Internet speed in Philippines improves

MANILA, Philippines — Internet speed in the Philippines for both mobile and fixed broadband improved in June as the telco competition heats up with the third player topping 10 million subscribers.

According to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, mobile internet speed in the country jumped by 11 percent to 21.41 Mbps in June from 19.26 Mbps in May.

However, the Philippines has a long way to go before it meets the global median speed of 31.01 Mbps, with Norway’s 126.96 Mbps, United Arab Emirates’s 120.37 Mbps and Bulgaria’s 110.61 Mbps setting the benchmark for everyone.

Likewise, fixed broadband speed in the country rose by 15 percent to 68.94 Mbps in June from 60.09 Mbps in May.

As for this segment, the Philippines surpassed the global median speed of 66.25 Mbps led by Chile’s 213.73 Mbps, Singapore’s 203.61 Mbps and China’s 188.03 Mbps.

Ookla also reported that the Philippines jumped three notches to 88th among 139 economies for mobile internet speed. On the other hand, the country climbed five places to 53rd in a list of 182 nations for fixed broadband speed.

In June, Ookla principal industry analyst Sylwia Kechiche said the entry of telco newcomer Dito Telecommunity Corp. contributed in improving the internet speed across the Philippines.

Kechiche, in an analysis, said LTE performance in the country went up to 15.53 Mbps in the first quarter, or about a year into Dito’s operation, from 11.15 Mbps a year ago, when Dito marked its commercial launch.

“Our analysis suggests that Dito’s entry, combined with the regulatory changes, resulted in more network investment and an overall improvement in the 4G coverage and performance across all operators,” Kechiche said.

Last week, Dito said that it has registered more than 10 million subscribers as of July, closing in on its target of reaching at least 12 million by the fourth quarter.

As Dito expands, telco mainstays PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. also poured in investments in new solutions and technologies to upgrade services. PLDT, for one, hooked up with the Jupiter cable system to triple its international capacity to 60 terabits per second.

Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu yesterday also committed that the telco giant would widen its 5G availability nationwide to speed up the economy’s shift to the digital.