NTC fines Globe, Smart, DITO over ‘poor’ broadband service

MANILA — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has fined Globe Telecom, Smart Communications, and DITO Telecommunity over their allegedly poor mobile broadband services.

In separate show-cause orders, the NTC fined Globe, Smart, and DITO P100,000 each daily until they meet the required quality-of-service standard.

“The NTC commits to take decisive action in enforcing compliance with quality-of-service standards and will conduct bi-weekly re-testing in the affected areas to verify the implementation of necessary network improvements while continuing to monitor other areas to assess the quality and availability of mobile broadband services,” the agency said.

It said it issued memoranda on May 29, 2025, August 5, 2025, and November 17, 2025 asking the companies to improve the quality of service in areas with weak signal or no signal.

Aside from imposing penalties, the NTC also asked the telcos to submit a corrective action plan specifying the technical measures to be undertaken to correct the deficiencies, the infrastructure improvements they plan to carry out, and the timeline for implementing these.

In a September 28 disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Smart parent firm PLDT said it has yet to receive the NTC’s show cause order.

“Upon receipt of the Show Cause Order, Smart will review the same and respond through the appropriate regulatory channels,” it said.

DITO, in a September 28 disclosure, said it is “currently engaging the NTC in discussions with respect to the contents of the Show Cause Letter.”

Globe also disclosed that it is carefully studying the matter and intends to respond to the NTC within the period provided in the order. 

The Ayala-led telco meanwhile sent a “report card” from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which showed that it scored a grade of “Good” in August. 

The DICT scorecard said Globe’s average speed was 45.9 Mbps, which was rated as average; its coverage was 45.13 percent, which was rated good; and its service consistency was 86.75 percent, which was also average.

Meanwhile, the Speedtest by Ookla showed that in August, the Philippines’ median mobile internet rating had risen by 2 notches. 

Ookla, which is a crowdsourced system, showed the Philippines having a median download speed of 66.3 Mbps, upload speed of 8.49 Mbps, with a 20 ms latency.

The United Arab Emirates had the best mobile internet, with a download speed of 675.51 Mbps.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila’s internet speeds had also improved, rising by one notch. According to Ookla, Metro Manila had a download speed of 95.2 Mbps, an upload speed of 10.47 Mbps, and a 15 ms latency, which ranked it 97th in a list of major cities.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, had the best mobile internet, with a download speed ot 702.28 Mbps.