The global launch of Netflix early Thursday in the Philippines marks the beginning of many a sleepless night for Filipino movie mavens and sci-fi and comic book geeks everywhere. But whether that time will be spent watching movies or just waiting for movies to download remains to be seen. Global demand for Netflix Video streaming company Netflix Inc launched its services in 130 countries, covering almost the entire globe except China, as part of efforts to counter slowing growth in the United States. The company, whose services were available in more than 60 countries before the global launch, had previously said it aimed to reach 200 countries by the end of 2016. Netflix, which has been spending aggressively to expand globally, has said it planned to "run around break-even through 2016" and then deliver profits. "I think there's been pent-up demand for Netflix outside of the few geographies they were available in previously," Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, told Reuters. High Philippine demand That demand is particularly high in the Philippines, thanks to a public starved for streaming videos. Well before Neflix's arrival, rival services such as HOOQ and iFlix already established a foothold in the country and continue to hold their ground. Meanwhile, the Filipino public at large is already primed for streaming content, thanks to YouTube being a common and frequent destination for online Pinoys. In 2015 alone, YouTube touted itself as the world's third most visited website next to Google and Facebook. Netflix itself already has an eager local audience: longtime Filipino fans of science fiction shows and serial dramas—such as Jessica Jones, DareDevil, and The Blacklist—welcomed with open arms the promise of easier access to a broad range of international content. PHL's dismal Internet service It remains to be seen, however, if the country's poor Internet service can keep up with the jump in demand for Netflix and other streaming video services. In 2015 alone, the Philippines was found to have one of the worst Internet download speeds in Asia; the only country worse off was war-torn Afghanistan. Internet metrics company Ookla showed that the Philippines had an average Internet speed of just 3.64 Mbps, whereas Netflix itself recommends a minimum streaming speed of at least 3 Mbps for SD quality video, to say nothing of HD and Ultra HD videos. Furthermore, the consistency of telcos' connections remains a large problem in the Philippines—so much so that government intervention has been urged to force telcos to commit to declaring and delivering a minimum acceptable broadband speed. Free Netflix At least for now, Netflix's service is free for everyone. Netflix Philippines is currently offering a free one-month trial for all its subscription plans. After February 7, subscribers will be charged a minimum of P370 per month for the basic plan, up to P550 for the premium tier: — with a report from Reuters, GMA News - See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/550319/scitech/technology/netflix-and-phl-are-we-ready-for-it#sthash.NUxyPKMA.dpuf
Well that's just great. Think internet speeds are sh*t now? Wait until every smartphone connected to the towers is opening up the Netflix app and (attempting) to stream TV.....at least for that first free month. If I were Netflix I wouldn't even consider opening the service to the Philippines: First problem is the insane amount of fraudulent transactions in this country. When I accepted online payments for another website 70-90% of transactions were from stolen cards/PayPal accounts (or people who used their account to get the product and then refuted the charge to get something for free.....and guess who banks and PayPal side with when those claims are made. Hint: it's not the merchant.....they treated me like a freakin' criminal and I had to prove I was innocent and had nothing to do with their money being stolen....and even after I proved that the product was sold and accepted they still refused to give me the money for the transaction). Second problem is going to be people who pay for the service and then make illegal copies of TV shows and then sell them for chump change to the people who can't afford an internet connection or the P370 a month Netflix fee. Unlike in the West, Netflix and Hollywood won't have any luck getting the government to do anything about putting a stop to the practice. Selling intangible goods on the internet is a HORRIBLE idea in a morally corrupt society that has a justice system that takes a decade to solve even the most basic and obvious criminal cases. I really hope, for the sake of what crappy internet I get right now, that Netflix fails miserably here and blocks the Philippines again.
This NetFlix may not gain a lot of popularity as I tried to sign up for the free month and you need to give paypal or credit card to get it. If you forget to 'cancel' after your free month they will just charge your account and keep you active. I don't care for that and did not sign up. I doubt there are any movies on there that I cannot download for free as torrents. So with free movies available to filipinos who know how to do it and a credit card or paypal required to get the NetFlix I can picture this being a non event.
