Opinion: What makes the Philippines as W ...

Opinion: What makes the Philippines as Worst Internet Connection in Asia.

Mar 04, 2020

Currently the Philippines is Top 111 Countries in the World have slowest mobile internet connection with the average speed of 16.06 Mbps and Top 99 in Fixed Broadband with the average speed of 25.91 Mbps based on January 2020 Speedtest Global Index.

In the recent opinion made by the Cyberark Academy Philippines Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Gerald S. Tiozon is focusing on horrible internet situations in the Philippines which is one of the disadvantage in Economic sector. In the recent report and data gathered by Cyberark Academy, The Philippines is losing 100 Million pesos per day due to Slow Internet Connections that leads into Delay to deliver Basic Digital Services to their consumers, The Telecommunications industry is the most affected sectors in the country due to the following.

  • Lack of Cell Towers

  • Lack of Spectrum Availability and Allocation

  • Network Duopoly

  • Outdated Technology used on Telecommunication Infrastructure

Lack of Cell Towers

Basically the Philippines have shortage in Cell Towers Nationwide with a total combination of 16,500 cell cites as per reported by both Globe and Smart, and the country needs additional 50,000 cell cites to serve properly the 113 Million Joint Subscribers of Globe and Smart. This solution was already resolved by approving a 3rd Telecommunications Provider namely "Dito Telecommunity" which is expected to be operational on July 2021.

Lack of Spectrum Availability and Allocation

Currently the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has allowed the Philippine Telecommunications company to operate under this frequencies based on the following:

Smart Communications

  • 900MHz (Band 8) E-GSM 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE

  • 1800MHz (Band 3) DCS 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE

  • 900MHz (Band 8) UMTS-FDD 3G UMTS/HSPA+

  • 2100MHz (Band 1) UMTS - FDD 3G UMTS/HSPA+

  • 700MHz (Band 28) FDD 4G FDD-LTE/LTE-A

  • 850MHz (Band 5) FDD 4G FDD-LTE/LTE-A

  • 1800MHz (Band 3) FDD 4G FDD-LTE/LTE-A

  • 2100MHz (Band 1) FDD 4G FDD-LTE/LTE-A

  • 2300MHz (Band 40) TDD 4G TDD-LTE

Globe Telecom

  • 900MHz (Band 8) E-GSM 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE

  • 1800MHz (Band 3) DCS 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE

  • 900MHz (Band 8) UMTS-FDD 3G UMTS/HSPA+

  • 2100MHz (Band 1) UMTS - FDD 3G UMTS/HSPA+

  • 700MHz (Band 28) FDD 4G LTE

  • 1800MHz (Band 3) FDD 4G LTE

  • 2300MHz (Band 40) TDD 4G LTE

  • 2500MHz (Band 41) TDD 4G LTE

  • 2600MHz (Band 7) FDD 4G LTE

Based in our opinion National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) needs to open new spectrum based in LTE Advanced Pro to cater the demand for industry needed fastest internet connections and growing Mobile subscribers to deliver efficient services for their subcribers.

Network Duopoly

This is the biggest problem of the Philippines because due to network duopoly, Subscribers are shrinking in Both providers that may leads into Network Downtime, Congestion, Lack of Area Coverage.

Outdated Technology used on Telecommunication Infrastructure

Currently both Smart Communications and Globe Telecom is currently on Nationwide 4G Services and several deployments of 5G in Key Cities Nationwide of Both Telcos, But they are using the 4G/5G Network Core which is can't handle the true promise of 5G in terms of speed due to lack of spectrum, 5G Core network in both telcos. In early stage of 5G in the Philippines you may experience same speed as 4G LTE Offers due to 5G (NSA) which is a 5G Network runs over a 4G LTE Existing Infrastructure.


Both Telco must provided this technology to deliver the promise speed of 5G Network

  • 5G Standalone Mode - Standalone (SA) mode of 5G NR refers to using 5G cells for both signalling and information transfer. It includes the new 5G Packet Core architecture instead of relying on the 4G Evolved Packet Core, to allow the deployment of 5G without the LTE network.

  • 5G mmWave Bands - These high-frequency bands are often referred to as “mmWave” due to the short wavelengths that can be measured in millimeters. Although the mmWave bands extend all the way up 300 GHz, it is the bands from 24 GHz up to 100 GHz that are expected to be used for 5G.


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