The Digital Age
Internet in the Philippines first became available on March 29, 1994 at 10:18 a.m. The Philippine Network Foundation (PHNet) connected the country and its people to the Sprint Network in the United States via a 64 kilobit link.
This was a great time for the country and brought it into the modern age. Although the service was snail crawling slow, it was still fast enough for many to get connected and use the bulletin board services and to learn what this new fascinating opportunity was. Sadly even today it is still far behind the rest of the world in operation and use. More than half of the Philippine population are considered “internet poor”, meaning half of the country cannot afford even a minimum package of mobile internet. This translates to over 58 million Filipinos who cannot afford a 1-GB-per-month internet package. An estimated 15.5 million Filipino households are forecast to have internet access in their homes by 2025. Compare this to a total population of approximately 113 million people!
So how are the speeds looking today? Well they vary widely depending on the carrier and the price. We will look only at broadband speeds here. The average speed at this time is only 49.31 Mbps. It is available at much higher speeds, however many can not afford it. The costs of high speed broadband is only afforded to the rich or those who have well paying jobs and is considered a luxury to most. Let's look at the carriers available. There are not many players in the industry compared to most countries. This contributes to the poor internet service in the Philippines. There is little competition. Right now, there are only two giants battling it out in the field. Those are PLDT and Globe Telecom. While there are many small and mid-sized players, many don't provide comprehensive services and are often just dedicated to a specific area of business. When the competition is limited like it is, the leading companies will not be compelled to up their game and improve their services or infrastructures. However, things are getting better, especially now that the government has granted DITO, the country's third telecom player, a 25-year franchise. The China-led company is believed to be disrupting the long-standing duopoly in the country. While it's still at its infancy, a lot are already putting their faith in it. But we have yet to find out if it will live up to everyone's great expectations.
Here are the major carriers, speeds and prices. (as of summer 2022)
| PLDT HOME |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr 1699 |
35 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱1,699 |
$30.00 |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr 2099 |
50 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱2,099 |
$37.00 |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr 2699 |
100 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱2,699 |
$48.00 |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr Plan 3799 |
200 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱3,799 |
$67.00 |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr Plan 5799 |
600 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱5,799 |
$103.00 |
| PLDT Home Unli Fibr Plan 9499 |
1000 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱9,499 |
$169.00 |
| Fee: Modem & Installation fee varies across plans - US Dollars are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar. |
| Globe Broadband and LTE |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
| Globe At Home Go Big LTE 1299 |
10 Mbps |
150 GB |
₱ 1,299 |
$ 23.00 |
| Globe At Home Go Big LTE 1599 |
10 Mbps |
500 GB |
₱ 1,599 |
$ 28.00 |
| Globe At Home Go Big 1699 |
20 Mbps |
600 GB |
₱ 1,699 |
$ 30.00 |
| Globe At Home Go Big Plan 1299 (wired) |
10 Mbps |
500 GB |
₱ 1,299 |
$ 23.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 1499 |
20 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,499 |
$ 27.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 1699 |
25 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,699 |
$ 30.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 1899 |
35 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,899 |
$ 34.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 2499 |
100 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 2,899 |
$ 44.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 3499 |
200 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 3,499 |
$ 62.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 4999 |
500 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 4,999 |
$ 89.00 |
| Globe At Home Unli Fiber Up 9499 |
1 Gbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 9,499 |
$ 169.00 |
| Fee: ₱2,500 for DSL and ₱4,500 for VDSL/Fiber - US Dollars are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar. |
| Converge Broadband |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
| Fiber X 1500 |
35 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,500 |
$ 27.00 |
| Fiber X 2500 |
100 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 2,500 |
$ 44.00 |
| Fiber X 3500 |
200 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 3,500 |
$ 62.00 |
| Fiber Xtreme 4500 |
400 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 4,500 |
$ 80.00 |
| Fiber Xtreme 7000 |
800 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 7,000 |
$ 124.00 |
| iBiz 10 |
10 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 4,000 |
$ 71.00 |
| iBiz 20 |
20 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 6,000 |
$ 107.00 |
| iBiz 30 |
30 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 9,000 |
$ 160.00 |
| Fee: Install ₱2,500 - US Dollars are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar. |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband 999 |
20 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 999 |
$ 18.00 |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband 1499 |
40 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,499 |
$ 27.00 |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband 1999 |
80 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,999 |
$ 36.00 |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband 2499 |
120 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 2,499 |
$ 44.00 |
| SKY Fiber Unli Broadband 3499 |
200 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 3,499 |
$ 62.00 |
| Sky Fiber Unli Broadband + HD Cable TV Plan 999 |
10 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 999 |
$ 18.00 |
| Sky Fiber Unli Broadband + HD Cable TV Plan 1,599 |
30 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,599 |
$ 28.00 |
| Sky Fiber Unli Broadband + HD Cable TV Plan 1999 |
60 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 1,999 |
$ 36.00 |
| Sky Fiber Unli Broadband + HD Cable TV Plan 2999 |
120 Mbps |
Unlimited |
₱ 2,999 |
$ 53.00 |
| Fee: Varies across plans (see their website) - US Dollars are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar. |
| DITO Telecom |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
Since DITO Internet is still new to the telecom scene, it doesn’t offer any home broadband services just yet. DITO's Chief Administrative Officer has said that they may start offering broadband services in 2022. Note: As of April 2022 Dito has started offering a 5G broadband service to select cities in the NCR region only. |
| Starlink |
| Plan |
Speed |
Limit |
PH Price |
US Price |
| SpaceX Private |
Vairies but Fast |
Unlimited |
₱2,700 |
$50.00 |
On 22 Feb 2023, Elon Musk's SpaceX announced that its satellite internet service, Starlink, is now live in the Philippines. A hardware kit is necessary and must be purchased to use Starlink. This kit includes a router, cable and antenna. The cost in the Philippines is ₱29,320. Please note that the router does not come with ethernet connectivity. If you need ethernet, you must purchase a separate ethernet adapter with a cost of about $40. |
Other Options
There are several other smaller providers. These companies vary in service, location and price. Here is a list of the other providers I could find, not including business only or satellite providers (except for Starlink). Be aware that many of these companies only offer 2 Mbps or less and charge the same cost you can get 50 Mbps at the larger companies.
| Smaller Internet Providers |
| Name |
Location |
Webpage |
Phone |
| Bayan Telecommunications |
Quezon City |
Bayan |
Phone: +63 2 449-9999 |
| BellTel DSL |
Makati City |
BellTel |
(02) 6800-BELL (2355) |
| Cablelink |
Quezon City |
Cablelink |
988 - link (5465) |
| Caceres Cable TV |
Balatas, Naga City |
Caceres |
054 811 - 6047 | 054 473 - 9795 |
| Cheetah Broadband |
Rizal |
Cheetah |
8 652-5555 |
| Comclark Network |
Angeles, Pampanga |
Comclark |
+63 45 322 6474 |
| Dasca Cable Services |
Dasmarinas City, Cavite |
Dasca Cable |
046 416-4751 |
| Destiny Cable |
Quezon City |
Destiny Cable |
unknown |
| Eastern Communications |
Makati City |
Eastern Comm |
+63 2 300-8000 |
| Easynet |
Makati City |
Easynet |
757-4845 |
| FIl Products Service Television |
Negros Oriental |
FI One |
unknown |
| Integranet |
Batangas City |
Integranet |
+63 43 302-1001 |
| IPStar |
Makati City |
WiMAX Network |
+63 02 808-1514 |
| iXSforall |
Makati City |
iXSforall |
+632-847-0735 |
| Net 1 |
unknown |
Net 1 |
0917 891 6083 |
| Panay Broadband |
Santa Barbara, Iloilo |
Panay |
+63 33 327-6288 |
| Red Fiber |
Pasig City |
Red Fiber |
+63 2 8 988-5600 |
| Royal Cable |
Cabuyao, Calamba |
Royal Cable |
#8822 |
| Sky Broadband |
Manila |
My Sky |
0917 631-0000 |
| Smart Communications, Inc. |
Makati City |
Smart |
888-1111 |
| Starlink |
Hawthorne, CA USA |
Starlink |
+1 310-363-6000 |
| Streamtech |
Bacoor, Cavite |
Streamtech |
(02) 8808-2323, 0919 057-8888 |
| Sun Cellular |
Manila |
Sun Cellular |
(02)395-8000 |
| Wi-Tribe |
Makati City |
Wi-Tribe |
31 - tribe (31 - 87423) |
| Fee: Varies greatly per company and service requested. |
