"Mandatory 'Free Peering' is another way to speed up Philippine Internet service. Its like allowing separate Internet network whether government-owned or private to interconnect with major telecommunication companies to facilitate faster exchange of data. Globe and PLDT have done it with voice. Let them do it this time with data. Government should step in and never take this issue lightly. Investing on ICT is not an EXPENSE but a necessary tool for economic development and job creation" - Rodge Tonacao
Under the memo circular of the National Telecommunications Communications (NTC), all ISPs are required to connect with the IP exchange of the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) with respect to their domestic Internet traffic.
Proponents of IP peering such as Globe Telecom have said to be erroneously comparing this to interconnection for voice calls and SMS between phone carriers, except that in this case interconnection applies to Internet traffic.
“That is comparing apples and oranges," said PLDT technology group head Roland G. Pena. “IP peering is much more complex than conventional interconnection."
Pena argues that "Unlike conventional phone systems where calls are handled using carefully planned routing tables downloaded into switching systems, the routers of Internet use a self-discovery process to determine the connectivity of the network and decide themselves where to send traffic. Rather than use direct high-usage peering or redundancy throughout the network which is the rule for telephone systems, the Internet achieves reliability via a mesh network rich in alternate routes."
