With the implementation of number portability in the Philippines, Filipinos take advantage of it by switching networks to what suits their needs–all while keeping the same number.
To see the trend of why Filipinos switch networks, Opensignal released a new report, which gives us a closer look at its effect. In its findings, it appears that “Filipino smartphone users that switched their mobile operator on average saw a significantly worse mobile experience before they changed operators.”
What this means is that users who leave their original networks experience a longer duration of not having a signal and less time on a 4G or 5G network. Third telco DITO experienced the highest time with no signal among the three, while Globe experienced the lowest time on 4G/5G.
Even if Filipinos do make a switch to a different network, this does not necessarily translate to improved service. This becomes evident in the time connected to a 4G/5G network: while there’s no change with those who leave Smart, those who leave Globe saw an improvement after switching to another network, while it’s the opposite for DITO leavers.
With all the data gathered by Opensignal, they concluded that switching networks in the Philippines really depends on the mobile network experience offered by their telco provider. Those switching networks will only experience an improvement if the telco provider they are transferring to will offer an overall better network experience.
