MOBILE internet speeds in parts of Metro Manila are mostly fast but dead spots remain, joint service tests conducted by the National Telecommunications Commission and three of the country’s major telecommunications providers showed.
The tests were conducted after the regulator issued show-cause orders to the mobile network operators — Smart, Globe and DITO.
The tests were held in Quezon City, San Juan, Pasig, Taguig and Mandaluyong.
Using the Rohde & Schwarz QualiPoc tool, a smartphone-based handheld troubleshooting and mobile network testing solution used for radio frequency (RF) optimization, service quality assessment, and benchmarking, the regulator found 113 of 142 areas passed with over 50 Mbps.
DITO registered the highest speed at 422.00 Mbps along Bonny Serrano Avenue in Quezon City, while Globe recorded 381.00 Mbps and Smart 377.00 Mbps along San Francisco Street near Sea Oil, Plainview in Mandaluyong.
The tests also showed areas that failed.
DITO registered no measurable speed outside Farmers Market in Cubao, while Globe recorded its lowest at 11.10 Mbps along Mercedez Avenue in Pasig, and Smart posted 6.32 Mbps along Coronado Street in Mandaluyong to J.P. Rizal in Taguig.
For SMS, Globe recorded an average success ratio of 99.41 percent, followed by DITO at 98.82 percent and Smart at 92.94 percent, with only Globe meeting the prescribed standard of greater than 99 percent.
For call quality, Smart recorded zero percent call drops, followed by Globe at 0.74 percent and DITO at 2.82 percent, exceeding the prescribed threshold of less than 2 percent.
“The NTC notes the very satisfactory speeds recorded in most areas tested. However, the NTC expresses serious concern about 29 test points that yielded unsatisfactory results,” Deputy Commissioner Andres Castelar said.
The deputy commissioner said the mobile network operators must immediately fix the 29 failing areas. The NTC will continue the testing in other areas in National Capital Region (NCR) and issue show-cause orders if failures persist.
Meanwhile, telco giant PLDT said the Philippines must strengthen the resilience of its subsea cable network amid growing global concerns over cable disruption.
The call was made by PLDT Global President and CEO Albert Villa-Real during the Archipelagic Governance for Subsea Cables Forum 2026 on Sept. 29.
Villa-Real emphasized the growing importance of resilient subsea cable systems, saying that these have become far more than telecommunications assets.
“They are national infrastructure. They carry the connections that enable our businesses to operate, our banks to transact, our government to deliver services, and our families to communicate. Increasingly, they also support cloud, data centers, artificial intelligence, and digital services that will shape the next generation of our economy,” he said.
Villa-Real also urged closer government-industry collaboration to streamline cable deployment and repairs, strengthen information sharing, and institutionalize incident response protocols where the Philippines can position itself as a major Asia-Pacific digital hub by investing in resilient, diverse subsea connectivity and enabling policies that attract digital infrastructure investments.
According to him, achieving this will require the convergence of resilient international and domestic connectivity infrastructure, data centers, cloud ecosystems, reliable power systems, and an enabling policy environment that encourages continued investment.
He also stressed that subsea cable systems should be viewed as part of the country’s critical digital infrastructure and supported through sustained public-private collaboration.
“No single company — and no single government agency — can secure the connectivity of an archipelago. It requires a true partnership. If government and industry can work from that shared perspective, then our ambition can go beyond protecting the cables we already have,” Villa-Real said.
