MANILA – Major telecommunication companies in the Philippines have slightly improved their services since President Rodrigo Duterte issued a warning to “shape up or ship out,” the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.
According to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, the country’s average fixed broadband speed increased from 25.07 Mbps in July 2020 to 28.69 Mbps in November 2020. The mobile download speed also rose from 16.95 Mbps in July 2020 to 18.49 Mbps in November 2020.
“So far po, based on third party audit at saka iyon pong pag-test sa kanila, gumanda naman po ang kanilang serbisyo, nagkaroon po tayo ng improvement,” Cordoba said during Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s virtual presser on Tuesday.
Cordoba added that Duterte’s “political will” and close cooperation among different government agencies can be credited for more than 100 percent increase in the issuance of construction permits to telecommunication companies.
In 2019, the average permits released per month were around 63 for Globe and 50 for Smart. From July to November 2020 alone, the permits issued to Globe increased to about 371 monthly, 590 percent up from the same period last year.
For Smart, an average of 95 permits per month were issued, almost 200 percent higher from last year.
With the increase in the issuance of construction permits, more towers were built. To date, Cordoba said the Philippines has around 22,405 towers.
During his fifth State of the Nation Address last July, President Duterte said he would take “drastic steps” against Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc., the wireless arm of PLDT Inc., if they do not improve by yearend.
Cordoba also said the public can expect more improvements in the services once DITO starts its commercial operations in March next year.
“So, DITO is very aggressive, so kung mapapansin po ninyo si Smart at saka si Globe ay talaga pong gumastos for the past several years, dahil alam po nila na papasok po itong competitor na based po sa initiative ng ating Pangulo na tinatawag po natin third Telco initiative,” Cordoba said.
As of October 2020, the Philippines’ fixed internet speed is ranked 32nd in Asia, bested by other Asean states such as Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. On mobile broadband, it was ranked 34th out of 50 states and territories in Asia./PN
