The Philippines’ broadband and mobile internet speed improved in February 2021, according to global monitoring firm Ookla Speedtest, with the Philippines now at the 83rd spot for mobile and 92nd for fixed broadband in a ranking of 140 countries.
The country moved up three spots from its 86th ranking for mobile, and 8 notches from its 100th ranking for fixed broadband in January 2021.
“Since the President placed great emphasis on the need to improve the connectivity experience for Filipinos, everyone in government, telecommunication companies, and mobile network operators had been diligently doubling efforts to enhance Internet connectivity and access in the country,” DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said.
As stated in the Ookla report, the country’s average download speed for February 2021 surged to 38.46 megabits per second (fixed broadband) and 26.24 Mbps (mobile internet).
For the fixed broadband category, the jump to the February rating saw a 17.51 percent or 5.73 Mbps increase from the 32.73 Mbps in January. As for the mobile internet speed, the January figures recorded 25.77 Mbps, showing a slight increase in average download speed.
The fixed broadband average download speed of 38.46 Mbps for February 2021 registered its highest increase since the onset of the Duterte administration—a 386.22-percent increase from the recorded figure of 7.91 Mbps back in July 2016. For mobile, there was a 252.68-percent increase from its speed of 7.44 Mbps back in July 2016.
The country witnessed improved Internet speed after President Rodrigo Duterte stressed during his last State of the Nation Address that telecommunication companies should shape up to meet the demands of the telecommuting population.
“With our combined efforts, the Philippine broadband and mobile network experience had steadily undergone great improvements, and we look forward to what we can further achieve in the coming months,” Honasan said.