Philippines' global internet mobile, broadband speed rankings improved in July — Ookla

The Philippines climbed a few spots in a global ranking of internet speeds in July, according to data released by global internet speed monitoring firm Speedtest by Ookla.

In terms of mobile internet median speed, the country’s ranking improved four notches to 84th out of 140 countries monitored by Ookla.

This, as the mobile download median speed improved to 22.56 megabits per second (Mbps) in July from 21.41 Mbps in June.

For fixed broadband, the Philippines ranked 46th out of 182 countries monitored, improving seven notches from its June ranking of 53rd.

The country’s fixed broadband median download speed increased to 75.62 Mbps from the 68.94 Mbps recorded a month earlier.

The government has been attributing the improvement in internet speeds to the streamlining and speeding up of the issuance of local government unit (LGU) permits as telcos are able to fast-track building infrastructure such as cellular towers and fiber optic networks necessary for boosting services and connectivity.

The entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink into the Philippine market is also expected to improve internet speeds further. Starlink announced it will launch its Low Earth Orbit satellite internet services by December this year, with deployment expected within the first quarter of 2023.

Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc., SpaceX's wholly-owned Filipino subsidiary, received the National Telecommunications Commission's (NTC) approval earlier this year as a value-added service (VAS) provider.

This service offers high-speed, low-latency satellite internet service with a download speed of between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps. 

Using advanced satellites in a low orbit, Starlink will enable video calls, online gaming, streaming and other high-data activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet. —VBL, GMA News