QUOTE(Janette Toral @ Digital Filipino)
HOW do you define an Internet café?
Actually, I’m having a sort of dilemma on this one as another type of business establishment can also be involved in Internet rental services to boost income. Does this make them an Internet café as well?
This integration of Internet rental in traditional businesses has resulted in confusion in the gathering of metrics with regard to the actual numbers to date of Internet cafes.
I believe that local government units should start listing Internet cafes in their respective websites as this is now considered important information by tourists, domestic or foreign, whenever they visit a particular area.
When talking with industry experts, the number of Internet cafes are currently pegged between 8,000 and 14,000 all over the country. Most are surviving by offering more than just your traditional Internet rental service.
Others offer scanning, desktop publishing, gaming, encoding, research, printing and prepaid cards selling, among others.
Another expansion approach that some Internet cafes are now pursuing is to function as a call center. Some rent out their facilities like Netopia.
Companies like the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) are also making the Internet café business an option that new entrepreneurs can look into.
I believe that there would be changes in the Internet cafe market within a year or two as the not so well-funded players, who rely on pirated software, will be more pressured to go legitimate otherwise their competitors will be the ones who will report them. This may also result in the stabilization of prices in the market.
Microsoft is actively educating the market with its Internet Cafe Rental Rights program to ensure that these places operate legitimately when using their products. Those who can’t afford to purchase software have invested in open source solutions.
Gaming is a popular activity in Internet cafes. Like in China, there are now Filipino gold farmers in the gaming community who sell account identities or charge a fee for playing another person’s account to reach a particular level.
The use of Internet cafes by the youth has elicited a lot of reaction from the local government units and schools.
Some even issued local regulation to ban minors from going to Internet cafes during school hours.
I’ve heard and read of horror stories about young people stealing money just to have resources to spend in an Internet café.
During One Internet Day last September, I recalled one Internet café owner who stood up and reminded the parents about their responsibility to their children and not to expect this of the Internet café.
This I agree with. Definitely, even without Internet cafés, a youth who decides to misbehave will choose one leisure activity over the other just to do what he or she wants.
With the maturing Internet sector, Internet cafe owners appear to be the most organized and even strategically quantifiable as most cities in the country have established organizations. This is where some of the most resilient entrepreneurs, who can’t rest on whatever laurels they gain due to the fast changing structure of the market, can be found.
Actually, I’m having a sort of dilemma on this one as another type of business establishment can also be involved in Internet rental services to boost income. Does this make them an Internet café as well?
This integration of Internet rental in traditional businesses has resulted in confusion in the gathering of metrics with regard to the actual numbers to date of Internet cafes.
I believe that local government units should start listing Internet cafes in their respective websites as this is now considered important information by tourists, domestic or foreign, whenever they visit a particular area.
When talking with industry experts, the number of Internet cafes are currently pegged between 8,000 and 14,000 all over the country. Most are surviving by offering more than just your traditional Internet rental service.
Others offer scanning, desktop publishing, gaming, encoding, research, printing and prepaid cards selling, among others.
Another expansion approach that some Internet cafes are now pursuing is to function as a call center. Some rent out their facilities like Netopia.
Companies like the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) are also making the Internet café business an option that new entrepreneurs can look into.
I believe that there would be changes in the Internet cafe market within a year or two as the not so well-funded players, who rely on pirated software, will be more pressured to go legitimate otherwise their competitors will be the ones who will report them. This may also result in the stabilization of prices in the market.
Microsoft is actively educating the market with its Internet Cafe Rental Rights program to ensure that these places operate legitimately when using their products. Those who can’t afford to purchase software have invested in open source solutions.
Gaming is a popular activity in Internet cafes. Like in China, there are now Filipino gold farmers in the gaming community who sell account identities or charge a fee for playing another person’s account to reach a particular level.
The use of Internet cafes by the youth has elicited a lot of reaction from the local government units and schools.
Some even issued local regulation to ban minors from going to Internet cafes during school hours.
I’ve heard and read of horror stories about young people stealing money just to have resources to spend in an Internet café.
During One Internet Day last September, I recalled one Internet café owner who stood up and reminded the parents about their responsibility to their children and not to expect this of the Internet café.
This I agree with. Definitely, even without Internet cafés, a youth who decides to misbehave will choose one leisure activity over the other just to do what he or she wants.
With the maturing Internet sector, Internet cafe owners appear to be the most organized and even strategically quantifiable as most cities in the country have established organizations. This is where some of the most resilient entrepreneurs, who can’t rest on whatever laurels they gain due to the fast changing structure of the market, can be found.