Globe, PLDT, or Converge? Mavs Honest ISP Guide

Let me start with a fact that should make every Filipino mildly furious.

The Philippines' average mobile internet speed in early 2025 was 35.56 Mbps — way below the global average of 61.52 Mbps. For fixed broadband, we clocked in at 93.68 Mbps — just barely below the global average of 95.10 Mbps.

We are improving. But we are still trailing behind countries that we frankly should not be trailing behind. Singapore and Thailand lead the region with median fixed broadband speeds surpassing 200 Mbps. Malaysia and Vietnam are at 132 and 135 Mbps respectively. Meanwhile we are celebrating finally getting close to 100 Mbps on a good day.

Connectivity in rural areas is way below the national average — Eastern Visayas, which covers the region near us, ranks at the bottom for median fixed download speeds. Those of us living outside Metro Manila and CALABARZON know this firsthand. The numbers they announce in press releases are not always the numbers we experience on our actual devices.

That said — things are genuinely improving. And the three main players — Globe, PLDT, and Converge — have real, measurable differences that matter when you are deciding which one to bring into your home.

Let me break it down.

First — The Scorecard from Independent Data

Before I share my personal experience, here is what the data actually says. Opensignal — an independent global analytics firm — published their September 2025 Philippines Fixed Broadband Experience Report, and the results are worth knowing:

Converge ICT posted average download speeds of 56 Mbps and topped both the video experience and reliability experience categories. Globe GFiber scored highest in consistent quality with 68.1% of tests meeting performance thresholds. PLDT led upload speeds at 42.3 Mbps.

Put simply:

• Converge — fastest downloads, best for streaming and reliability
• Globe — most consistent, fewest sudden drops in quality
• PLDT — fastest uploads, best for video calls and sending large files

Regionally — and this matters for Surigao readers specifically — Converge collected the bulk of its wins in Mindanao and Visayas. Globe performed strongest in North and Central Luzon.

Now let me tell you what those numbers look like from the ground.

PLDT — The Old Guard

PLDT is the oldest and largest telco in the Philippines. PLDT remains the market leader, cornering 42% of all subscribers through its largely fiber network. If you are anywhere in the Philippines, PLDT has probably been there the longest — which is both an advantage and a liability.

The advantage: widest coverage, especially in areas where newer competitors have not yet laid fiber. If you are in a municipality where Converge has not arrived yet, PLDT is often the only fiber option available.

The liability: being the oldest network also means carrying the most legacy infrastructure. PLDT is still migrating customers from old copper DSL lines to fiber.

PLDT's upload speed leadership matters if you are a content creator, remote worker doing video calls, or running any kind of business that sends data upstream. PLDT topped the Upload Speed category at 42.3 Mbps — 7% ahead of Converge and 15% faster than Globe.

Customer service reputation: mixed to poor, depending heavily on your area. Repair times when something breaks can stretch to days or even weeks in some provinces.

Best for: Areas where Converge has no coverage yet. Heavy uploaders. People who also need a bundled landline.

Converge — The Disruptor

Converge is the story of Philippine internet in the 2020s. Converge expanded its fiber footprint from six million homes passed in 2020 to over 16 million in 2025 — nearly tripling its reach in five years. It did this by building pure fiber-to-the-home infrastructure in areas the incumbents had ignored — and by pricing aggressively enough to force the entire market to compete harder.

The results are measurable. Converge won eight outright and four joint regional awards in the September 2025 Opensignal report, performing strongest in Mindanao and Visayas. For those of us in the southern Philippines specifically, Converge is genuinely worth checking if it has reached your barangay yet.

The trade-off: Converge's customer service reputation has been historically inconsistent. Their rapid expansion — going from 6 to 16 million homes passed in five years — meant the infrastructure grew faster than the support infrastructure to maintain it. Reports of long wait times for technician visits and unresolved tickets are common in online communities.

Best for: Pure download speed priority. Streaming-heavy households. Budget-conscious subscribers. Mindanao and Visayas subscribers where Converge has been specifically investing.

 Globe — My Personal Choice, and Why

Here is where I have to be transparent about my own situation. I use Globe. I have been on Globe home fiber here in Surigao City. And I want to be clear about what that experience has actually been like — good and bad — because this blog does not do marketing speak.

Is Globe the fastest? No. The data says Converge beats it on download speed and PLDT beats it on upload.

Is it the most consistent? Yes, actually. Globe GFiber wins the Consistent Quality award with a score of 68.1% — the percentage of tests meeting minimum thresholds for HD video streaming, video conferencing, and gaming. In practical terms that means fewer random drops, fewer moments where your video call freezes mid-sentence, fewer instances of the internet technically being "on" but performing like it is not.

Here is what personally sold me on Globe over the alternatives: after weather disturbances — and anyone living in Surigao knows we get our share of those — my Globe connection has held. I have not experienced the prolonged outages after bad weather that some of my neighbors with other providers have dealt with.

The customer service experience has also been better than I expected. Globe maintains a Viber group for service updates in our area — announcements when maintenance is scheduled, updates when something goes down, ETAs for restoration. That kind of communication from a telco is not guaranteed anywhere in the Philippines. When it exists, it matters.

Is Globe perfect? Absolutely not. The speed numbers are real — it is not the fastest option on paper. But for my specific situation — Surigao location, weather exposure, work-from-home demands, need for reliability over raw speed — it has been the right call.

Best for: Users who prioritize consistency over peak speed. Areas with frequent weather disturbances. People who need reliable customer service communication. Work-from-home setups where stable video calls matter more than maximum download speed.

The Honest Answer Nobody Wants to Hear

The best ISP in the Philippines is whichever one has the best infrastructure in your specific barangay.

I cannot overstate how much location determines your actual experience. Different providers perform better in different areas — people who rely on the internet for work often have more than one supplier, with a phone hotspot as further emergency backup. That advice from experienced users is not an exaggeration. It is a survival strategy.

Before you sign any contract, ask your neighbors — not your Facebook feed, not a sponsored review site — your actual neighbors on your actual street what they are using and what their real experience has been. That intelligence is worth more than any speed test result published from Manila.

Quick Reference

Ask yourself these questions in order:

1. Is Converge available in my area? If yes and you are a heavy user who prioritizes download speed and streaming — start there.

2. Has PLDT already been in my area for years with a good track record? If yes and you upload frequently or need a bundled landline — PLDT is a safe established choice.

3. Is weather a regular disruption factor in my location? If yes — ask specifically about post-typhoon restoration times from local users before deciding.

4. Do I work from home and depend on video calls staying stable? Prioritize consistency metrics over peak speed. Globe's consistent quality score matters here.

5. Can I afford two connections? Seriously consider it. A primary fiber connection plus a mobile hotspot backup is standard operating procedure for anyone whose livelihood depends on staying online.

Now — Your Turn

I shared my experience. I want to hear yours.

Drop it in the comments. Real experiences from real locations are more useful than any benchmark report — and your comment might be the reason someone in your city makes the right call.

The internet in the Philippines is still a work in progress. But we are the ones who have to live with the results of these choices while it catches up.

(Not sponsored by anyone. None of these companies know I exist. This is just a ordinary guy in Surigao and has opinions.)

— Mavs