For example assume an above average connection, you still cant take watching videos for granted as you do in say AU or US. If you are heavy on the streaming whilst you work then it can be annoying, so there is some wait for a video to load, not long but at times the video is not loading faster then it plays so you get pauses.
However if youre just browsing or working from a terminal screen there really isnt to much issues, its fast enough.
What i found though is the 3G connection was terrible, mainly because the population is so large (specially) in indonesia that at busy times the service providers just can't keep up and the slowdown in 3g data can be felt.
In the city where I live (Donetsk) public areas are covered with free wifi service.
I'm living in Canada right now but considering starting a startup in the Caribbean (where I'm originally from) but I know from experience that the talent there is nowhere as good as it is here. I'd probably have to recruit from North America, similar to what the guys at Tropical MBA are doing.
Pros:
* Cheap -- You can make it as cheap as you want. You can get down to $100-$200 per month if you're aggressive. But understand that you won't have the western lifestyle that you're used to. If you want a nice western kitchen, bathroom, consistent electricity, consistent bandwidth, then you're going to pay more and more. I found a sweetspot of about $1k/month total expenses.
* Quality of living -- this is related to cost. You can have a full time maid, driver, etc. It's totally normal, totally acceptable, and improves mental health significantly.
* Tropical weather, access to many travel destinations
Cons:
* Far from family and friends
* Lots of business travel -- If you have customers in the U.S. or Europe, inevitably you're going to end up traveling there frequently. This bothers some people more than others. It really wore me down.
* Difficult hiring environment -- It can be really hard to find top tier talent. Either be patient, or be willing to pay above market rates.
* Weak legal system -- As you achieve success, you will unfortunately become target of occasional shady behavior. For example, an accountant who skims petty cash, or a server admin who locks you out of your own servers. In the U.S., those risks are mitigated by a good legal system (and background checks, credit agencies, reliable postal system, etc). In developing countries, you are largely on your own. That can lead to a feeling of helplessness. Toughen up. Hire lawyers.
Non-cons:
* Taxes -- Yes, international taxes are complicated; however, you can easily afford local legal services to handle everything.
* Foreign bank accounts -- Not as scary as FACTA sounds. Hire a good U.S. accountant to do your taxes.
We had a U.S. LLC and local entity in the Philippines. Doing business as a U.S. entity is 1000x easier (think about payments, collections, legal services, etc). Have a local entinty for all local staff and your office.
The Philippines, like many developing countries, has many special government programs to encourage entrepreneurship. For example, we were in a program that granted a 5-year tax holiday and special visas for "job creators".