NTC fines Globe, Smart and DITO PHP100,000 a day

TL;DR: The Philippines' National Telecommunications Commission fined Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and DITO Telecommunity PHP100,000 each per day until they meet mobile broadband quality-of-service standards. The regulator said the action followed repeated concerns about poor or unavailable service in affected areas.

The Philippines' National Telecommunications Commission has fined Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and DITO Telecommunity PHP100,000 each per day until they meet required mobile broadband quality-of-service standards.

The NTC issued separate show-cause orders after repeated concerns over poor or unavailable mobile broadband services in affected areas. The regulator said it had previously instructed the three operators to improve services in areas with weak or no signal through memoranda issued in May, August and November 2025.

The NTC also ordered the operators to submit corrective action plans covering technical measures, planned infrastructure upgrades and implementation timelines. The regulator said it will conduct testing every two weeks in affected areas to verify network improvements while continuing to monitor mobile broadband quality and availability elsewhere.

The operators said they are reviewing the orders. Smart parent PLDT said on September 28 that it had not yet received the show-cause order, DITO said it was discussing its order with the NTC, and Globe said it would respond within the specified period. Globe also cited a Department of Information and Communications Technology scorecard from August that rated its overall performance as Good, with average speeds of 45.9Mbps, coverage of 45.13% and service consistency of 86.75%.

According to Ookla data cited in the report, the Philippines recorded a median mobile download speed of 66.3Mbps in August, with upload speeds of 8.49Mbps and latency of 20 milliseconds. Metro Manila recorded median mobile download speeds of 95.2Mbps, upload speeds of 10.47Mbps and latency of 15 milliseconds.