Telcos pass new round of NTC’s quality checks

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s biggest telcos registered better mobile speeds in the latest round of service quality checks conducted by the National Telecommunications Commission in four cities in Metro Manila.

Still, the NTC found telco networks underperforming in some areas in Metro Manila, prompting the agency to flag the respective providers to act on them.

The tests were done in Quezon City, Pasig, San Juan and Taguig.

The NTC said 113 of 142 tests yielded results of more than 50 Mbps. The regulator used a Rohde & Schwarz QualiPoc installed on a 5G-capable phone to measure the quality of mobile networks.

Dito Telecommunity Corp. recorded the fastest download speed of 422 Mbps in Boni Serrano Avenue in Quezon City. However, Dito was flagged for having no signal outside the high-traffic area of Farmers Market in Cubao.

On SMS, Globe Telecom Inc. delivered a success rate of 99.41 percent, making it the lone telco to reach the prescribed standard of greater than 99 percent.

Smart Communications Inc. led its competitors on call quality, with its average drop ratio hitting zero, as Globe recorded 0.74 percent, while Dito averaged 2.82 percent, a red flag.

“The NTC expresses serious concern about the 29 test points that yielded unsatisfactory results. There is a need to immediately address identified deficiencies,” Castelar said.

The NTC warned telcos that it is ready to issue show cause orders again if they fail to comply. It reminded them that tests are done regularly, so performance must always be compliant.