Sec. Honasan says 3-7 Mbps is not so bad while Liza Soberano is unsatisfied with her internet speed

• DICT Secretary Honasan says that the Philippine average internet speed of 3-7 Mbps is not so bad while recognizing that the country needs the connectivity more than ever.
• DICT Assistant Secretary Emmanual Caintic claims that the country’s internet speed has improved.
• The average speed of the country can reach up to 25.07 Mbps on fixed broadband meanwhile 6.95 Mbps for mobile.
• Senator Panfilo Lacson comments on Secretary Honasan’s statement saying “not so bad” may sound worse than “not so good.” He also urged the DICT to aim for an “excellent” rating on their internet speed.
• Earlier this month Liza Soberano complained about Converge’s internet speed on her Twitter and also calling them unprofessional for not answering the phone.
• To improve the country’s mobile internet speed, DICT released 23 provisional independent tower company certificates of registration (ITC).

While DICT is taking full responsibility on the country’s slow internet speed, according to Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, the current internet speed of the Philippines of 3-7 Mbps is not so bad.

“No excuses po, we take full responsibility. Sa ibang bansa pumapalo sila ng 55 Mbps, tayo naglalaro between 3 and 7, pero hindi na po ito masama (in other countries it goes up to 55 Mbps, while ours is between 3 and 7, but it isn’t so bad),” according to Sec. Honasan.

He adds “Without going into figures, we are not doing too badly, we have improved a lot.”

Despite this, Sec. Honasan says that the country needs the connectivity saying “now more than ever our people need connectivity to carry their livelihood, education and lives.”

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee has urged DICT to aim for an “excellent” rating on their internet speed.

He comments, “With all due respect to a highly regarded Cavalier and distinguished former Senate colleague (DICT Secretary Honasan), “not so bad” may sound worse than “not so good.”

Senator Lacson continues saying, “Of course, it goes without saying, “very good” or even “excellent” is what we all want to hear from DICT. Clearly, there is much room for improvement.”

DICT Assistant Secretary Emmanual Caintic claims that the country’s internet speed has improved with speeds reaching up to 25.07 Mbps on fixed broadband compared to 2016’s maximum speed of 7.91 Mbps. Meanwhile mobile internet speed can reach up to 6.95 Mbps. He also added that Philippines’ neighboring countries have 213.18 Mbps on broadband while mobile internet speed is 56.43 Mbps.

According to Caintic, the Philippines’ slow connection is due to lack of telecommunications infrastructure.

Earlier this month, actress Liza Soberano also complained about the slow internet speed on her Twitter. She also adds that the telecommunications company can’t even answer the phone whenever they call.

Converge really needs to start fixing their internet speed. I am an unhappy customer.

— Liza Soberano (@lizasoberano) September 6, 2020

Can’t even answer the phone whenever we call. How unprofessional.

— Liza Soberano (@lizasoberano) September 6, 2020

To improve the country’s mobile internet speed, DICT released 23 provisional independent tower company certificates of registration (ITC) which will be the provisional authority for companies to own, build, operate and manage “one or more Passive Telecommunications Towers Infrastructures.”