above said they needed someone else to use the telephone for them. In the actual survey, there is a need to investigate the kind of help they require, if any.
7. Calls. The data on who they call here is a little vague. Most the data collected here have been from women. Partly a problem of lots of missing variables (need to identify which is applicable and which is not). They seldom call their neighbor, as it is more likely that they’ll pay the m a visit instead. Calling their friends are more common. Calls to the LGU is only occasional. Calls to work is more common. In the actual survey I plan to limit the types of call to personal and business. And also I plan to classify calls according to local, long-distance (national and international), and calls to cellular phones.
8. Cell phone ownership. Fewer people have used a cell phone than a telephone, although more people own a cell phone than a fixed line phone. One can say that part of the reason is that the cell phone is a newer technology. Age is not necessarily a factor in the usage of a cell phone since it is equally distributed across the sample. Majority of those who have a cell phone of their own is from the urban area and the personal ownership of the phone is significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Also, in terms of percentages, more people in the urban area have a cell phone of their own. In connection to this, the research may also have to ask whether anyone in the households actually has a cell phone.
9. Cell phone Use. It may be a function of educational attainment since everyone who’s reached the college level has used a cell phone at one time or another. Ability to use a cell phone is higher in the urban area, compared to the rural area.
10. Text Messaging. A larger proportion of women know how to send short-messages, or text using the cell phone. Likewise, a significantly larger proportion of those in urban area know how to send text messages.
11. Knowledge of Internet. Knowing about the Internet and knowing to use it are two different questions altogether. Only fifteen people knew about the Internet and only 7 people have actually used it. Only 1 out of ten (10%) males knew about the Internet, whereas there were 14 of 30 (48%) females who knew about it.
12. Email. More women know about emailing, but there are equal proportions of males and females who keep an email account/address. Those who know the internet tend to have higher educational qualifications, with everyone in college already knowledgeable about eh term. Likewise, only those who have reached college have an email account (50% of them). (I need to ask the use of computers next time).
13. Income and Expenses on ICTs. Eight people had no response on how much income their household earned per month because they were students and in the survey they were only asked how much allowance they received. In the actual survey, the income of their household will also be asked.
14. It’s also difficult to get information on the amount they spend for ICTs. There are many missing or no responses in this query. Theoretically, what could be shown from the data would be whether there’s a correlation between the amount spent for telephone and the amount spent for cellular phones. If your expense is high for cell phones, perhaps you should spending less for telephones and vice versa. From those who responded, on the average they still spend more for telephone use than cell phone use. Expenses for internet use is also the cheapest. Part of this may be the nature of their use of the technology and access to it. If they are going to place a call, they are more likely to look for a landline phone. Similarly, cell pones may be used primarily for texting as this is cheaper. Last, if they have access to internet, it may be largely thru schools or the office, and their need for it is more sporadic or occasional, aside from the fact that it is also cheaper per time spent. In the actual survey, we plan to use fixed categories or ranges for their estimated expenses to hopefully increase response rate.
D. CONCLUSIONS
With reference to the broader issues that the research would like to answer, the instrument answers the question of the characteristics of people who use and use ICTs and the opportunities available for households for accessing them. The pilot data would appear to indicate that gender, age, educational attainment, income and location (urban or rural) are important factors to consider as far as the access question is concerned.
However, the data on the reasons or objectives for using ICTs has not been adequately established, although from the design, this was intended to be captured in future focused group discussions, as it is more open ended and may need deeper probing. However, similar open-ended questions have been introduced in the actual survey currently being implemented. Also, some of the earlier questions on the content of information requirements were reconfigured into fewer categories (i.e. personal and business/official) in order to simplify administration of the survey. Questions area also being asked whether they consider it necessary to have a phone at home, a cell phone of their own, and email and their reasons for saying so. Likewise, if they need help in using any of these ICTs, what kind of help do they require?
In the literature, one rationale for pushing universal access to telecommunications its usefulness in emergencies. As such, a question should be added in the instrument that capture what people do in order to be reached or to be heard in cases of emergencies.
3. Actual Survey
There are two survey areas: Carmona in Cavite, and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.
With the survey instrument having been pilot-tested and revised the actual survey has actually started ahead of schedule. At present, eighteen percent (18%) of the targeted sample from Carmona has already been interviewed. The Carmona survey is expected to be completed by the end of October.
Preparations have been made in Puerto Princesa City. The survey had to be put off later than the Carmona survey, largely because of local political developments in the city. The mayor was recalled, and subsequently a new election was called only last September 24. Because of the elections, the team delayed the start of the survey, lest people become suspicious of our intentions and affect the result of the survey.
The situation is still a little tenuous since the winner of the election has been disqualified by the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, after letting the election period pass, the team has decided to proceed. The Puerto Princesa survey started September 27 and is expected to be completed by mid-November .
4. Interviews
Interviews were conducted with key experts from the Telecommunications Office (TELOF), from the Foundation of Media Alternative (FMA) and SMART Telecommunications, and Digital Philippines. Interviews with the provincial planning office of Carmona was also conducted. Interviews were also conducted with key officials from the city government of Puerto Princesa Planning Office and the Provincial Planning Office. Data was provided about the infrastructure in the various barangays in Puerto, which vary widely, unlike in Carmona, where the infrastructure variation is not as much. This has a lot to do with how large the city of Puerto Princesa is and how close Carmona actually is to Metro Manila, the main center of commerce in the country. Interviews have also been conducted with field engineers from Keppel, in charge for identifying cell-site locations for Globe Telecoms in the province of Palawan, and in Puerto Princesa City in particular.
Data has also been collected from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), The National Computer Center (NCC) and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT Co.). Transcripts of the evaluation of the government’s pilot telecenter projects has also been obtained.
III. Initial Research Findings:
Enough time has already elapsed since the passage of relevant policies that pertain to the liberalization of the telecommunications industry. Among these policies are Republic Act 6849 (RA 6849), or the Municipal Telephone Act of 1989 and RA 7925, or the Public Telecommunications Act of the Philippines which was enacted in 1995. Also, there’s Executive Order 59 (EO 59), issued in 1993 which enforced compulsory interconnection of all authorized telecommunications carriers and EO 109, which called for the improvement of local exchange carriers and introduced a service area scheme (SAS) that required new telephone companies --- international gateway facility (IGF) and cellular mobile telephone system (CMTS) providers to install 300,000 to 400,000 telephone lines respectively in assigned “service areas” in the country within five (5) years.
IN fact, there are already some assessments conducted on these policies, although the evaluation has tended to look at it on the macro level (i.e. teledensities, percentage of lines targets achieved). It is evident that more lines have been installed since the liberalization of the industry, however, this expansion is tempered by the fact that still many areas remain unserved, and that the allocation has tended to go in places where services already exist. For instance, according to the NTC, between 1995 to 1999, total available lines increased from 1.4 million to 6.8 million lines. The irony is, it has even resulted in a glut in some area as a result of industry players vying for more lucrative markets. This effect, in a way, reflects the old rationale of the industry being a “natural monopoly”, and also reflects some of the fundamental flaws of the policy. Currently, some are proposing a more “technology-neutral” interpretation of future policies on access, something that would reflect the impact of newer ICTs, such as cellphones, and the impact of convergence. As it currently stands, the number of subscribers and users of mobile telephony has exceeded land line subscribers, and may have broader coverage nation-wide.
However, issues on access with this new technologies still remain. For instance, while there are cellular signals in Puerto Princesa City’s poblacion, signals already dimish or are altogether non-existent a few kms drive to its northern and southern barangays. What makes this crucial is the fact that as the road networks improve, and with the increased mobility of people, together with migration patterns because of work and education opportunities, the need for communication becomes of paramount importance to keep in touch. While population densities may be an important criteria for telecommunication providers to consider in putting up cell sites, places like Palawan where tourism is important and a large number of people are transient, population densities may not reveal the true extent of need for ICTs in the locality. As far as regulation is concerned, local government units may be in the best position to say which areas remain inaccessible to cellular signals.
Likewise, much of the qualitative impact of access to ICTs have mainly been anecdotal. One ICT that has been given prominent attention has been the use of cell phones, as far as governance, business applications and in daily life. For instance, some attribute the downfall of Pres, Joseph Estrada on the use of cell phones, and cell phones have been tapped to monitor not only illegal fishermen, but smoke belchers and social security contributions, and may be used by taxi passengers to report their location and feel more secure. But again, there is no empirical evidence as to how many actually use ICTs nor those who actually benefit in these ways.
At present, the research is still in the midst of its field survey in two areas, Carmona and Puerto Princesa. What is also interesting about the two areas are their differences, in terms of distance from Metro Manila, their topography, their land size and infrastructure development.
Carmona, for one, is located very close to Metro Manila. It is only 10-20 minutes drive from the closest City (Muntinlupa City). It is a rapidly industrializing Municipality, with many industrial companies locating its production facilities in the area. The land area is smaller compared to Puerto, and the houses and barangays are more closely distributed. The topology is relatively flat.
Puerto Princesa on the other hand is part of Palawan Province, an island to the south of Metro Manila. Puerto Princesa City is one of the largest cities in the country. As such the barangays are more dispersed. The topology so also more varied, with some barangays located in the coast and some in the mountains.
The differences in the characteristics of the areas would be useful in capturing broader issues that policy makers and planners could use as far as developing universal access strategies to ICTs. People in Carmona, for instance, would have easier access to faster Internet services, as well as access to more public pay phones. It is also likely that more of them would have access to Internet at work and in school. In Puerto, on the other hand, some distant barangays do not even have postal services, nor electricity. In their case, some use of satellite phones and two-way radios are more common, although in Carmona, the use of two-way radios are still practiced. What the research will highlight, is that despite the difference in the two areas, some people may still have similar information needs, and some may also have similar problems with respect to access. It will also be interesting to take note of how much competition has been introduced in this two disparate locations.
The surveys have started early. While it was scheduled to begin this October, Carmona was able to begin the survey in the first week of September, and in Palawan, the last week of September. The Carmona survey is 18% complete while the Puerto Survey has only covered less than 5%. Nonetheless, everything is on schedule and within budget.
Some of the interesting results from the pilot testing of the instrument, field interviews and focus group discussion pertain to alternative information systems in the communities. Among the alternative information systems they use are the use of church bells to mobilize people, roving teams of people in emergencies, asking favors from people traveling to the city to bring a message in lieu of the absence of postal services, two way radios, AM radio (for announcements and messages).
There’s also the aspect an access ladder, which indicate different levels of access to ICTs. The tentative categorization we have of this is the following:
1. Not aware of digital ICTs
2. Aware of, but do not use, even indirectly (and in this case we will investigate why they do not use them, and the factors that prevent them from using ICTs; i.e. cost, infrastructure, education, etc.)
3. Indirect user of digital information, but not hands on or personally owned (e.g. friends or family members pass on information or messages retrieved from websites).
4. Direct user, but not hands-on (e.g. get other people to send/retrieve messages on their behalf)
5. Use digital technology, but do not own them (e.g. use of cyber café, or public telecentres)
6. Use digital technology that is indirectly owned (e.g. use your own PC at work)
7. Direct owner and user of ICTs (i.e. Have own home PC, or own cell phone).
On a personal insight, the manner by which this research is being managed would not have been possible five (5) years ago. The use of ICTs, especially the cell phone and email has allowed for better management and control of researchers in the field, both in Carmona, Cavite and Puerto Princesa City Palawan, as well as coordination with research partners in Manchester.
IV. Dissemination
- A paper entitled “People’s participation, consensus building and transparency through ICTs: issues and challenges for governance in the Philippines” was presented at the Information Society (Infosoc) Malaysia 2002 Conference held on 4-5th of June 2002.
- A poster based on the initial results of the survey and findings from the pilot test will be presented at an International Conference in celebration of the NCPAG’s 50th anniversary in Manila, from October 21-23, 2002.
- A standing invitation has been made to present the preliminary findings of the research in an ad hoc expert group meeting by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (U.N. ESCAP) in Bangkok from January 28-29 2003.
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