Internet speed in Philippines improves in September

MANILA, Philippines — Internet speed in the Philippines improved on all segments in September, but the country failed to match the progress made by other economies to enhance connectivity.

Based on Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, mobile internet speed in the Philippines improved to 22.54 Mbps in September from 22.35 Mbps in August.

However, the country placed nowhere close to the global median speed of 33.17 Mbps, with Norway (126.94 Mbps), United Arab Emirates (126.85 Mbps), and Qatar (124.29 Mbps) leading everyone else.

On the other hand, fixed broadband speed in the Philippines rose to 78.69 Mbps in September from 78.33 Mbps in August.

For the fixed broadband segment, the country exceeded the global median speed of 71.39 Mbps, benchmarked by Chile’s 217.43 Mbps, Singapore’s 215.83 Mbps and China’s 196 Mbps.

Ookla reported that the Philippines fell by three notches to 85th among 139 nations in terms of mobile internet speed.

The country also slid to 46th from 45th, out of 181 economies for fixed broadband speed.

For the third quarter, Ookla awarded Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. as the most reliable mobile network in the Philippines after logging the highest consistency and availability scores.

Globe scored 82.55 in all technology consistency and 92.03 in all technology availability based on Ookla’s third quarter analysis of mobile internet providers in the country.

PLDT Inc.’s wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. rated 80.82 and 90.69 for consistency and availability, respectively, while Dennis Uy’s Dito Telecommunity Corp. attained 70.40 and 90.68 in those metrics.

Globe has started speeding up its 5G delivery since last year as part of efforts to widen network reach and push for universal connectivity.

After completing close to 2,000 5G sites in 2021, the mobile giant built another 900 in the first semester of 2022.

On the other hand, Ookla said Android, Apple, and Samsung users in the Philippines registered faster internet speeds by up to 75 percent when connected to Smart. The firm beat the mobile internet speed of its closest competitor whether on 4G, LTE or 5G coverage.

As of June, Smart has set up a total of 77,100 base stations nationwide, including around 7,300 5G sites, to meet the rising data needs of its subscribers nationwide.

For the year, Globe, Smart’s parent PLDT and Dito eye to spend P89 billion, P85 billion and P50 billion, respectively, for capital expenditures, mainly for the upgrade of network facilities.