Internet speed in the Philippines has seen a dramatic improvement since 2016 when the Duterte Administration took over, increasing by 229.7 percent for fixed broadband and 127.06 percent for mobile connections, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
“Mayroon naman pong improvement simula nung umupo si President Duterte noong 2016 up to the present,” said NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba referring to the country’s download speed, during a public hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday on the state of the telecommunications industry and internet speed.
Based on OOKLA’s latest Speedtest Global Index, download speed for fixed broadband reached 26.08 Mbps as of September 2020, from 7.91 Mbps recorded in July 2016. For mobile broadband, download speed was at 7.44 Mbps in July 2016, but rose to 16.89 Mbps in September this year.
The Philippines has been ranked 31st in Asia in terms of fixed broadband speed and 36th for mobile broadband out of the 50 countries in the continent as per OOKLA.
In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines placed 5th out of nine countries for fixed broadband as of September 2020, while ranked only 8th for mobile broadband, based on the same report.
But with the massive investments in telecommunications infrastructures of industry giants Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications over the years and the entry of third telco DITO Telecommunity, the country is poised to see its internet speed and telco services making a headway in 2021.
To further boost internet coverage and mobile services especially at this time when many businesses and schools are heavily dependent on internet connectivity due to the pandemic, President Duterte has ordered the streamlining of the processes bogged down by bureaucratic red tape in a bid to hasten the construction of cell towers and other telco infrastructures.