Internet speeds in Manila at par with Southeast Asian neighbors

According to the report, Manila posted a Download Speed Experience score of 11.2 Mbps. This puts it behind Ho Chi Minh (14.7 Mbps) and Kuala Lumpur (11.8 Mbps) but ahead of Bangkok (9.8 Mbps), Jakarta (8.2 Mbps) and Phnom Penh (6.3 Mbps).

While the current report has no information per operator, OpenSignal previously released a Mobile Network Experience

The earlier study, which was released in March, showed that in Manila, Smart posted a Download Speed Experience score of 15.2 Mbps and a “good” video experience score of 55.4.

These findings were based on crowd-sourced data gathered from November 1, 2018 to January 29, 2019.

Smart’s scores in the March report

were well ahead of competition in the Philippines. These scores also put its performance at levels similar to that of neighboring cities like Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh in terms of Download Speed Experience and Video Experience, according to the latest analysis.

At the country level, Smart led in four metrics —download and upload speed experience, video experience and latency experience—while it tied with competition in terms of 4G availability.

Parent company PLDT has poured about $5 billion into the transformation of its fixed and mobile networks from 2016 to 2020. This year, PLDT has set aside P78.4 billion further expand coverage and increase capacity to handle the rapid growth in data traffic. Over half of this capex program has been allotted to build up Smart’s mobile network, particularly its LTE and LTEAdvanced facilities.

PLDT and Smart have been recognized by Ookla as the fastest fixed and mobile networks in the Philippines for 2018.

Smart has also consistently topped OpenSignal’s Mobile Experience Awards since 2017.

Canada-based mobile data company Tutela, in a recent study on the State of Mobile Networks in Southeast Asia, said that Smart users were twice as likely to experience ‘excellent’ data connections, which are needed for heavy data uses like video viewing, whereas Germany-based global benchmark leader P3 also cited Smart for offering the country’s download speeds.