THE internet speed of the Philippines should not be compared with that of the first-world countries in Asia like Singapore, an information and communications technology expert said.
In the latest State of LTE report by OpenSignal, a London-based wireless coverage mapping firm, it said that the Philippines ranked 74th out of the 77 countries included in the long-term evolution (LTE) speed test.
ICT Davao Inc. president Samuel Matunog defended the country's internet speed, saying it actually has the capacity to compete with the speed of other countries on the top rank, although it comes with a much expensive price that may not be afforded by the majority.
"Our internet here is actually fast and is just subject for internet packages that the telcom offers and the consumers can choose from. It will always depend on how much the consumers can actually afford. Look at the business process outsourcing (BPO) companies here. They have fast internet connections because they have bigger requirements; they avail of the bigger internet packages," he said.
Matunog said small telcom players that had expressed interest in investing in the country can actually put up connection in the Philippines with pass-on rates at only $4 per megabyte, however, these small telcom players would need to pay about $8 to PLDT or Globe for connection.
"If we can operate without anymore passing through them, we can cut the cost by half but we can't since they are the ones who have franchise permits and networks already," said Matunog.
He also commented on other sources comparing the internet speed of the Philippines with Singapore, saying the comparison is not fair since internet connection in Singapore is wired, causing better speed. This, he said, is possible and more convenient for Singapore because of the size of their country.
In the Philippines, wired connection for the entire country may be very costly as the Philippines is an archipelago, he said.
According to the LTE speed report of OpenSignal, the Philippines' 4G speed has an average of about 8.24 megabits per second (Mbps), which is almost half of the global average of about 16.6 Mbps.
The report also revealed that the fastest is Singapore and South Korea, averaging at 46.64 Mbps and 45.85 Mbps, respectively.
