The Philippines moved up 3 notches to 83rd spot for mobile internet speed, and up 8 notches to 92nd for fixed broadband in a ranking of 140 countries in last month's Ookla Speedtest report.
"Everyone in government, telecommunication companies, and mobile network operators had been doubling efforts to enhance Internet connectivity and access in the country,” remarked Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II
The country’s average download speed for February 2021 surged to 38.46 Mbps (fixed broadband) and 26.24 Mbps (mobile internet), the Ookla report stated.
For the fixed broadband category, the jump to the February rating saw a 17.51% or 5.73 Mbps increase from the 32.73 Mbps last January.
As for the mobile internet speed, the January figures recorded 25.77 Mbps, showing a slight increase in average download speed.
The fixed broadband average download speed of 38.46 Mbps for February 2021 registered its highest increase since the onset of the current administration—a 386.22% increase from the recorded figure of 7.91 Mbps back in July 2016.
As for mobile, there is a 252.68% increase from its speed of 7.44 Mbps back in July 2016.
Since the President’s directive last July 2020, the DICT had been working with other agencies to expedite permitting requirements to support telcos with their intensified deployment of cellular towers.
The DICT cited the significant increase in the number of cellular towers built from July 2020 to January 2021, totalling 3,211 new towers.
The DICT and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) are closely monitoring the progress of telcos vis-à-vis their submitted rollout plans for 2021.
Due to these efforts, the country now ranks 6th for both fixed broadband and mobile categories among the ten ASEAN countries.
In Asia, the country placed 24th for fixed broadband and 25th for mobile out of 50 countries; and among the 46 Asia-Pacific countries, the Philippines ranks 18th for fixed broadband and 14th for mobile.
With the third major player Dito Telecommunity having begun their commercial rollout, Globe and PLDT are expected to continue ramping up their digital infrastructure rollout and working on improving their services.
“With our combined efforts, the Philippine broadband and mobile network experience had steadily undergone great improvements, and we look forward to what we can further achieve in the coming months,” Secretary Honasan concluded.