Despite the country being dubbed as having one of the worst internet services in South East Asia, things are starting to improve. Don’t believe us? According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Public Administration Country Studies (UNPACS), the country’s ranking in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector has had significant gains, jumping from 95 two years ago to 71st place this year.
The study credits the innovations and improvements made by the two telecom service providers and the Philippine government’s efforts to improve ICT via the newly created Department of Information and Communications Technology, under the leadership of Atty. Rodolfo Salalima.
The UN isn’t the only body that is noticing the improvements – Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which makes both phones and telecommunications equipment, also cited a marked improvement in the development of ICT in the Philippines. In their Global Connectivity Index (GCI) for 2016, the country managed to climb up four places from last year’s index – 42 to 38.
While there’s still a lot to do, it’s comforting to know that the Philippines is on the right track. Both telcos are now hard at work trying to integrate the 700MHz band that they purchased from San Miguel, which should greatly improve data connectivity for everybody.
Here’s to hoping.