Mobile, broadband download speed found improving

Just when the government is opening up the telecommunications sector to a third player, a recent speedtest report showed that the country’s average download speed for mobile broadband has improved 80.77 percent to 13.45Mbps in December 2017 from 7.44Mbps in July, 2016, along with the fixed broadband which rose 92.03 percent to 15.19Mbps from 7.91Mbps during the same period.

According to the Speedtest Global Index Report of December 2017, the monthly average for both the mobile and fixed broadband has grown steadily in the Philippines since July, 2016, owing it to improved internet services.

This developed as President Duterte has opened the telecommunications sector to a third player to boost competition in the industry, which is run by the duopoly of Smart and Globe. President Duterte has repeatedly called on industry players to shape up or face competition. Several foreign players have already expressed interest to join, including China Telecom, and South Korea, among others.

Faster internet speed and availability are also expected to improve further with the implementation of the National Broadband Plan by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

In the report, Speedtest said the Philippines’ average download speed for mobile broadband climbed steadily from 7.44Mbps (July 2016), 7.7Mbps (August 2016), 8.18Mbps (September 2016), 8.56Mbps (October 2016), 8.59Mbps (November 2016), 9.53Mbps (December 2016), 9.34Mbps (January 2017), 10.07Mbps (February 2017), 9.73Mbps (March 2017), 9.71Mbps (April 2017), 9.93Mbps (May 2017), 10.32Mbps (June 2017), 10.29Mbps (July 2017), 10.47Mbps (August 2017), 11.95Mbps (September 2017), 12.31Mbps (October 2017), 12.35Mbps (November 2017) and 13.45Mbps (December 2017).