Summit aims to strengthen RP's Internet café industry

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is moving towards strengthening the Internet Café industry in the Philippines, by holding the First National Internet Café Summit on October 21.

Led by CICT Cyberservices group head Monchito Ibrahim, the summit dubbed “ Towards Better Internet Café Industry in the Next Decade,” will be held in CICT Audio-Visual in Diliman Quezon City.

According to Ibrahim the summit will bring together leaders of the different Internet café associations in the different parts of the country, especially those operators who have expressed their willingness to join the cause of improving the conditions of Internet Café industry in the country.

Representatives from the national government and from allied ICT industries are also expected to join the event.

Vital issues affecting the Internet industry will be discussed to help in building a national program that would aid its acceptance as a vital part of the ICT industry in the Philippines.

Several initiatives of I-Café Pilipinas will be launched on the summit day that hopes to bring improvements in the internet café industry such as I-Café Pilipinas Parnership program, I-Café eCommerce Center, Child Friendly Internet Café, Digital Batang Pinoy, I-Café Academy and I-Cafés as Centers for Learning.

Intel Technologies Philippines, as well as Bayantel Business and Asian Academy of Business and Computers are supporting the event.

Meanwhile, in Cebu, largest player in the Internet Café business Francis Lim earlier said that although profit in Internet Café business is shrinking, its business prospect is still good, considering that 80 percent of the total revenue of an Internet Café is generated by games.

Lim, who operates the Voyage Internet Café in Cebu, with a total of 350-seats spanning from six outlets located in Sanciangko, Talamban, Consolacion and other areas said that the bread and butter for Internet Cafés continues to be the game-related services, more than customers avail of other Internet services, like web browsing, chat, among others.

He said even as the Internet subscription is significantly increasing Internet Café business still thrives, driven by the growth of online game interest among young generation, including young professionals.

With the seemingly saturated market for Internet Cafes that becomes like a Sari-Sari store, that one can find an Internet Café in every corner Lim said the battle in the industry now is providing value-added services, while renting charges have dropped significantly over the years.

While a lot of Internet Café businesses have folded in the last few years, because of bottleneck competition, Lim said others are thriving, as they have continuously invested on sustainable measures like software and hardware upgrade, and providing conducive ambiance both for gamers, and web browsers.

This time though, the direction for Internet Café business is going towards countryside expansion, as there are a lot of towns that do not have this kind of facility in their localities.