Ookla Speedtest Global Index Report for November 2020 indicated a 262.20% improvement on the Philippines’ internet average download speed for fixed broadband and 148.52% for mobile broadband compared to its 2016 speed. 

The country’s average download speed for fixed broadband improved from 7.91Mbps (July 2016) to 28.69Mbps (November 2020), while average download speed for mobile broadband also improved from 7.44Mbps (July 2016) to 18.49Mbps (November 2020).    The country’s internet speed placed twenty-ninth (29th) for fixed broadband and thirty-second (32nd) for mobile broadband out of fifty (50) Asian countries. 

Out of forty-six (46) Asia Pacific countries, the average download speed of the Philippines ranked twentieth (20th) for fixed broadband and twenty-second (22nd) for mobile broadband.    

The steady increase in internet speed from April to November 2020 is welcome news in spite of telcos reporting of a 500% increase in data usage at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Maintenance work and upgrade on cellular sites also proved to be difficult due to the various lockdowns imposed in the country.    The improvement in speed also comes at a time when the country was hit by several devastating typhoons in 2020 that affected major parts of the country.    

Connectivity and internet service are expected to improve further as LGUs and the DILG have extended its full cooperation in expediting permits related to building cellular towers.    

The LGUs efforts, coupled with the DICT’s common tower policy, aim to immediately address the improvement of telecom services across the country.   

Globe said that it has finalized partnerships with eleven tower companies, while Smart signified that it has already agreements with nine tower companies.    New telco player, DITO, has also sealed agreements with three tower companies.  It reported that they have completed 1,500 towers on top of the number of towers being constructed by independent tower contractors.  This number it said is sufficient to serve the 37% population coverage which the telco committed for its first audit this January 2021.    

Building additional towers is seen to be essential in drastically increasing internet speeds to enable the country to be more competitive globally. 2021 will definitely see the proliferation of more cell sites that promises to give the country faster internet speeds.     

DITO’s launch commercially on March 2021 have prompted incumbents Globe and Smart to increase capital expenditures significantly with Globe set to spend P90 billion, and Smart P92 billion in 2021.  Both investments are the highest annually for each telco for the past six years. 

DITO, meanwhile, plans to go head on with the incumbents fulfilling its commitment of spending P150 billion this year for its infrastructure roll-out.