Philippines, October 2022, Mobile Network Experience Report (2024)

National Analysis

Smart is once again the winner of the Video Experience award — it wins this time with a score of 42.7 points on a 100 point scale and a lead of 3.5 points over second placed Globe’s 39.3 points. DITO brings up the rear with 36.1 points. Smart is also the only Filipino operator to place in the Fair (40-55) category. Both DITO and Globe placed one category lower — Poor (under 40).

A Fair rating means that our Smart users did not not have a good experience either for higher resolution videos (very slow loading times and prolonged stalling) or for some video streaming providers. The experience on lower resolution videos from some providers might have been sufficient though.

DITO and Globe’s Poor ratings means that our users on their networks did not have a good experience even for lower resolution videos across all providers. Very slow loading times and frequent stalling were common.

Turning to the overall video experience of our 5G users (Video Experience – 5G Users), Smart 5G users had the best experience, but Smart’s lead over Globe was just 2.2 points.

Definitions

Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.

In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:

• 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
• Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
• 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
• 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.

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National Analysis

Our Smart users continued to enjoy the best available overall experience when playing mobile multiplayer games over cellular connections. Smart’s score of 54.4 points on a 100 point scale gave it a lead of 7.8 points over second placed Globe’s 46.7 points. However, this is down from the lead of 12.9 points that Smart enjoyed in the last report when DITO was in second place.

Globe and DITO have swapped places due to Globe’s score rising by nine points (23.8%) compared to that seen in the last report, while DITO’s increased by 4.7 points (11.4%) and Smart’s was statistically unchanged.

Smart also comes top for the overall games experience of our 5G users (Games Experience – 5G Users), as its score of 52.2 points was three points higher than Globe’s 49.2 points.

Definitions

Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.

Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.

Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:

• 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
• Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
• 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
• 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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National Analysis

Smart again comes top for Voice App Experience, winning this time with a score of 74.4 points on a 100 point scale and a lead of around 1.2 points, given DITO and Globe’s statistically tied scores of 73-73.2 points. Smart is the only operator to place in the Acceptable (74-80) category, while DITO and Globe remained in the Poor (66-74) category.

This means that some of our Smart users were satisfied. Perceptible call quality impairments were experienced by some of them. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion were heard, and/or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. Listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition.

Many DITO and Globe users were dissatisfied with the quality of their experience when using over-the-top voice apps. Call quality impairments were experienced by many of them. Distortion, clicking sounds or silence were experienced during the call. These were perceptible and may have been annoying.

All three operators’ Voice App Experience scores have improved significantly since the last report. Globe users saw the largest improvement of 5.5 points, followed by DITO with 3.3 points and Smart with a rise of 0.7 points. As a result of these changes, Smart’s lead is around three times smaller than it was in our previous report (3.8 points).

While Smart wins Voice App Experience outright, it is statistically tied with Globe for Voice App Experience – 5G Users (the overall voice app experience of our 5G users across all generations of mobile technology).

Definitions

Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:

• 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
• Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
• 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
• 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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National Analysis

Our Smart users continued to observe the fastest overall download speeds in the Philippines. Smart therefore remains the sole winner of the Download Speed Experience award. It wins with a score of 22.5 Mbps — 5.3 Mbps (30.6%) faster than DITO’s 17.2 Mbps and 8.3 Mbps (58.8%) ahead of Globe’s score of 14.2 Mbps.

Our users’ overall download speeds rose significantly regardless of their choice of operator, with Smart, DITO and Globe’s scores rising by 2.8 Mbps, 2.4 Mbps and 2.2 Mbps, respectively.

In addition to winning Download Speed Experience outright, Smart also had the highest score for Download Speed Experience – 5G Users, 50.2 Mbps versus Globe’s 31.8 Mbps. This measures the average download speeds of our 5G users across all generations of mobile technology.

Definitions

Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.

In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:

• 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
• Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
• 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
• 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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National Analysis

DITO keeps a firm grip on the Upload Speed Experience award, winning it this time with a score of 4.4 Mbps — 0.5 Mbps (13.8%) faster than second placed Smart’s 3.9 Mbps. Globe is in third place with 3.5 Mbps.

However, Globe has gained ground on its rivals, as its score rose by 0.5 Mbps (15.2%) since the last report, while DITO and Smart’s fell by 0.4 Mbps (7.7%) and 0.6 Mbps (12.8%), respectively. As a result of these changes, Globe’s score was just 0.4 Mbps behind Smart’s instead of the gap of 1.4 Mbps seen in the last report.

Definitions

Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.

In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:

• 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
• Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
• 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
• 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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Regional Analysis Summary: Philippines, Mobile Network Experience Report, October 2022

Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2022 | © Opensignal Limited