A ROBUST and pervasive digital network to roll out advancements such as 5G technology can help address everyday problems of Filipinos and essential to a sustainable digital future.

This was the key insight shared by Globe’s Vice President for Site Acquisition and Management Vince Tempongko in the Liveable Cities Challenge (LCC) webinar “Empowering Communities through Technology.”

“We believe that with the limitations and challenges our country faces today, digital is the answer to many of our problems. The foundation of a successful digital economy is a superior network utilizing first-world technologies. Once we achieve this, we will be closer to our mission of seeing a Philippines where families’ dreams come true, businesses flourish, and the whole nation is admired,” said Tempongko.

In view of this, Globe continues to aggressively upgrade and modernize its network.  So far, the company has over 11,000 cell sites with 92.5 percent upgraded to 4G LTE to support the digital productivity of its 84 million customers. Globe also has nearly 1,700 5G locations covering major cities and population centers, namely the National Capital Region, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Boracay, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and General Santos City. More Globe 5G sites are in the pipeline.

More than 10 times faster than 4G, 5G technology offers faster connectivity speeds, ultra-low latency, greater bandwidth, and superior network reliability.

Globe is investing P70 billion this year to fuel its expansion efforts.

Globe said that the accelerated network rollouts utilizing 4G and 5G technologies are beginning to pay off. The average fixed broadband download speed as of June 2021 has nearly tripled to 66.55 Mbps from just 25.34 Mbps in August 2020. Parallel to this, average mobile download speeds have more than doubled to 32.84 Mbps from 16.44 Mbps over the same period.

According to the Benchmarking the 5G Experience-Asia Pacific June 2021 report by Opensignal, the Philippines’ 5G download speed is now at 141 Mbps, which is among the fastest in the region. The Philippines is among the top Asia-Pacific countries, ranking 6th in download speed and peak download speed. It also placed 8th in 5G upload speed.

Recently, Globe was named the Philippines’ most consistent mobile network for the first quarter of 2021 by Ookla and leads in 10 of 17 regions in the country in terms of mobile median download speed.

The company’s 3.2 Mbps speed in the Netflix ISP Speed Index is comparable to the 3.4 Mbps in the United States.

Even with the many improvements, the Philippines still enjoys one of the lowest internet prices in the region. The average price per gigabyte in the country is much lower at P9.00 when compared to its neighbors such as Indonesia (P29.17/GB), Thailand (P40.18/GB), and Singapore (46.87/GB).[1]

“Now that we are beginning to enjoy first-world connectivity, it is our commitment to creating a Globe ecosystem to serve our customers better and enrich their lives. Through innovation, we have been able to democratize financial services, primary health care, and e-commerce. It is now accessible and affordable to all,” Tempongko added.

The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of mobile money since it is a safer and more convenient way than transacting cash. Globe’s GCash is now the leading mobile wallet in the country, with over 40 million registered users and 1.9 million merchants. It has since transformed into an all-in-one app that offers lifestyle choices, investments, insurance and even enables donations to charities.

For as low as P60 monthly, Filipinos can now have access to health care through KonsultaMD. Through this, Globe has been providing 24/7 telehealth services using video or voice. Manned by skilled and licensed Filipino doctors, the app provides medical assessment and advice, including e-prescriptions, e-laboratory requests, and e-medical certificates.

The 2021 Liveable Cities Labs is a continuing series of webinars to empower cities with knowledge and insights for designing better solutions for their communities.

This initiative is part of Globe’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), specifically UN SDG No. 9, which emphasize the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development, and UN SDG No. 11, which highlights the importance of building sustainable cities and communities. Globe is committed to upholding the UN Global Compact principles and contributing to 10 UN SDGs.