Small Policy Change, Big Impact: Improving Internet Access in the Philippines

Abstract

In March 2018, citizens in two remote municipalities of the Philippines accessed the Internet for the first time. The breakthrough was made possible by Pipol Konek, a government program aimed at providing free Internet access to millions of unserved and underserved Filipinos. This story traces how a policy change introduced in August 2017 unlocked the Pipol Konek program. It describes how a group of concerned citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) with support from Coalitions for Change (CfC) identified and eliminated a critical barrier that would lead to immediate and far-reaching implications for improving internet access for millions of Filipinos. Before turning to the details of the reform, we briefly review the importance of the internet for economic development.