Opensignal: 4G connection in PH resilient during quarantine

Based on the recent research conducted by OpenSignal, the rural areas in the Philippines have recorded a decrease in 4G Video Experience. Gathering data from September 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, the research examined the mobile experience in urban and rural areas of five macro-regions: Mindanao, North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and the National Capital Region. It used the urban and rural definitions from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The company had recorded a good video experience from September 2019 to Feb 2020. But in March 2020, when quarantine was imposed, usage and congestion increased. As a result, 4G video experience declined. However, Opensignal says that networks are more resilient in urban areas because of smaller changes in their 4G video experience. But despite that, “users in the Philippines continue to enjoy a Good 4G Video Experience (55-65 on a 100 point scale) in the NCR, and a Fair 4G Video Experience (40-55) in the remaining regions regardless of whether they are based in urban or rural areas.”

Although mobile video streaming from Sept. 2019 to Feb 2020 had improved in a majority of the regions, there had been a significant decline across all regions during March 2020. However, urban areas saw little changes than rural regions indicating greater resilience. In the urban areas, users in North and Central Luzon saw the lowest decrease of just 2.6%, while the decline in other regions ranged between 4.6% and 9.4%. The Video Experience declined further in the rural areas, particularly in South Luzon and Mindanao region with 16.2% and 21.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Visayas region experienced the smallest decline of 7.5%.

As more people are confined to homes, more people are using the internet, but 4G video experience remains resilient in urban areas probably because of the improvements the operators made in their networks. Operators have also taken measures like relaxing data limits or cur the price of packages. Still, people will continue to experience poor network during peak hours.