At 4.5 Mbps, Philippines internet Asia-Pacific’s slowest
The Philippines is lagging behind its neighbors in Southeast Asia in terms of average internet speed, according to the latest report released by a US-based global content delivery network company. File
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is lagging behind its neighbors in Southeast Asia in terms of average internet speed, according to the latest report released by a US-based global content delivery network company.
Based on Akamai’s fourth quarter 2016 report “State of the Internet,” the Philippines had the lowest average connection speed among surveyed Asia-Pacific countries at 4.5 megabits per second (Mbps).
Other Asian countries with internet speeds below 10 Mbps were India (5.6 mbps), China (6.3), Indonesia (6.7), Sri Lanka (7.3), Malaysia (8.2) and Vietnam (8.3).
South Korea has the fastest average internet speed both in Asia-Pacific and in the world, at 26.1 Mbps.
Akamai said that despite leading the world in average speeds, South Korea still recorded a 0.7-percent decline compared with that recorded in the third quarter.
South Korea was followed by Norway at 23.6 Mbps, Sweden (22.8), Hong Kong (21.9), Switzerland (21.2), Denmark (20.7), Finland (20.6), Singapore (20.2), Japan (19.6) and the Netherlands (17.6).
The US did not make it to the top 10, as it ranked 14th globally, with an average internet speed of 17.2 Mbps.
All 15 Asia-Pacific countries had an average connection speed above 4 mbps similar to the third quarter, according to Akamai.
The internet monitoring firm added that all surveyed countries posted improvements in the fourth quarter, except for Hong Kong, which had a negligible 0.1-percent decline.
Despite the slow internet speed in the Philippines, Akamai noted “there is reason for optimism,” citing government efforts to improve the state of connectivity.
In March, President Duterte approved plans to build a national broadband network, which will be used to run online government services and connect rural areas to the internet.
The Senate also passed on final reading the bill seeking to provide free access to public internet services and target faster internet connectivity at an average of 10 Mbps.
Department of Information and Communications Technology officials said the government plans to deploy fiber optic cables and wireless technology across the country.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, is set to start the plenary debate on the measure mandating free wi-fi in public places today.
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