Dito wins best network, Smart tops 5G coverage

MANILA, Philippines —  Dito Telecommunity Corp. emerged victorious in Opensignal’s latest telco connectivity index, securing nine wins in 16 categories on the consistency and reliability of its network.

Based on Opensignal’s Mobile Network Experience Report, Dito came out as the best network in the Philippines after posting the best scores for video, voice app, download speed, 5G video, 5G download speed, availability, 5G availability, consistency and reliability.

Industry mainstay Smart Communications Inc. stood out as the provider to beat in the 5G race, as it recorded the best quality for games, voice app, upload speed and coverage experience.

Smart also won in games experience and upload speed. Globe Telecom Inc., for its part, failed to keep up with competitors, ending up with just one recognition for coverage experience.

Opensignal market research analyst Valentina Salome said Dito is becoming the operator to beat right now in the Philippines, with its latest win marking the fifth consecutive time it topped the Opensignal test.

Dito landed a consistency score of 55 percent for the index period between July 1 and Sept. 28, beating Smart and Globe’s 46.2 percent and 45.1 percent, respectively.

Measured on a scale of 100 to 1,000 points – with 1,000 being the highest – Dito scored 848 for reliability experience, zooming past Smart’s 812 and Globe’s 760.

Dito operates on a full 5G network as the youngest telco in the industry, unlike Smart and Globe that still maintain legacy assets to serve some of their subscribers.

However, Salome said Smart is trying to reassert its dominance in the wireless segment. Salome noted that Smart only won one award in the previous index, but this time it bagged six, mostly in the 5G assessment.

“Smart now leads in several 5G experience metrics, including in 5G games experience, 5G voice app experience and 5G upload speed experience, as well as the games experience award. These wins demonstrate Smart’s growing strength in 5G performance, with substantial increases in both download and upload speeds,” Salome said.

Still, Dito is the telco to catch up in download speed, clocking in 39.8 Mbps on regular networks and 253.9 Mbps in the 5G segment.

The Philippines is transitioning to an all-4G and 5G network, with 2G and 3G signals set to be phased out.