The Philippines 3G and 4G Download Speeds have Improve Drastically

OpenSignal, a well-known mobile analytics company, just conducted a research about the 3G and 4G speeds in the Philippines, with a focus on the two major players — Globe and Smart. Here’s what they found out. OpenSignal took into consideration the overall download speeds of both Smart and Globe from May 2017 to April 2018. Everyday mobile speeds seem to be improving for both Telco’s as their overall performance increased. According to the March to May 2017 report and the current February to April testing period, Globe’s overall speed increased 63% while Smart’s speeds increased almost double.

Globe still leads in 4G availability, but Smart is catching up. While neither of the two Philippines operators provided our users with the 70% availability we have seen in more mature 4G markets, Globe retained our 4G availability award as our users were able to find its 4G connections 67.5% of the time. Smart continued to narrow the gap, however. One year ago the availability difference between the two operators was 15 percentage points. In this report it’s just 8 percentage points. With 4G signals often hard to find, 3G connections remain important. Here, it’s neck-and-neck between Globe and Smart as they both provided 3G download speeds of 2.5 Mbps to OpenSignal testers. However, Smart’s 3G speeds stood out in the small but densely populated Capital Region, while Globe had the faster HSPA tests in South Luzon.

These growths can be attributed to the continued expansion of both Telco’s LTE services. According to the March 2017 report, Globe’s LTE reach was about 55% while Smart’s is 40%. by March 2018, Smart’s reach increased to 60%, while Globe’s reached 67%.

As seen in the chart above, the overall speeds of both Telco’s were close until September 2017, where Smart suddenly took off. This was because Smart increased their 4G availability and speed, which is still increasing at a steady rate as opposed to Globe’s static improvement. Then again, both are eager to improve their services due to the impending arrival of a third player.

Mobile speeds for the country’s two telecommunications companies are improving, an independent global mobile analytics company said. Based on the overall speeds of Globe Telecommunications and Smart Communications during two test periods — March to May 2017 and February to April this year — “Globe’s overall speed increased 63% while Smart’s overall speed almost doubled in our measurements,” OpenSignal said on its website’s Insights section. OpenSignal used overall speed as a measure to track improvements because “it factors in 4G download speeds, 3G download speeds, and the level of access consumers have to each type of network,” said the post entitled “A look at the Philippines’ phenomenal growth in overall download speed.”

“Overall speed is also a useful means of tracking the typical mobile data experience, as it measures the day-to-day speeds consumers actually receive,” it added. The good news is those everyday mobile speeds are only improving for both local operators. The phenomenal increase in their speeds owed to both companies’ expansion of their LTE services, OpenSignal said.

“Their 4G availability scores all increased considerably, which means that 4G smartphone owners were able to latch onto faster LTE connections more often,” OpenSignal said. In its March 2017 report, OpenSignal said that Smart’s 4G availability was just at 40% while Globe’s was 55%. But by March the year after, Smart’s availability score had increased to 60% and Globe’s had increased to 67%.

As indicated by the chart, which was also featured on the blog post, Smart’s speeds began to accelerate after September. “Two things happened here, according to our data: 1) Smart began to close the once huge gap between itself and Globe in 4G availability, and 2) its 4G speeds began increasing at a faster rate,” the blog post said. “Then right after our last Philippines report was published, the separation between Smart and Globe in overall speed suddenly started getting wider.” “Our results show Smart’s 4G speeds began growing much faster and its 4G availability continued to tick upwards while Globe’s remained relatively static,” OpenSignal said.