Globe Telecom Inc. president and chief executive officer Carl Cruz himself said last February that internet connectivity was no longer a luxury in the Philippines, but rather an urgent necessity.
The technology has indeed risen to the level of a ‘fifth utility,’ as, like water, electricity, sanitation, and transport, Filipinos simply cannot do without the connectivity that has become an inextricable part of how they live, work, and play.
Local providers of mobile internet connectivity, however, have been found wanting by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), with their broadband speed deemed ‘unsatisfactory,’ as disgruntled subscribers in cited ‘areas of concern’ such as Manila, Quezon City, San Juan, Pasig, Makati, Pasay, Las Piñas, and Parañaque know only too well.
NTC said last week that there had been ‘no measurable improvement’ in the mobile broadband service of DITO Telecommunity Corp., Globe Telecom Inc., and Smart Communications Inc. in the National Capital Region during its September 2026 mobile speed test validation, compared to the previous two quarters.
‘The September results confirmed that previously recorded poor mobile broadband signals remain substantially unchanged, despite the opportunity afforded mobile network operators to undertake urgent corrective measures,’ said the NTC.
Biweekly retesting
It thus issued yesterday show-cause orders against the three mobile network operators, penalizing them to the tune of P100,000 a day starting Sept. 25 ‘until the identified service deficiencies have been fully rectified.’
The agency is empowered by the Public Service Act to investigate and enforce compliance with its standards, rules, and regulations as part of its mandate to provide the Filipino public with adequate, reliable, and quality telecommunications services.
It issued a welcome assurance to the public that it was ready to take ‘decisive action’ to ensure that telecommunications companies under its supervision meet set standards, and would conduct biweekly retesting of affected areas to verify if the necessary network improvements have been put in place.
DITO told the Philippine Stock Exchange that it was already working with the NTC to address any deficiencies, while market leaders Globe and Smart said they have not yet formally received the show-cause order and would respond in due time.
That said, there is some pushback to the NTC findings as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has painted a different picture, one that shows an improvement in the quality of the country’s internet service.
Laggard in the region
Globe, for instance, said that it posted its strongest network performance this year in August, recording its highest overall score and fastest average download speed based on the latest Telco Report Card of the DICT.
Globe received an overall score of 81.5, up 4.4 points from January, while average download speed reached a 2026 high of 45.9 megabits per second (Mbps). This was 5.1 percent faster than July and 26 percent higher than the 36.5 Mbps recorded at the start of the year, mainly due to over P26 billion in capital expenditures in the first half of 2026.
But even with the billions of dollars poured into the mobile networks – approximately P152.88 billion for this year alone, according to the DICT – there is no denying that the Philippines has remained a laggard in the region when it comes to internet connectivity.
According to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index as of August 2026, the Philippines was 71st out of 102 countries in the ranking, with mobile download speed clocked at 66.33 megabits per second, far below the global average of 109.05 Mbps and beating just Laos among the major economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Internet providers
The Philippines trailed far behind Vietnam, whose mobile download speed of 219.93 Mbps was the fastest in Southeast Asia. It was also ranked ninth overall in the ranking that was topped by the United Arab Emirates, where the download speed was a dizzying 675.1 Mbps.
At 66.33 Mbps, the Philippines’ speed at which data transfers from the internet to the ubiquitous mobile phone is already deemed ‘good,’ more than enough to stream movies, browse social media, and conduct digital banking.
Clearly, the Philippines still has a lot of catching up to do to reach that speed. Thus, the NTC should keep up the pressure and make good on its threat to impose hefty sanctions if telcos are not able to justify their level of service given constraints they earlier flagged, including permit delays, right-of-way restrictions, power interruptions, and fiber cuts.
The NTC should widen its monitoring and imposition of penalties to include the country’s major internet providers that are also falling short of delivering fast and reliable internet connections as well as responsive customer service.