Did the Philippines’ Internet Speed Improve these Past Few Months?

Another issue that’s worth debating about

It has been a frustration for most of us Filipinos: Our internet speeds ranked as one of the slowest in Asia. The worst part? We pay thousands of pesos for an internet connection that is pretty mediocre—at least when compared to our Asian neighbors.

However, recent reports show that there’s an improvement to our internet speed. According to a report by Speedtest Global, the country’s average mobile internet speed has improved to 11.95 Mbps in September, compared to 10.47 Mbps in August and 8.18 Mbps in September last year.

The same can be said when it comes to fixed broadband connections: Speeds improved to 13.41 Mbps in September, compared to 13.29 Mbps in August, and 8.76 Mbps in September last year. While the figures may be debatable for some of us, there are many possible factors to the improved speeds: From President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated appeals to telco companies to improve their services to telco companies upgrading their infrastructure.

While consumers will take a time for us to feel the improvement (Speedtest notes that users can download a 1 hour 40 minute movie faster by 10 minutes with the improved), we should give credit where credit is due: Smart has increased its cell coverage to 12 percent since March this year, and Globe is negotiating with homeowners with its infrastructure expansion.

If you would ask me, I agree with the figures that Speedtest Global presented, but with limitations: While internet speeds have improved, this improvement is only felt in select areas. Also, Globe, Smart, and other internet providers are still behind in terms of the amount of infrastructure optimized for internet: high-traffic areas like Makati and Taguig experience speed drops especially when there are multiple users surfing the internet at the same time in the same location.

Let’s not also forget that globally, internet speeds were affected after several underground cables were damaged a few months ago. While the repair should be done by this time, it will take a while before global internet speeds return to normal—and the same goes for the Philippines’ road towards improved internet speeds.

Our internet speeds may frustrate us most of the time, but as the saying goes: Slowly but surely. Small improvements like what Speedtest reported give us some hope that one day we will be at par with our Asian neighbors when it comes to connectivity.