Philippines: Mobile Broadband Coverage, Affordability and Cost of Ownership

The GSMA Intelligence report for last quarter of 2015 points to the Philippines as among the leaders in mobile broadband coverage around Asia. The same report also showed that despite the 93% coverage (3G and 4G), a huge chunk of the population are still not using mobile broadband — 2 out of every 3 or 67%.

In the chart above, the Asian average for mobile broadband penetration is at 27% and the Philippines is just within the range at 26%. However, 67% of the population that are covered by mobile broadband do not use it. Only 7% of the population do not have 3G/4G coverage which is one of the lowest in the region.

The report also points out that the Philippines has one of the highest “cost of mobile ownership” at 8% of their monthly income. The ownership includes the handset and the cost of subscription. The cost becomes more staggering for the bottom 40% of the population where the ratio is 30% of their income.

GSMA also made a survey among users and found that Filipinos think that cost is among the least issue with only 13% thinks affordability is a barrier to subscribe to mobile broadband. This is an effect of the sachet economics and the high penetration of prepaid users in the country.

The GSMA Intelligence report covers the month of October to December 2015.

The Philippines ranks among the highest in the region in terms of mobile penetration, SIM card penetration and internet usage.

Source: “Consumer Barriers to Mobile Internet Adoption in Asia” by GSMA Intelligence (2016)