Despite significant progress in the country’s digital transformation, a persistent digital divide separates urban and rural areas, creating unequal access to the internet’s opportunities, according to a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
“To bridge this digital divide, it is crucial to address affordability, speed, and demand-side factors, along with transparent and collaborative implementation of policies,” PIDS said.
“Mobile data affordability has shown positive strides in recent years, making it a more accessible option for many Filipinos,” it said.
The PIDS study said, however, that mobile network performance, particularly in terms of speed, still lags behind ASEAN counterparts.
While the Philippines enjoys near universal 4G coverage at 99 percent and promising 5G penetration at 70 percent, PIDS said its mobile broadband speed lags behind Southeast Asian leaders.
In an Ookla report in August 2023, the Philippines has average fixed broadband upload and download speeds of 6.21 megabits per second (Mbps) and 25.47 Mbps, respectively compared to Singapore with 81.41 Mbps download speed.
PIDS also said that there is a glaring problem on affordability. According to the 2022 Global System for Mobile Communications Mobile Association (GSMA) Connectivity Index, the Philippines ranks third lowest in terms of mobile data affordability, scoring a mere 47.01 out of 100.
“This acts as a challenging barrier to more widespread internet adoption although the country fares better in other key factors such as infrastructure and consumer readiness,” it said.
“Access and internet speed fall sharply in rural regions, leaving many communities disconnected from the online world’s opportunities,” the study authors said.
Regions with lower development and urbanization, like Region VIII and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), have much slower internet speeds, they said.
PIDS said that Region VIII’s fastest fixed broadband is only around 40 Mbps, while BARMM’s average mobile download speed is barely 10 Mbps.
To address this disparity, PIDS suggested lowering device and data costs and improving network speeds.
“Finally, addressing the lack of electricity in certain areas is also a critical prerequisite for utilizing ICT and deploying fixed broadband networks,” PIDS said.
It also said that deploying networks using electric poles can be a more cost-effective solution compared to building underground fiber optic lines.