4G availability dramatically increases in the Philippines: report

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The future of the consumer mobile experience in the Philippines looks positive. Though mobile broadband speeds have traditionally been slow and access to 4G services limited in the country, Opensignal, a mobile analytics company, has tracked improvements in both areas in its most recent data.

4G Availability has increased dramatically for both major operators in the last two years, as Globe and Smart users can now find an LTE connection more than 70% of the time. Meanwhile, growth in download speeds has been slower, but it is nonetheless improving, driven by the Philippines’ greater 4G reach.

The just published “State of Mobile Network Experience Report” for the Philippines includes these highlights: 

  • 4G speeds are also improving. While Globe’s Download Speed Experience grew incrementally, we measured a big jump in overall download speed on Smart’s connections. 4G networks aren’t necessarily getting more powerful though; but instead they’re becoming more accessible. As the 4G Availability grows, users have access to powerful LTE connections more often.
  • These recent improvements in our metrics are likely no coincidence. As the Mislatel consortium prepares to launch the Philippines’ third national mobile provider, the incumbents will probably continue to shore up their mobile broadband services in anticipation of the new competitive threat.
  • Our video analysis found Smart is providing a better Video Experience in the Philippines than its rival Globe. While Globe earned a Poor rating in our Video Experience scale, Smart was a category above it, earning a Fair rating. Overall mobile video quality in the Philippines isn’t great, but video streamed to Smart users is loading faster and experiencing fewer interruptions during playback, according to our measurements.

The full report is available here.

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