PH’s mobile internet ‘comparable’ to other countries

We write to clarify an important point on the article “Duterte wants telco duopoly broken by March” by Leila Salaverria (12/20/17).

In the article, Salaverria wrote: “Mr. Duterte earlier asked China to provide the third telco player in the Philippines to break up the PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. duopoly, which had been blamed for the slow and spotty but expensive internet and mobile phone services across the archipelago.”

On several occasions, Globe has released information that the cost per gigabyte (1 GB) of mobile data in the Philippines is below P50 per GB, and is the second lowest in the whole Asia-Pacific region.

Globe is also offering its Home Broadband plans of 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps speed for only P1,899 and P2,499, respectively, in areas where we have fiber optic connectivity.

The price per MB is now P37.98 for 50 Mbps at Plan 1,899 and P24.99 for 100 Mbps at Plan 2,499 which you may check at https://shop.globe.com.ph/broadband. Another site that can be used as reference is the report of Tech in Asia at https://www.techinasia.com/costmobile-data-southeast-asia-infographic.

On the issue of slow internet, we want to clarify that the mobile internet in the Philippines is comparable to other countries.

According to Ookla’s Global Speedtest Index report for November 2017, the Philippines registered an average mobile internet download speed of 12.35 Mbps comparable to countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India.

We have identified the lack of telco infrastructure as the main reason for the issues concerning the country’s telco services. We have also reached out to the government several times to help rectify the permitting and right of way issues that hamper the rollout of telco infrastructure.

Based on the May 2017 TowerXchange report, the country only has around 16,300 cell sites compared to Vietnam’s 70,000 even as
both countries have the same number of internet users. On the area of fixed internet, there are not enough fiber optic cables laid out in the country which contributed to lagging internet speed. As there are more Filipinos connected to mobile internet than fixed internet, this means more Filipinos enjoy an average speed of at least 12.35 Mbps.

Globe is committed to see a Philippines where families’ dreams come true, businesses flourish, and the nation admired. Thus, we continue to invest on our network with close to $1 billion per year over the last two years.

As one of the leading internet service providers in the Philippines, it is our aim at Globe to provide our millions of customers with a superior service experience that is sustainable.

YOLY C. CRISANTO, SVP, Corporate Communications, Globe Telecom, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig