Fixed broadband download speed rose in January on telco’s network expansion

The country’s fixed broadband download speed improved in January on the back of the aggressive network rollout by telecom companies nationwide, according to Ookla Speedtest Global Index report.

The report showed the Philippines’ fixed broadband median speed improved to 88.13 megabits per second in January this year from 87.13 Mbps in December 2022.

It represented an improvement of 26.39 percent since the Marcos administration took office in July 2022.

Mobile median speed slightly dipped as the country yielded a download speed of 24.59 Mbps from 25.12 Mbps the month before. Still, the latest download speed represented an improvement of 9.05 percent since July 2022.

“The NTC shall constantly work for the steady improvement of internet speed as part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s thrust to advance the country’s digital connectivity,” National Telecommunications Commission commissioner Ella Blanca Lopez said.

“We look forward to Starlink’s commercial availability this year to further improve internet speeds in the country,” she said.

The NTC said streamlining and speeding up the issuance of LGU permits in July 2020 generated a significant increase in permits granted to telcos from July 2020 to December 2022.

It said the Improvement on internet speed was largely attributed to this development, as telcos were able to fast-track building infrastructure such as cellular towers and fiber optic network that are necessary in boosting services and connectivity.

The three major telcos budgeted P248.4 billion in 2022 capital expenditures. PLDT Inc. programmed P97 billion in capex; Globe, P101.4 billion; and DITO Telecommunity Corp., P50 billion.