PINOY 5G smartphone users showed strong demand for guaranteed network performance during critical moments, according to an Ericsson ConsumerLab study conducted from June to August 2025 across 27 markets.
The study, Winning in the Market with Differentiated Connectivity Offerings, found that 60 percent of 5G users in the Philippines identified situations in which they would want guaranteed connectivity performance, compared with a 40-percent global average.
The research was based on interviews with 1,500 consumers in the Philippines, including 900 active 5G subscribers. Ericsson said the Philippine findings represent 46 million smartphone users.
Globally, the study surveyed 43,000 smartphone users, including about 34,000 active 5G users.
The Philippine findings also showed willingness to pay for enhanced connectivity. About 36 percent of Filipino 5G users said they were willing to pay a premium for guaranteed quality of service, which Ericsson said could provide communication service providers with up to two months of additional average revenue per user.
Daniel Ode, head of Ericsson Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, said consumer expectations for network performance are likely to rise as mobile artificial intelligence adoption grows.
“Filipino consumers show a strong appetite for guaranteed 5G performance, with over a third ready to pay a premium for uninterrupted connectivity during critical moments,” Ode said.
“As on-the-go AI adoption and multimodal apps accelerate, expectations around responsiveness will only intensify,” he added.
The study said daily use of multimodal AI is projected to increase from 16 percent to 32 percent by 2030, while 44 percent of AI activity is expected to occur on the go.
Among current smartphone AI users, response time has twice the impact on overall network satisfaction compared with other 5G subscribers, according to the study.
Video-based AI interaction is also expected to increase, with the share projected to rise from 22 percent to 51 percent. Ericsson said the shift toward visual and video inputs could increase demand for responsive mobile connectivity.
The study also found that 36 percent of Filipino 5G users prefer to purchase differentiated connectivity directly from their service provider, while 25 percent are open to connectivity capabilities embedded in third-party applications.
Ericsson said programmable network application programming interfaces, including Quality on Demand, could allow telecommunications providers to offer performance-based services and enable developers to build applications requiring guaranteed network performance.
The study said such offerings could move mobile connectivity beyond standard best-effort service toward differentiated service tiers, performance add-ons and other models based on specific user requirements.
