Smart beats Globe in metrics gauging mobile user experience
MANILA, Philippines — In the battle for best mobile experience, Smart Communications Inc. emerged as the winner against its rival Globe Telecom Inc. based on a new report.
The wireless unit of telco giant PLDT Inc. topped six out seven performance metrics in a report released Tuesday by Tutela Technologies, a global crowdsourced mobile data company. The report examined mobile experience in Southeast Asia based on 55 million speed and latency tests.
Singapore networks topped mobile experience in Southeast Asia, dominating all seven metrics in the report. At home, Globe and new player, Dito Telecommunity Corp. have not responded to request for comment as of this posting.
Broken down, Smart beat Globe in terms of "excellent" and "core" consistent quality. Tutela explained that an "excellent" rating means the network is sufficient for 1080p video streaming, HD video calling and multiplayer gaming while a "core" connection should be enough to stream standard-definition video or handle regular browsing activities.
Smart also had the fastest median download speed at 11.5 Mbps and fastest median upload speed at 6.1 Mbps. The Pangilinan-led service provider likewise had the most responsive network with a one-way latency of 32.4 ms and the best 5G/4G coverage.
Globe, meanwhile, made it to the leaderboard for best overall coverage, including older 2G and 3G networks. "Although there may only be two operators at play in the Philippines, the level of competition is clear," Tom Luke, vice president at Tutela, said in a statement.
In making the rankings, Tutela used telco data collected from August 2020 to January 2021, so it did not include third major telco player Dito, which just started to pilot services in select areas in the Visayas and Mindanao on March 8.
The entry of China Telecom-backed Dito is meant to challenge the duopoly criticized for the perceived shoddiness of their service. Out of 172 countries globally, Tutela ranked the Philippines 113th for excellent consistent quality and 127th for core consistent quality out of 172 countries.
Even as both Globe and Smart are racing to expand their networks, Tutela said subscribers are still spending more than 20% of time connected to 3G. "As we head into the 5G era, it’s important that operators not only focus on the scale of their rollouts, but that the impact is felt by their subscribers,” Luke said.
"There is still room for improvement," he said.
Editor's note: A unit under PLDT's media conglomerate has a majority stake in Philstar Global Corp., which runs Philstar.com. This article was independently produced following editorial guidelines.
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