Ang Broadband Internet sa Pilipinas: Kasaysayan ng Presyo at Bilis (2012-2022)

If we look back in the last 10 years, broadband internet in the Philippines has improved significantly. From being dead last at #10 in the ASEAN region (circa 2014), we managed to climb up to #5 in 2021 (Are we still the slowest in SEAN?).

So we dug back all our articles regarding broadband and fiber internet in the Philippines since 2012 and collated these data to come up with historical pricing and speeds.

The table below indicates the monthly service fee (MSF) for each speed plan. Most of it comes with unlimited bandwidth but a few (especially the early packages) have data caps. That’s the reason why for the same speed, some plans have higher MSF.

Since the tabular data below were done in two-year intervals, the approximation of the year for the packages indicated may be +/- 6 months of the end of each calendar year.

Here are our observations based on the table above:

• The most affordable fiber internet plan in 2012 was 8Mbps at Php3,500 (PLDT). The most affordable fiber internet in 2022 is 20Mbps at Php999 (Sky Fiber).
• The biggest drop in pricing in the 10 year period is the 100Mbps of PLDT. It was Php20,000 in 2014 and is now down to Php2,099.
• Converge ICT offers the fastest speeds at the lowest price in 2022 with 800Mbps for only Php3,500.
• For Php3,500, you get 8Mbps in 2012. Today, you get 800Mbps. That’s a 100x jump is speed for the same MSF.
• The average internet speed in the Philippines last December 2021 was 50.26Mbps (Ookla). This is perhaps correlated to the median broadband plans offered across all ISPs which is the 50Mbps plan.

The Philippines is not yet in the top tier in the ASEAN region in terms of average speed but we’re getting there.

SO, what was your very first fiber internet plan before, and how much did you pay for it?