Most places charge for access, but rates are very low, so Internet cafes are a viable choice as a primary means of access to the Internet. Teenagers and even younger children use them for ICQ and to e-mail each other. Depending on where you go, the cafes may be filled with backpacking Europeans or Thai school kids. Lots of Internet cafes since the Philippines is a nation of coffee drinkers and chatters, and Internet terminals are also easy to find in the big malls. For many Filipinos, Internet cafes are the only places where they have access to computers and the Internet.
Most access is still narrowband and in most cases users pay hourly charges.
Even in the poorer neighborhoods, you will find many LAN cafes, which in most cases also have some Internet computers. People visit these cafes with friends to play the latest graphic-intensive multiplayer games on the shop's powerful networked computers. The cost of broadband connectivity leads many gamers to do all their gaming over the LAN rather than finding opponents online. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and the Internet remains far from the daily lives of most of its citizens. Even for these few privileged users, the Internet remains a luxury.