Users in urban areas experienced better connectivity during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Philippines to undergo community quarantine, causing a surge in data consumption for streaming services like Netflix and YouTube. How did the surge affect overall connectivity? According to Opensignal’s report, 4G video experience declined in urban areas nationwide by 7.2% and in rural areas by 14.7%.
Despite the drop in 4G video experience in March—when the community quarantine was implemented, telco providers managed to keep up with the increased demand. Those residing in NCR enjoyed a good 4G video (55-65 on a scale of 100) experience, while other regions experienced a fair (40 to 55) 4G video experience.
On a per-regional breakdown, those residing in the urban areas of North and Central Luzon experience the lowest drop in 4G video experience at -2.6%, while those residing in urban areas of Visayas and NCR placed second and third respectively.
Factors to the drop in overall 4G video experience include telco companies relaxing data limits, and increased consumption of 4G data as the majority of Filipinos are confined in their homes to comply with community quarantine guidelines. Opensignal said that improvements made by telco operators prior to this pandemic helped them in keeping their services resilient despite the challenges.
