Philippines posts highest improvement in 5G video experience

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has recorded the highest improvement in 5G video experience in the world as telco giants continue to invest heavily in network expansion to enhance internet speed, according to mobile analyst Opensignal.

It said the country topped all markets worldwide in terms of improvement in mobile video streaming experience using 5G.

“The Philippines continues to see a tremendous uplift with the shift from 4G to 5G by topping the 5G Video Experience uplift category with a 79 percent increase in its score,” Opensignal said.

The Philippines bested the 73 percent boost in 5G video experience in Malaysia, 64 percent in Chile and Thailand and 61 percent in Indonesia.

Opensignal said 5G usage for video would continue to increase due to the superiority of its streaming quality when compared to 4G.

“With Opensignal’s new video streaming tests including higher resolutions that are more suited to a 5G world, we see greater difference in video streaming experience using 5G compared with 4G. The uplift with 5G is now considerably higher,” Opensignal said.

According to Opensignal, the Philippines ranked third on the difference in internet speed between the two technologies, with 5G here nearly nine times faster than 4G.

Malaysia led all markets on the ratio of download speed improvement with its 5G about 26 times faster than its 4G, but Opensignal said there are only a few subscribers in the country and 5G speed could decline when adoption increases.

“Excluding Malaysia, Chile continues to top the 5G download speed uplift table, followed by the Philippines with the same position as in the last benchmark comparison,” Opensignal said.

Among the 15 markets with 5G improvements, the Philippines maintains the second lowest 5G speed of 138.6 Mbps, only ahead of Thailand’s 122.7 Mbps.

South Korea’s 432.7 Mbps led the pack, followed by Malaysia’s 382.2 Mbps and Sweden’s 333.9 Mbps.

In the Philippines, Smart Communications and Globe Telecom offer 5G to subscribers, leaving behind telco newcomer Dito Telecommunity in the competition.

For the year, Smart’s parent PLDT Inc. is spending P85 billion for its capital expenditures to be used for the firm’s increased commitment in 5G roll out.

On the other hand, Globe installed 380 new 5G sites in the first quarter as part of efforts to hook up as many users to 5G as possible.