PH records biggest uplift in 5G download speeds, video experience in APAC —Opensignal

Independent mobile analytics firm Opensignal has released its March 2022 Benchmarking the 5G Experience – Asia Pacific report, indicating that the Philippines has the greatest improvement in download speeds and video experience between 5G and 4G in the region, with 5G mobile technology download speeds nearly nine times faster than 4G.

The Philippines also saw the most significant improvement in video quality, with Filipino users experiencing a 33 percent improvement in video quality over 4G. The Philippines averaged a 5G download speed of 136.6 Mbps between November 1, 2021, and January 29, 2022.

The Philippines' 5G vs. 4G download speed improvement ratio was recorded at 8.9 points, followed by Thailand (7.5), Taiwan (7.2), South Korea (6.3), New Zealand (6), Hong Kong (5.1), Australia (4.6), Indonesia (4.5), Singapore (4), and Japan (3.4).

In terms of 5G vs. 4G video experience improvement, the Philippines' 33% was higher than Indonesia's (29%), Thailand's (23%), Hong Kong's (18%), Taiwan's (14%), New Zealand's (13%), Australia's (12%), Singapore's (9%), South Korea's (7%) and Japan's (6%) improvements.

Moreover, the Philippines scored an average of 77.1 points out of 100 for 5G Video Experience, 63.7 points out of 100 for 5G Games Experience, and 77.5 points out of 100 for 5G Voice App Experience.

Opensignal stated in its latest Asia-Pacific 5G benchmarking report that "5G [5th generation mobile network] continues to mature as a technology as operators expand the extent of their 5G services." This is accomplished by broadening the geographic reach of 5G, deploying it on new spectrum bands with increased speed and capacity, or enhancing in-building signal propagation and rural reach through the use of 5G's lower frequency bands.

Also read: PH average 5G download speed logs 141.7 Mbps (Opensignal June 2021 report)

Although the Philippines' 5G availability and reach are lower than those of most of its neighbors, Opensignal considered them impressive given the country's difficult terrain. On average, the Philippines had 11.1 percent 5G availability and 3.7 out of 10 5G reach.