The Philippines’ average internet speed has further improved in April compared with the previous month, according to the Ookla Speedtest Global Index.
Ookla’s latest report showed fixed broadband speed continued to accelerate from 46.25 megabits per second (Mbps) in March to 49.31 Mbps in April 2021, while mobile speed yielded an average download speed of 29.12 Mbps from 25.43 Mbps the month before.
The latest download speeds represent a monthly improvement of 6.62 percent for fixed broadband and 14.51 percent for mobile.
Average download speed for fixed broadband has improved by as much as 523.38 percent since the Duterte administration began in July 2016. Mobile internet speed also increased by 291.40 percent during the same period.
Improvement in the country’s internet speed was noted after the President’s directive last July 2020 to expedite the facilitation of local government unit permits in relation to building cellular towers. Since then, there has been a significant increase in permits issued from July 2020 to April 2021.
New telecom player DITO Telecommunity Corp. has started its commercial operation last March and has expanded its presence to 51 key cities in the country. Its mobile services will be available in Metro Manila by midyear.
Incumbent telcos Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT Inc. have been aggressive in expanding their networks to further improve their services.
Globe has installed 318 new cell towers in the first quarter this year and this is further boosted by 20 standalone in-building solutions in equally important sites.
Globe’s bid to make 5G services more pervasive is on track, expanding this to 1,383 sites in National Capital Region, Bacolod, Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Davao as of end-March. It has also completed the expansion of at least 4,210 sites and laying 274,000 high-speed lines, which is more than a fourth of its target of one million fiber to the home lines for 2021.
PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications Inc.’s rollout of its 5G network has reached over 2,600 sites nationwide. Smart continues to expand its 4G/Long Term Evolution network across the country as well as its accelerated rollout of 5G, which delivers superfast fiber-like mobile speeds for customers.
