Internet access in the Philippines remains costly, study shows

A new study by Picodi, a global e-commerce platform, revealed that the Philippines is among the countries with the more expensive internet access in the world.

The study, which compared the prices of broadband plans with different speeds across 85 countries, found that the average cost of a 100Mbps internet plan in the Philippines is $40.50 (around ₱2,260), while a 1Gbps broadband plan starts at $105.70 (around ₱5,890).

These prices are higher than the global average, with the Philippines ranking at 21st out of 100 countries on the list in terms of the cost of 100Mbps internet speed, and 47th out of 51 countries in terms of the cost of 1Gbps internet speed.

The most expensive countries for 100Mbps internet speed are Norway ($79.4/month), Iceland ($62.1/month), and Australia ($61.8/month), while the cheapest ones are Russia ($5.6/month), Ukraine ($6.1/month), and Romania ($6.4/month).

Meanwhile, the most expensive countries for 1Gbps internet speed are Venezuela ($1,000/month), Costa Rica ($300/month), and Paraguay ($200/month), while the cheapest ones are Romania ($8.9/month), Moldova ($10.1/month), and Hungary ($10.6/month).

Picodi Philippines data shows that 100Mbps is the most commonly offered internet speed worldwide, available in 74 out of 85 analyzed countries. However, in some countries, such as China, Spain, France, and Singapore, major internet service providers (ISPs) have stopped offering such ‘slow’ bandwidth.

Picodi also checked what internet speed one would get at $20 (₱1,100) per month. The study showed that Latvia offers the best value for money, with 1.2Gbps bandwidth for less than $20. In the Philippines, $20 can only get you 20Mbps bandwidth speed.

The study also noted that gigabit internet has become cheaper by an average of 15% in four years (in the Philippines – by 37%). However, in some countries, such high bandwidth is still a luxury available to few. In the Philippines, the cheapest access to 1Gbps bandwidth is available at $105.7 (₱5,999) per month.

Picodi’s study covers 85 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia–Pacific, and Africa. The prices were converted to USD using the exchange rates as of October 2023.