Friday, March 29, 2024

NEDA chief says PH needs to further improve broadband speed

Although it has improved its broadband performance in the last few years, the Philippines can further increase its Internet speed compared to other Asean countries, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Photo from Malacanang

In a briefing on Monday, Jan. 31, NEDA director-general Karl Chua said there had been some improvements in the country’s broadband performance, but the Philippines can do better as it currently ranks 63 out of 178 countries in terms of broadband speed.

“In terms of mobile, we are ranked 65 out of 138 countries, but we can also do better when compared to our regional peers,” said Chua.

He noted that the Philippines is the most expensive in the Asean region in terms of broadband Internet costs at around $53 per month based on the data from cable.co.uk website that compares various prices.

“We are also not doing that good in terms of mobile Internet costs, where we have to pay on average $1.77 per gigabyte and we are ranked 97 out of 230 countries as of 2021. While we have seen improvements within the Philippines, other countries are doing much better or improving much faster,” said Chua.

The NEDA chief said opening the telecoms sector to foreign investments could attract more technology and innovation. “The House and the Senate bills both agree that the telecoms is a public service that can be opened up to foreign investments so that we can be more competitive and catch up with our Asean neighbors,” he added.

He cited the merger of tech giants GoJek, a ride hailing app, and Tokopedia, an e-commerce platform, created Indonesia’s most valuable start-up company, a majority-owned by foreigners.

Subscribe

- Advertisement -spot_img

RELEVANT STORIES

spot_img

LATEST

- Advertisement -spot_img