Ookla report: PLDT, Smart win speed wars

PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. won in the speed wars for both fixed broadband and mobile data in the second half of 2020, data from Internet testing and analysis provider ookla showed.

Based on the recent Speedtest report of ookla, PLDT bested competition with a speed score of 27.28 points, beating Converge ICT (23.92 points), Sky (20.55 points), and Globe (11.11 points), while Smart outperformed Globe’s network after garnering 24.99 points, way ahead of the competition’s 15.30 points.

PLDT’S top download speeds reached 79.48 Mbps and top upload speeds peaked at 92.18 Mbps, while Smart’s average download speeds settled at 20.08 Mbps and average upload speeds were at 7.42 Mbps.

“over half a billion users rely on Speedtest to measure their internet performance every year. ookla analyzes these test results to get an unparalleled view into mobile and fixed broadband metrics around the world. It is our pleasure to recognize PLDT and Smart as the Fastest Fixed and Mobile Network’s in the Philippines based on our rigorous analysis,” said doug Suttles, CEO at ookla.

Mario G. Tamayo, Head of Technology at Pldt-smart, said the group was able to achieve this feat through its continued development program for both its fixed line and wireless networks. “These awards bear witness to the impact of the company’s sustained network investments over the past years, enabling us to provide our customers with the best data experience, despite the challenges of the pandemic,” he said. PLDT is spending between P88 billion and P92 billion in capital expenditures this year, as it puts prime focus on deploying new technologies in its existing networks and building new sites to expand its coverage and capacity.

The Philippines ranked 96th in terms of mobile Internet speed, while it ranked 100th in rankings for fixed line broadband, according to ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for december 2020.

This means that from its November standing the Philippines climbed 14 notches from its previous ranking for mobile, and 3 notches from its standing for fixed broadband.

ookla’s index involves 139 countries for mobile Internet and 176 nations for fixed broadband.

According to ookla, the Philippines had an average mobile Internet speed of 22.50 Mbps, far below the global average of 47.20 Mbps and almost nine times worse than Qatar, the nation with the fastest mobile Internet speed of 178.01 Mbps.

The Philippine fixed broadband speed averaged at 31.44 Mbps in december, 3 times lower than that of the global average of 96.43 Mbps, and more than 10 times slower than top country Thailand’s 308.35 Mbps.