FIFTH-GENERATION (5G) network users in the Philippines experienced the greatest uplift in terms of average download speeds versus 4G across 10 Asia-Pacific (APAC) markets, including Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and New Zealand, the UK mobile analytics company Opensignal Ltd. said in its latest analysis.
“Impressively, the average 5G download speeds seen by our users were 8.9 times faster than average 4G speeds in the Philippines,” Opensignal analyst Ian Fogg said in the report “Benchmarking the 5G Experience – Asia Pacific – March 2022.”
Thailand came in second in terms of uplift in download speeds with a 7.5 rating, followed by Taiwan (7.2), South Korea (6.3), New Zealand (6), and Hong Kong (5.1).
“On mobile video streaming, Filipino users enjoyed a 33% higher video experience score using 5G versus 4G,” Mr. Fogg said.
For this category, the Philippines was followed by Indonesia with a video experience score of 29%, Thailand (23%), Hong Kong (18%), and Taiwan (14%).
“5G continues to mature as a technology as operators expand the extent of their 5G services. Either by boosting the geographic reach, or by deploying 5G on new spectrum bands that improve speed and capacity — if mid or higher frequency — or by boosting in-building signal propagation and rural reach through the use of lower frequency bands for 5G,” Mr. Fogg said.
He also noted that Filipino 5G users would usually spend 11.1% of their time connected to 5G.
“Users enjoy average 5G download speeds of 136.6 Mbps (megabits per second) and peak 5G download speeds of 408.7 Mbps.”
“Across the region, our users experienced widely varying access to 5G services. In South Korea, users spent 30.7% of time with an active 5G connection which is an excellent 5G availability score when we compare that globally,” Mr. Fogg added.
“South Korean users also saw 5G service in approximately two-thirds of the locations they visited which led to a 5G reach score of 6.6 on a 10-point scale.”
As for the Philippines, Mr. Fogg said the numerous islands and challenging interior of the country mean that the scores of 11.1% (5G availability) and 3.7 (5G reach) “are similarly impressive.” — Arjay L. Balinbin