Philippines Drives Satellite Growth in Asia-Pacific

The Philippines is poised to become the next big market for direct-to-device (D2D) service in the Asia-Pacific, with telco-to-tech giant Globe Telecom Inc. benefitting from being the first in the segment. In a report, internet analyst Ookla said the Philippines registered the largest D2D base in Asia-Pacific even prior to the commercial launch of Globe in June. Ookla has scanned D2D registrations in the country since January, and the Philippines accounted for 64 percent of the region’s base in the second quarter. Ookla said the pre-launch detections were likely network tests from Globe. However, there could be consumers also who want to register ahead of the launch to check device compatibility. Regionally, the number of devices connected to the internet via satellite grew by more than five times between July 2025 and May 2026, with the Philippines driving the increase. Ookla said the Philippines had taken up 56.1 percent of the Asia-Pacific base in the first quarter and 64 percent in the second quarter. “The detected base built from January, reached nearly four times its January level in May, and it fell back in June, a pattern that fits a test campaign winding down ahead of launch,” Ookla said. Ookla expected this level of D2D adoption in the Philippines, an archipelago made up of over 7,000 islands, of which many remain isolated from terrestrial infrastructure. Further, Ookla spotted a usage increase in the provinces hit by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in June, where Globe activated the D2D service for free to show its disaster readiness. Globe switched on its D2D solution in Sarangani, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat to serve its 700,000-strong base there, of which at least 150,000 connected. Ookla said usage in these provinces nearly doubled to 21.1 percent in June, from 11.6 percent in May. Still, Ookla said the Philippines is far from attaining D2D quality at the same level as the internet speed it gets from cellular sites and fiber lines. The country posted the weakest signal from low earth orbit satellites operated by Starlink. This is usual for countries situated close to the equator, and the quality will remain the same until such time that Starlink launches new satellites next year. In June, Globe started offering its D2D service in partnership with Starlink, selling it for as low as P99 for prepaid users and is granted free to postpaid customers.