By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo, Reporter
MANILA has one of the lowest fourth generation (4G) download speeds in East and Southeast Asia, a mobile analytics company said.
OpenSignal said Manila is part of the lowest grouping of cities in the region in terms of 4G download speed, ranking 9th out of 12 Asian metropolises for the survey period of March to May 2017.
Joining Manila for having 4G speeds below the global average of 16.9 megabits per second (Mbps) are Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur (with speeds above that of Manila); and Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Jakarta (with speeds below that of Manila).
The company did not disclose all the numbers in the said test period.
OpenSignal said the reasons for these results is the trend in Southeast Asia focusing on 4G availability rather than 4G speed.
“As 4G connections are far superior to 3G connections, Southeast Asia’s operators seem intent on making LTE [long-term evolution] services accessible to the vast majority of their customers before they turn their attention to raw speed,” OpenSignal said.
Singapore and the South Korean capital of Seoul led the rankings, recording speeds of 45 Mbps, placing them in among the highest ranking globally.
Following them are Taipei, Yangon, Tokyo, and Ho Chi Minh, with download speeds of over 25 Mbps.
The high speeds of Yangon and Ho Chi Minh are due to the recent launching of 4G services in Myanmar and Vietnam.
“Both Vietnam and Myanmar only launched commercial 4G services within the last two years, which perhaps explains why they’re delivering such fast connections. As countries ramp up their first LTE networks, they initially have few customers and large amounts of capacity. As consumers adopt 4G phones and 4G service plans, they begin filling up those networks, causing speeds to gradually decline,” OpenSignal said.
