Philippines flagged for unreliable broadband service

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has one of the worst broadband reliability and access distribution in the world, a study showed, in yet another proof that the country is far from bridging its digital divide.

In the study, Opensignal said the Philippines ranks among the lowest countries in the world for internet reliability, joining the likes of India, Colombia, Mexico and Indonesia.

The study covered 18 countries and employed a scale of 100 to 1,000, with 1,000 being the highest, in scoring broadband reliability.

The study listed Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the US with the highest scores, all clocking in at adobe 650.

In the middle, Opensignal scored Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Spain, Italy, Poland and Brazil between 500 and 650.

The group where the Philippines belongs turned in below 500. Opensignal noted that most of the economies at the bottom of the list are classified as less wealthy than the others.

However, Opensignal senior director of industry analysis Sylwia Kechiche said there are several factors that impact broadband reliability in a country.

For instance, Kechiche said broadband services in urban areas in the Philippines are 46 percent more reliable than in rural locations, exposing the difficulty of laying down telco infrastructure in the countryside in archipelagic nations.

“The digital divide due to challenging topography can be seen in spread-out archipelagos like in Indonesia and the Philippines,” Kechiche said.

Kechiche stressed that archipelagic features should be overcome to bridge the digital gap.

In Indonesia, for instance, the government embarked on the Palapa Ring Project, wherein it set up more than 35,000 kilometers of terrestrial and underwater cables to improve internet quality.

Indonesia also deployed a high throughput satellite for middle-mile and last-mile connectivity. In short, Indonesia tries to find ways to reach the farthest regions, understanding that it has a long way to go in improving its broadband quality.

Kechiche said governments have to take bigger steps in bringing in new technologies and putting up more infrastructure to improve broadband reliability in both cities and provinces.

“To close this gap and ensure that everyone, regardless of location, enjoys reliable, high-quality internet, we need (to push for) bold policies, widespread fiber adoption and innovative solutions to geographical challenges,” Kechiche said.