According to a UK-based company, Opensignal, that analyzes mobile network experiences around the world, both Smart Communications, Inc and Globe Telecom, Inc. have improved their 4G availability scores in the Philippines. However, key areas still require a lot of work to be on par with other countries.
Breaking down Opensignal’s research, the analyzed data from November 1, 2019, to January 29, 2020, shows Smart overtaking Globe in 4G coverage. Smart’s reach is 81.8% versus Globe’s 77.8%. Before this data, the scores were 74.3% and 75.3%, respectively.
Mobile gaming has become one of the most popular entertainment for the past couple of years. While many Filipinos love to spend time playing games with friends, the gaming experience isn’t totally enjoyable. Describing the scores of two telecom giants in the country as “very poor”, Smart and Globe were regarded with 36.9% and 35.9% out of 100%, respectively.
Opensignal explained that “this means the majority of users found the gaming experience to be in need of improvement with too noticeable delays within games and where players often didn’t feel like they had full control over the gameplay. In poor network conditions, mobile multiplayer games’ AI often steps in automatically to reduce some of the apparent negative impacts for users.”
Video experience, on the other side, is a bit forgiving but still requires improvement. Smart came in at 55% for a “fair” rating while Globe is significantly behind at 39.8% which is “poor”. When it comes to voice apps experience, you might think that 64.8% and 64% are good enough, however, Opensignal still disregarded the scores as under the “very poor” category.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for the operators to reduce call quality impairments such as distortion, clicking sounds, and silence,” Opensignal said.
Speed-wise, Smart has an overall download speed of 10.6Mbps while Globe recorded 7.6Mbps. Both are higher than their previous records.
