Philippines: 523% increase in internet speed

FASTER INTERNET: Filipinos are now enjoying a much improved internet service — five-fold increase in average internet speed since 2016. Based on April 2021 speed tests, the Philippines has seen marked improvements in global internet access rankings, both in upload and download segments. A “sari-sari” (variety or sundry) store offers options for weekly internet data services.

STUDENTS’ PACKAGE: A Talk’n’Text (TNT, a cellular service of Smart Communications) ad on a footbridge next to a school appeals to students — with a 7GB offer for 7 days for 99 pesos ($2). School is still out due to the pandemic. Below are yellow “tricycles”, an indigenous form of the auto rickshaw and are a common means of last-mile transport in the Philippines.

SPEED TEST: The Ookla Speedtest Global Index April 2021 report showed a 6.62% monthly improvement in the Philippines’ fixed broadband speeds and a significant 14.51% improvement in average mobile download speeds.

SPEED GOES UP: The improvements in speed represent an impressive 23-notch upward movement in global rankings for the Philippines in terms of fixed broadband service, and a 26-notch improvement for mobile in global rankings, according to Ookla, the global leader in internet testing, data and analysis. Speedtest is the company's flagship tool.

FIBER TO THE HOME: Fixed broadband speed increased from 46.25Mbps in March to 49.31Mbps in April 2021. On average, mobile download speeds have improved to 29.12Mbps in April — from 25.43Mbps the previous month. Converge is one of the fibre-to-the-home service which has greatly improved web access in the island nation.

FRUSTRATION: The archipelagic country of about 111 million inhabitants has been reeling from a drawn-out underinvestment in infrastructure, especially in telecommunications. The government broke the back of PLDT’s monopoly in the 1990s, but a telecom oligopoly has been creeping back in through mergers/ buyouts. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, frustrated at the snail-paced internet service since he became president, has hurled invectives and curse-laden speeches berating captains of the telecom industry.

PERMITS: In July 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered local government units (LGUs) to expedite the facilitation of permits in for building cellular towers (such as the one shown, upper right). Since then, there has been a significant increase in the issuance of permits from July 2020 to April 2021.

FIXED BROADBAND LINE UP COCONUT TREES: Fixed broadband speed has improved by as much as 523.38% since the Duterte administration began in July 2016. In rural areas, linemen use coconut trees to set fibre optic lines (temporarily) in between concrete posts.

FIBRE FOR RURAL HOMES: In the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the country ranked 5th in fixed broadband and 6th in mobile out of 10 countries. The improvement in the country’s internet speed comes after the President’s directive last July 2020 on the need to expedite the facilitation of LGU permits in relation to building cellular towers. Since then, there has been a significant increase in the issuance of permits from July 2020 to April 2021. An orange ring up a coconut tree holds a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) line being laid out in rural Philippines. FTTH is high-speed communications signal over optical fibre from the operator's switching equipment all the way to a home or business, promising connection speeds of up to 100 Mbps – 20 to 100 times faster than a typical cable modem or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection.

MOBILE ACCESS: Mobile internet speed, meanwhile, improved by 291.40% during the same period. Daily, weekly and monthly payment options are available for this Globe at Home Prepaid Wifi, a mobile data router.

HOME-SCHOOLING: The coronavirus pandemic has pushed tens of millions of Filipino children, like their counterparts in the rest of the world, into home-schooling mode. As a result, the need for speed has spiked significantly. In grade schools, especially in rural areas, lessons are still mostly done through printed modules; but among older students, delivery of lessons via video has resulted in a significant rise in bandwidth demand. Mobile phone cell sites, especially in rural areas, are blown up by rebels every now and then, crippling access for students in areas that already suffer relatively slower internet service. Jonathan, 11, a Grade 6 pupil, listens to his father Ricardo Ticzon teaching him at home.

ONLINE CLASSES: Grade school student Bhea Joy Roxas (centre) uses a smart phone as she joins online classes while her friends observe inside a passenger jeepney at the Tandang Sora jeepney terminal in Quezon city, Philippines on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. Students in the Philippines began classes at home Monday after the coronavirus pandemic forced remote-learning onto an educational system already struggling to fun schools.

RANKING: Out of 176 countries tested, Philippine fixed broadband speed ranked 80th while ranking 84th out of 134 countries in mobile. Out of 50 countries in Asia, the country’s internet speed placed 21st for fixed broadband and 26th for mobile. In Asia-Pacific, the Philippines ranked 16th for fixed broadband and 13th for mobile out of 46 countries. A bayside view of the Manila.

IMPROVED ACCESS: Ookla tested 50 countries in Asia. The Philippines' internet speed placed 21st for fixed broadband and 26th for mobile. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines ranked 16th for fixed broadband and 13th for mobile out of 46 countries. A scene at the BGC, a commercial suburb of Manila.

FROM 10 TO 2: There used to be 10 telecom franchisees in the Philippines. A cross-matching scheme helped bring phone services to rural areas and mandated interconnection among the operators. The franchise to operate in lucrative cities and urbanised areas was tied to a requirement to provide basic telecom services to underserved, rural areas.

AREA SUBDIVISION SCHEME. The scheme, devised under the administration of former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, was dubbed a huge success. But telecom industry consolidation has seen the 10 getting whittled down to just two dominant ones. The country’s telecom scene is a virtual duopoly — PLDT/Smart and Globe — controlled by influential Filipino families, though these firms are also publicly owned as they are listed in local stock exchanges.

THIRD TELCO PLAYER: The entry of the third major telecom service provider, DITO Telecommunity, is expected to intensify competition and further improve data access in the country. DITO recently launched commercial operations in the National Capital Region and is now present in 100 cities all over the country.

NETWORK ROLLOUT: DITO Telecommunity is aggressively pushing its own network rollout in major cities and towns, especially in the oft-neglected areas of Visayas and Mindanao. Duterte is from Davao, in the southern island of Mindanao. The new entrant aims to grab at least two million subscribers by year-end.