The internet speed in the Philippines has improved, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said citing crowdsourced data from Ookla.
The rank of the Philippines when it comes to mobile internet speed went from 111th in January 2020 to 86th globally in January this year.
The DICT added the mobile internet speed also increased by 14.5 percent to 22.5 megabits per second (Mbps) while fixed broadband speed rose 4.1 percent to 31.44 Mbps.
“Our vision of digital transformation will be realized if all Filipinos, regardless of who they are and where they are in the country, have quality access to Internet connectivity services at affordable prices,” Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan II said in a statement.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and DICT are checking the status of their network projects and “to address any problems that may cause lags in its implementation.”
In September 2020, Secretary Gringo Honasan of DICT said the speed of internet speed in the Philippines is “is not that bad.”
Philippines’ internet speed improving: DICT
Honasan said during a budget hearing in Congress, the average internet connection speed in the country that ranges from three to seven per second (Mbps) is not as bad as the public says compared with neighboring countries.
“Right now, without going into figures, we are not doing too badly. But this is so hard to explain to the public,” Honasan told members of the House appropriations committee. “Of course, compared to other countries, they can reach up to 55 Mbps while ours is still between 3 and 7 Mbps. But this is not that bad.”
Meanwhile, World Bank and the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) joint study in October 2020 revealed that Filipinos are paying one of the most costly but slowest internet connections in the world.
The study entitled “A Better Normal Under COVID-19: Digitalizing the Philippine Economy Now” showed the Philippines fell behind neighboring middle-income countries in terms of key indicators concerning Internet services.
The report said 57 percent or 12.2 million Filipino families still do not have access to the Internet while those who are connected suffer from slow download speeds.