The popular internet speed testing service Ookla has released its November edition of the Speedtest Global Index, ranking average internet speeds in different countries, on mobile and home broadband. The numbers do not make pretty reading for internet users in India, with a rather dismal rank of 109 out of 122 countries. In the broadband space, however, things fare a bit better, with India ranked at 76 out of 133 countries.
The Ookla Speedtest Global Index for November suggests that mobile data networks in India is 8.80Mbps, which is down marginally from 8.83Mbps in October, though significantly higher than 7.65Mbps average speed at the beginning of the year.
At present, Norway has the fastest mobile networks in the world with an average speed of 62.66Mbps, while Netherlands (53.01Mbps) is second, Iceland (52.78Mbps) drops one place to third, Singapore (51.50Mbps) is fourth and Malta (50.46Mbps) fifth.
In a direct comparison with India’s neighbours, China is ranked 31st (31.22Mbps), Pakistan is ranked 89th (13.08Mbps), Myanmar is ranked 94th (11.72Mbps), Nepal is 99th (10.97Mbps) and Sri Lanka is 107th (9.32Mbps)—all fare better than India in terms of average speeds.
Things do look a bit better when it comes to broadband networks, where India is in 76th place with an average speed of 18.82Mbps. This is also the highest it has ever been this year, which started with an average broadband speed of 12.12Mbps.
At present, Singapore leads the rankings with an average home broadband speed of 153.85Mbps, Iceland jumps one place to second with 147.51Mbps, Hong Kong is third with 133.94Mbps, South Korea is fourth with 127.45Mbps and Romania is fifth with 104.46Mbps.
As far as India’s neighbours are concerned, China is ranked 23rd with 61.24Mbps, while Sri Lanka is 71st with 19.26Mbps. However, Bangladesh is ranked 85th (16.14Mbps), Nepal is ranked 92nd (14.05Mbps) and Pakistan is ranked 126th (6.13Mbps).
These numbers are calculated based on every speed test a user does on the app in every country, to understand a real state of the networks that internet users are relying on.
Things could improve significantly for India in 2018, however.
On the mobile front, a panel, with representations from the telecom industry, government of India and academics, was formed in September to strategize for the early roll-out of 5G mobile networks in India by the year 2020. In the interim, upgrades to mobile networks could enable even faster speeds on 4G networks that our mobile service providers offer. On the home broadband front, speeds should see an increase too, thanks to competition. Broadband provider Spectra has already upgraded its network to offer 1Gbps internet speeds for all existing users in many parts of the country—something that could force rivals to increase speeds on existing subscription plans too.
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