Smart Communications Inc. recorded the fastest Long Term Evolution (LTE) speeds in the country, according to the latest report of research firm OpenSignal.
“Smart surpassed Globe (Telecom Inc.) in our LTE speed tests with an average download connection of 9.9 Mbps. We measured Globe 4G speeds at 7.4 Mbps,” OpenSignal said in a report.
While Smart beat Globe in terms of LTE speed, the research firm said the Ayala-led telco was ahead in terms of LTE availability or the proportion of time LTE subscribers on each network have a 4G connection available.
Users were able to find a Globe LTE signal 55.3 percent of the time compared to Smart’s 40 percent.
The report’s findings are based on data collected by OpenSignal from 28,972 smartphone users from Nov. 1, 2016 to Jan. 31.
OpenSignal said both Smart and Globe’s LTE or 4G networks are still behind compared to other countries in the world.
“Both operators’ speed scores fell well short of the global average of 17.4 Mbps, while roughly half of our mobile data speed tests failed to acquire an LTE signal,” the research firm said.
In terms of 3G and overall speed, OpenSignal’s tests showed both telcos had average download speeds of just over 2 Mbps.
Combining 3G and 4G, both operators had overall average speeds of around 3.3 Mbps.
As for latency or the measure of a connection’s responsiveness, both Smart and Globe averaged under 56 milliseconds (ms) for 4G.
For 3G, Smart had the lowest or best latency, averaging 157.2 ms.
While Philippine operators are still far from offering 4G services seen in other countries, OpenSignal said there’s good news for local LTE users as both Smart and Globe are aiming to expand their LTE footprints and capacity by putting up new cell sites and utilizing frequencies.
Source: http://www.concordregister.com/smart-has-fastest-lte-speed-in-phl-opensignal/
