AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Despite being regarded as the social media capital of the world, the Philippines has the slowest internet speed in the entire Southeast Asian region and is ranked 158th out of 190 countries worldwide.
According to the Net Index (www.netindex.com) rankings by internet broadband testing company Ookla, Philippines has an average speed of 3.54 Megabits per second (Mbps).
In comparison, Hong Kong has 77 Mbps putting it first in the world, while the Philippines’ Southeast Asian neighbor Singapore is second with 65 Mbps as of the April 2014 rankings.
Thailand has an average speed of 17.92 Mbps (48th worldwide), Vietnam has 13 Mbps (61st), Cambodia has 5.74 Mbps (116th), Malaysia has 5.4 Mbps (122nd), Brunei has 5.3 Mbps (125th), Myanmar has 5.22 Mbps (127th), Laos has 4.33 Mbps (143rd), and Indonesia has 4.19 mbps (148th).
Ookla says in its website that it creates the rankings through its NetMetrics Database that obtains network test “of internet, mobile, fiber, and even satellite network.”
The Net Index rankings is “powered by billions of aggregated NetMetrics data and is a free and powerful advocate we created to help the global Internet computing community get the most from their broadband provider and enhance their connected lifestyle,” Ookla said.
Other Asian countries that rank within the top 50 are South Korea which has an average speed of 52.9Mbps (4th), Japan with 41.1 Mbps (9th), and China with 19.04 Mbps (45th).
Western countries mostly also rank within the top 50 such as Great Britain which has 27 Mbps (23th), the United States with 23 Mbps (34th), and France with 33.9 Mbps (17th).
Slowest countries
The Philippines is slightly slower than Central American countries Guatemala which has an average speed of 3.7 Mbps (155th) and Honduras which has 3.8 Mbps (154th).
The Philippines is ahead in the rankings compared to South American countries Paraguay which has speeds of 3.42 Mbps (160th) and Bolivia which has 2.06 Mbps (177th).
At the bottom of the rankings are Syria with 1.57 Mbps (181st), Cuba with 1.54 Mbps (182nd), and African countries Burkina Faso with 0.8 Mbps (189th) and Niger 0.78 Mbps (190th)
Ookla says in its website that their broadband testing methodologies and software are used by a wide range of Internet Service Provider in the world.
“Ookla solutions have been adopted by nearly every Internet Service Provider in the world, and have been translated into over 30 languages for use by thousands of small businesses, federal and state governments, universities and major organizations such as AT&T, BBC, Cisco, Comcast, FCC, Reuters, Time Warner, Verizon, Vodafone and Vonage,” it said.
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