MANILA -- The Philippines’ Internet speed rankings for both fixed broadband and mobile Internet continued its upturn last June, according to the latest figures released by global speed monitoring firm Speedtest by Ookla.
“The continuous upward trend in PH Internet speeds is a welcome development in our efforts to prepare for full participation in the global digital economy,” Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio “Gringo” B. Honasan II said.
Ookla figures for June 2021 indicate that the country’s average download speeds for fixed broadband is now 66.55 megabits per second (Mbps), a 6.82 increase from the 59.73 Mbps speed recorded in May 2021.
For mobile Internet, the June 2021 speed reached 32.84 Mbps, which shows an increase of 0.86 from the recorded 31.98 Mbps in May.
The upward trend gained traction after President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued directives last July 2020 which challenged telcos to shape up and called on government agencies to provide assistance to telcos by streamlining the tower permitting process.
Last July 1, 2021, the DICT and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) also revised and expanded Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No 001, s. 2021 to harmonize the provisions of the original policy and Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.
The JMC has been instrumental in reducing procedural delays in securing the necessary permits and documentary requirements in the construction of common towers.
According to ARTA, the policy shortened the timeline to the target period of 16 days compared to the original 214 days. It also brought down permits from 30 to 8 and documentary requirements from 86 to 35.
“For the rest of 2021 and in the succeeding years, your DICT shall continue to support the industries for telecommunications and information services to ensure that our Internet speed rankings will continue its upward climb,” Secretary Honasan said. (DICT)
