Philippine Mobile Data Speeds Have Improved

We Filipinos know how difficult and challenging it is when it comes to us connecting to the internet. A lot of reports and feedback were sent to different providers regarding this issue. To emphasize that more, this issue has been going on for years and many different resolutions were raised. For the past six (6) months, OpenSignal reports that Philippine mobile data speeds have improved. Generally, this is a positive thing for both businesses and consumers; businesses would be able to prove that they’re continually improving and consumers will have better experiences when they’re connected to the internet.

Globe Telecom, one provider who received negative feedback from its subscribers, had a report that stated that it has improved in 4G download speed to 7.4 MBps and Smart Communications to 9.87 MBps.

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Since the talks of adding a third player in the telecommunications industry, both Smart Communications and Globe Telecom gave aid in improving the overall performance of their services. The two giant companies expanded their LTE reaches in the whole country. With this, it is assumed that customers will have the ability to connect to 4G/LTE more than 3G.

How did the two companies execute this?

Previous reports have been made that point to the addition of LTE base stations of both Smart and Globe. According to the report, Smart was able to add approximately 3, 900 LTE units this year until today. This means that they’re overtaking Globe in terms of 4G capabilities and connection. Globe has 11, 300 LTE stations by the start of May while Smart has 12, 600 until the end of June.

Although this is the case, reports from various sources say that Globe is still the leader in terms of availability. One OpenSignal spokesperson said that Smart leads in download and upload speeds while Globe remains untouched in the leaders of availability.

All Philippine reports we’ve announced, Globe has been the overall leader in terms of 4G availability. On the other hand, Smart has won the download speeds for 4G. This has been in this status for very long now and it hasn’t changed. However, it might change on our next report since Smart is catching up in terms of 4G reaches. Globe only has a 4-point advantage in the 4G availability scores,” the spokesperson said.

The numbers

Globe is generally leading in the availability with a score of 67.79%. Smart, on the other hand, is slowly crawling its way to 64%. It’s a true and huge improvement for Smart because according to the reports of OpenSignal, a half and a year ago they were only at 40% in terms of availability. Partnering that with Smart’s 4G download speed of 9.9 MBps and Globe’s 7.4 MBps download speed. They’re slowly climbing up the LTE ladder of the worldwide average LTE connection speed of 17.5 MBps.

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Those are not the only factors, however. In the Philippine mobile data speeds table, Smart leads in 4G connections and download speeds. However, Globe is slightly ahead from Smart when it comes to 3G download speed. In 4G download speed and 4G service, Globe is far from Smart’s connection and download speed by over half. Smart has an average speed of 13.02 MBps while Globe only has a speed of 7.34 MBps.

When it comes to latency, Globe has a latency of 55.64 ms while Smart has a 53.32 ms. Both had staggering improvements in terms of fast connectivity and availability. On the 3G side, however, Smart has the best and the lowest latency averaging at 157.2 ms.

What changes can we expect in Philippine mobile data speeds?

Could they be scared of the rumored third player in the industry? Could the entirety of Philippine mobile data speeds improve because of this? Or are they just starting to get a hold of better strategies, techniques, and improvements in general? According to reports from OpenSignal, we should wait for better announcements in terms of availability and speed for both providers in the coming months.

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This seems to be coming from the pressure of the oncoming third telecommunications provider. Rumored to have connections that would match first world countries like Singapore, the Hong Kong, and Japan, they would really need to step up in their internet speeds to suffice and keep their customers.

Hopefully, everything gets better not only with our Telecommunication providers, but also in the cable, telephone, and internet industry. By this, we can be sure that the services will improve in every corner of the industry and we would be able to catch up to the technological advances of the countries around us. Let this be the sign of a better yet more technical age for the Philippines.

featured image credit to Smart

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