Philippines leads Asia-Pacific in WiFi usage – study

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February 4, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has emerged as the most dependent on WiFi connection in Asia-Pacific, driven by government efforts to provide free internet access in public spaces.

Based on a study by Opensignal, the Philippines leads the region in terms of WiFi usage, with 83 percent of the population relying on the technology for their digital activities.

This exceeds the Asia-Pacific average of 62 percent, showing that Filipinos prefer to connect to the WiFi when going online.

Opensignal principal data analyst Robert Wyrzykowski said the development can be attributed to the expansion of free WiFi access. The program, initiated by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), offers free WiFi in government schools and public spaces.

“The Philippines is another example of a market where the government’s initiatives are driving increased time spent on and higher data consumption over WiFi. The DICT has been rolling out the Free WiFi for All initiative over the past several years,” Wyrzykowski said.

Further, Wyrzykowski said telcos have started offering low-cost options for broadband services, and this is contributing to the expansion of WiFi use in the Philippines.

For instance, broadband specialist Converge ICT Solutions Inc. pioneered a prepaid product that allowed consumers to avail themselves of unlimited internet for P50 per day.

These factors also drove the Philippines to lead Asia-Pacific in heavy data use propensity on WiFi, as Filipinos tend to reserve high-traffic activities for the technology.

The study also reported that just five percent of Filipinos rely on solely mobile data, the second lowest in the region. In contrast, Filipinos spend 56 percent of their time connected to the WiFi, the fourth highest.

Wyrzykowski expects consumers, particularly in developing markets like the Philippines, to still depend on WiFi for their internet access. He said consumers are price-sensitive in these emerging economies, so they prefer the perks that come with fixed services like WiFi.

“Historically, fixed-line services were viewed as faster, cheaper per GB consumed and are more reliable, with a key advantage, (which is) absence of data caps, allowing unrestricted use without performance penalties,” Wyrzykowski said.

However, Wyrzykowski said trends could change WiFi demand in the future, especially with the rise of Gen Zs, who are video-heavy users, and the advent of automation, which requires higher bandwidth for operations.