Some good news for the country: Ookla recently revealed in their March 2021 report that broadband download speeds in the Philippines have improved to 46.25Mbps, which represents a 7.79Mbps increase in download speeds from 38.46Mbps last February. That translates to around a 20.45% month-to-month increase, and a 484.70% increase from July 2016, where the download speeds for broadband in the Philippines were just at 7.91Mbps.

With this improvement, Ookla notes that the Philippines is the second most improved in terms of broadband internet, with Oman taking the top spot. The improvement of broadband speeds in the Philippines for March 2021 makes the country climb up 11 spots in the global rankings.

As for mobile internet, the Philippines dipped slightly from 26.24Mbps to 25.43Mbps, causing the country to drop three notches in the global ranking for mobile internet. However, the country’s mobile internet speeds have improved by 241.80% when compared to July 2016 where it scored 7.44Mbps for download speeds.

The improvements in broadband speeds can be credited to telco companies complying with President Rodrigo Duterte’s marching orders to improve internet speeds. These improvements include Converge expanding its infrastructure by adding a third core node for better network reliability and resiliency, and PLDT working on a new submarine cable system to strengthen its data capacity and expand its network coverage.

For mobile internet, both Smart and Globe are working to expand their network coverage through constructing new infrastructure, while third telco DITO is helping out by slowly expanding its network coverage nationwide and by completing interconnections with both Globe and Smart.

On top of that, both Smart and Globe are being aggressive by announcing new prepaid promos that include All-Data packs and Unlimited 5G data packs, while GOMO and DITO continues to offer compelling internet promos to users who prioritize large data packs for their WFH and internet backup needs.