High-speed Wi-Fi has become essential for guest satisfaction in luxury hospitality to attract more tourists and business travelers, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Whether you’re a leisure traveler trying to find your next home away from home or a digital nomad looking for the ideal remote work location, this article offers insights into Wi-Fi performance in MENA’s luxury hospitality market. It also discusses how hotels can improve their Wi-Fi network and use it as a differentiator to attract and retain guests.

Key Takeaways:

• Luxury hotels in Riyadh and Dubai offer some of the fastest Wi-Fi in MENA. Only three of the 22 properties and resorts reviewed achieved a median download speed of over 100 Mbps between October 2023 and October 2024. They include Four Seasons in Riyad, with a median speed of 154.75 Mbps, Raffles The Palm, and Jumeirah Mina Al Salam, both in Dubai, with 122.82 Mbps and 121.35 Mbps, respectively. 
• Just over half of the reviewed hotels provided Wi-Fi with a median download speed of at least 50 Mbps. 41% of the properties provided a speed between 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps; these include iconic hotels, such as Burj Al Arab and the Royal Atlantis in Dubai. The remaining 45% of hotels offered a speed below 50 Mbps, including those in the Gulf region, suggesting that the issue is with the Wi-Fi network and not with the capacity of the broadband connection.
• Hotels should actively monitor and improve their Wi-Fi to remain competitive. Hotels can enhance Wi-Fi performance by increasing bandwidth, upgrading modern networking equipment, optimizing access point placement, performing regular maintenance, and gathering guest feedback to inform improvements.

Fast and reliable Wi-Fi is critical to the experience of tourists, business travelers, and remote workers

Fast and reliable Wi-Fi is essential for the hospitality industry, particularly in the MENA region, where tourists and business travelers expect seamless internet access to stream their favorite TV shows, have virtual meetings, and stay in touch. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, making remote work the new normal. Some cities, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, rolled out the red carpet to digital nomads and professionals, offering special visas and incentives to attract them. Even holidaygoers and families require more bandwidth to enjoy premium video streaming services and connect multiple devices simultaneously. 

As the luxury hospitality sector is booming in the region, the quality of Wi-Fi can be a decisive factor in travelers’ decision to select a property over another in a highly competitive market. According to a survey conducted in the USA, 74% of panelists believe that Wi-Fi quality is important to attract guests and maintain their loyalty. Poor Wi-Fi can negatively impact guest experiences, review scores, and occupancy rates.

Luxury hotels in Riyadh and Dubai have among the fastest Wi-Fi networks in MENA

Using Speedtest Intelligence® data, we analyzed Wi-Fi performance across 22 top-rated five-star hotels and resorts shortlisted based on desk research for the most popular properties and recent recommendations from Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and Business Traveller Middle East. We also aimed to have representation from the Gulf region, Middle East, and North Africa. 

The map below shows the city distribution of the hotels selected. The U.A.E. is most represented, with nine properties and resorts spread across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Riyadh, Doha, and Marrakesh contributed three hotels each, followed by Muscat in Oman and  Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, with two hotels each.

We benchmarked median download speeds inside and around the properties over one year (October 2023 and October 2024). This period helps us gauge the performance and stability of the Wi-Fi network with different levels of hotel occupancy and guest profiles. We excluded hotels with low measurement sample counts and considered only the most common Wi-Fi network name in each hotel, which is usually freely accessible to guests. To this end, we excluded Wi-Fi networks set up specifically for special events like sporting competitions.

Data analysis revealed three groups of hotels based on Wi-Fi download speed:

• Top performers include hotels with a median download speed exceeding 100Mbps. These speeds facilitate multiple 4K streams, ultra-fast downloads, and lag-free video conferencing, catering to the most demanding digital needs.
• Good performers include hotels with a median download speed between 50Mbps and 100Mbps. These represent 41% of the properties reviewed. This group comprises iconic hotels such as Burj Al Arab and the Royal Atlantis in Dubai.
• Performance laggards include hotels with a median download speed below 50 Mbps, representing more than 45% of the properties reviewed.  This speed may be suitable for single high-definition to 4K  streaming but struggles with more data-intensive activities at busy times.

Four Seasons in Riyadh, Raffles The Palm, and Jumeirah Mina Al Salam, both in Dubai, top the list with a median download speed of 154.75 Mbps, 122.82 Mbps, and 121.35 Mbps, respectively. The download speeds of good-performing hotels range from just over 50 Mbps for Raffles and Fairmont, colocated in Doha’s Katara Towers, to 93.70 Mbps for Rixos Sharm El Sheikh. The other hotels in this category are located in Dubai, Muscat, and Marrakesh. 

Every city has hotels in the laggards’ category, with speeds ranging from  10.21 Mbps to 46.11 Mbps. At the bottom of the list, we find two in Abu Dhabi, Hilton Yas Island and Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, with speeds of 14.88 Mbps and 14.45 Mbps, respectively, and JW Marriott Hotel Muscat, at 10.21 Mbps.

For reference, Netflix recommends a minimum of 15 Mbps for 4K video streaming. More specifically, in the hospitality industry, and based on a survey, 56% of hotel guests in the USA expected hotels to offer Wi-Fi speeds of at least 50 Mbps for the service to be acceptable. Speedtest results show that over half of the reviewed hotels in MENA meet or exceed that threshold.

While Gulf countries top the Speedtest Global Index, we note that many hotels in that region offer sub-50 Mbps, suggesting that the issue is with the Wi-Fi network and not with the capacity of the broadband connection. Conversely, hotels in Sharm El Sheikh and Marrakesh outperformed many of their peers in Gulf countries, suggesting a combination of good internet capacity and optimal Wi-Fi installation.

Deploying modern and well-configured Wi-Fi equipment helps to realize speed gains

The placement and configuration of Wi-Fi access points influence the speed and coverage guests can experience. Speedtest data shows that Wi-Fi 6 standard (802.11ax) and 5 GHz frequency spectrum, which privileges speed over coverage, are more commonly found in top-performing hotels than lower-performing ones. 

Speed gains of Wi-Fi 6 over Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 5 over Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) are more significant at higher speed ranges (above 75 Mbps). Furthermore, tests that used the 5 GHz frequency consistently outperformed those over 2.4 GHz (which provides better coverage but with lower performance) across a wide range of speeds, with more substantial improvements at higher speeds.

Hotels should actively monitor and improve their Wi-Fi to remain competitive

Delivering high-speed and consistent Wi-Fi across different parts of a hotel is challenging because of the inherent design and structure of the property. The size and layout of the hotel play a crucial role; larger establishments with multiple floors and large common areas can create dead zones where the signal weakens or fails. Additionally, the materials used in construction—such as concrete, metal, and glass—can significantly attenuate Wi-Fi signals, leading to inconsistent connectivity in certain areas. Furthermore, the high density of guests during peak seasons can strain the network, resulting in slower speeds and dropped connections. 

In addition to upgrading networking equipment, including routers and access points that support the latest Wi-Fi standards, hotels can improve network experience by adopting the following steps:

• Increase bandwidth: Ensure sufficient internet bandwidth to accommodate the number of guests and their usage patterns.
• Conduct a site survey to identify dead zones and areas with weak signals and interference. This will help in planning the placement of access points for optimal coverage.
• Optimize placement of access points: Distribute access points throughout the hotel to ensure consistent coverage reduce congestion, and upgrade cables to take advantage of increased bandwidth.
• Regular maintenance and updates: Update firmware and software for networking equipment to ensure security and performance.
• Monitor network performance: Use monitoring tools to track performance metrics like speed and coverage to identify problems and inform future upgrades.
• Gather guest feedback: Include questions about Wi-Fi quality in the checkout surveys to better understand their needs and make necessary adjustments.

As the luxury hospitality sector in the MENA region continues to flourish, hotels must recognize that high-speed and reliable Wi-Fi is no longer just a nice-to-have feature but a critical expectation of their guests. Investing in connectivity and optimizing Wi-Fi infrastructure will not only enhance guest experience and satisfaction but also help stand out in the competitive market in MENA. 

By investing in providing seamless connectivity, hotels can attract a broader range of travelers—including digital nomads and business professionals—and foster loyalty among guests. This will also help local luxury hotels become sought-after destinations for luxury holidays and remote work. 

Ookla can assist hospitality property managers in designing Wi-Fi networks, monitoring their performance, and optimizing them. Please contact us to learn more about Speedtest Intelligence and Ekahau.

In the last three years, generative AI (GenAI) has driven most of the hype around AI. Its ability to understand and respond to queries in a human-like way and produce high-quality programming code, music, and video content raises critical questions about network requirements to support these applications and how best to measure network performance. This article covers current and emerging GenAI use cases and discusses the implications of growing consumer adoption on network performance and measurement strategies.

Key Takeaways:

• The growing adoption of GenAI and its evolution has the potential to disrupt traffic usage patterns significantly. The surge in demand for GenAI and the diversity of the content types it can generate could lead to a significant increase in data traffic and a heightened need for improved bandwidth and latency in the medium to long term. Advancements in data compression and prompting techniques could mitigate demand pressures and lead to less severe outcomes than anticipated.
• GenAI drives the need for new approaches to measure the quality of experience. The evolution of GenAI from chatbots to real-time conversations with richer and more interactive applications will require a new content distribution infrastructure and unlock new use cases. This will prompt a rethink of how we assess network performance and user experience.
• Addressing data misuse, misinformation, and mistrust concerns will be crucial for widespread GenAI adoption. As GenAI content becomes more sophisticated, privacy, security, and trustworthiness issues will grow in importance. Establishing robust regulatory and technical safeguards will be vital to building consumer and business confidence in these technologies.

GenAI has captivated users, businesses, and investors alike

GenAI is a small part of AI that specializes in generating novel content using computer models trained on terabytes of existing digital datasets of text, computer code, images, and videos. Despite the recent decline in overall AI private investment, GenAI continues to attract the most funding. Private funding for GenAI surged to $25.3 billion in 2023, nearly nine times the amount raised in 2022. In October 2024, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, the leading GenAI chatbot, raised $6.6 billion in new funding, valuing it at $157 billion despite incurring $5 billion in losses that year.

GenAI is not just capturing the attention of investors; it is also a hot topic among Fortune 500 companies. GenAI was the most frequently cited AI theme on earnings calls, appearing in nearly 20% of all earning calls during 2023. This shows that corporate leaders see significant potential in this technology.

GenAI services have also become very popular among consumers. For example, ChatGPT made headlines with its record-breaking growth. After the release of ChatGPT 3.5 in May 2023, the service reached 100 million users in just 64 days – the fastest-growing consumer application to date. Today, the ChatGPT website attracts over 600 million monthly visitors (down from its peak of 2 billion visits a month), and the service has more than 180 million users. While growth has slowed, ChatGPT is expected to capture 75.2% of GenAI users globally, even as its market share dips due to the rise of many proprietary and open-source alternatives. The U.S. is home to the largest ChatGPT user base, expected to increase to 87.9 million users by 2025.

Businesses are eagerly embracing GenAI for its perceived benefits. A CCS Insight survey found that 82% of U.S. and European companies have already deployed GenAI or plan to do so in the next 12 months. GenAI has been mostly used for administrative-type tasks such as generating draft contracts and summarizing notes, content creation, marketing, and customer support.

The telecom industry is increasingly bullish on GenAI. Operators are using the technology to introduce more sophisticated chatbots that offer a more human-like customer service experience. According to a recent GSMA Intelligence survey, 81% of global telecom operators are currently testing GenAI. While the initial focus is on cost reduction and operational efficiency, GenAI could eventually create new revenue streams by enabling new AI-powered consumer and B2B services. A 2023 McKinsey report suggests that GenAI could boost telecom revenue by 2.3% to 3.7% (as a percentage of total industry revenue), corresponding to an additional $60 to $100 billion. 

The rapid evolution of GenAI services could lead to increased network requirements 

GenAI is a broad category of applications that can generate different types of content. Most users are familiar with large language models (LLM), such as GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT. LLMs are a subset of GenAI trained on vast amounts of text to generate responses in natural language. As such, most current interactions with GenAI services are basic text-based conversations. These conversations are latency-tolerant and do not demand a high throughput since most of the delay is on the server side, where data processing and content generation take place.

The evolution of GenAI, from chatbots to real-time conversations with richer and more interactive content, will require more powerful servers that can process complex requests, do it faster, and send back high-resolution images or videos. In this context, minimizing downlink latency is crucial to maintaining natural conversations between users and GenAI agents. Additionally, download speed becomes essential for sending and rendering media content on users’ devices. In the future, the ease of creating realistic images or videos (or enhancing them) will encourage more people to become content creators and editors. This will enable new use cases that combine real and synthetic content generated on the fly and streamed live. In this scenario, good uplink latency and throughput metrics will be essential to provide viewers with a high-resolution and lag-free experience.

The reduction in the size of the LLM models, the increased optimization of GenAI applications, and the growing power of system-on-chips (SoCs) have given rise to a new generation of GenAI-powered smartphones. Devices such as the iPhone 16 with Apple Intelligence and Samsung Galaxy S24 with Galaxy AI are slowly transforming the way we interact with our phones and consume content, shifting from individual app usage to an ‘app-free’ experience with an intelligent, voice-controlled digital assistant that can draft emails, translate conversations, make a booking, or manage calendars. According to IDC, GenAI smartphones will be the fastest-growing smartphone segment through 2028, with over 234 million units expected to ship in 2024 alone. 

The proliferation of dedicated GenAI applications on smartphones will help to engage more users with GenAI and shift their usage from static to nomadic. While basic tasks will continue to be handled on the device for responsiveness and data privacy, more complex tasks like generating a picture or a video clip will be partially offloaded to a server (similar to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute). In this case, download speed and latency could be paramount to ensuring a good customer experience. Even for offline GenAI usage or when using on a portable processing unit (for example, embedded in a wireless router), mobile users may need to regularly download and update large GenAI models, highlighting the importance of robust cellular download speeds.

There is much uncertainty about GenAI’s overall impact on traffic profiles. The widespread adoption of GenAI media content could significantly disrupt consumer usage patterns, potentially leading to a surge in data traffic that could strain existing network infrastructure. On the other hand, advancements in data compression and prompting techniques could mitigate demand pressures, leading to less severe outcomes than anticipated.

Service providers will need to monitor developments and be prepared to make further investments to upgrade bandwidth and capacity to keep pace with demand and maintain performance levels. If GenAI leads to substantial additional traffic, then operators may ask GenAI service providers to pay their ‘fair share’ use of the infrastructure. 

GenAI drives the need for new service quality metrics and facilitates network optimization for operators

The rise of GenAI is transforming the way we create and consume content. This transformation necessitates new means of collecting network data and methodologies to capture the performance of AI-powered services accurately. Traditional metrics like throughput, packet loss, and jitter remain essential, but new KPIs need to be defined to reflect the ‘perceived quality’ of generated (or enhanced) content. Some aspects that could be considered include the relevance and accuracy of the generated content and the responsiveness of interactive GenAI applications.

The infrastructure required to support the growth of GenAI is likely to be different from traditional content delivery networks (CDNs). Some use cases will support near real-time interaction and require robust data privacy, necessitating edge computing deployment to offload the central cloud-based GenAI servers, reduce latency by processing data closer to the user, and minimize the amount of traffic exchanged between the user and the central server. Therefore, future network measurement approaches should factor in the distributed nature of these edge compute units and redefine latency to include edge processing and content generation time at the edge. 

Operators can use GenAI tools to analyze measurement data, identify patterns, and predict potential issues based on recent incidents. According to a 2023 GSMA Intelligence survey, two-thirds of operators considered troubleshooting and maintenance to be the biggest impact of GenAI. For example, GenAI tools can provide network engineers with automated, tailored network analytics and upgrade recommendations. Ookla is using GenAI in Downdetector Explorer™ to provide network maintenance teams with up-to-date situation reports following service disruptions.

GenAI promises more immersive experiences for consumers while driving network measurement innovation

We are at the beginning of the GenAI revolution, and its potential is undeniable. GenAI promises consumers a more immersive experience, increased engagement, and greater creativity and content sharing. Combining AI-generated text, code, audio, and video could enable highly personalized and hyper-realistic immersive experiences beyond what is currently available. In the medium term, real-time services like video conferencing or gaming could be enhanced with AI-generated content, such as virtual avatars and personalized game characters, pushing network requirements to new heights. This shift will also significantly impact content distribution infrastructure and demand new approaches to moderating content, measuring network performance, and assessing customer quality of experience.

As GenAI content becomes more sophisticated and indistinguishable from human-produced content, concerns around data misuse, the spread of misinformation, and mistrust will grow. Addressing these issues will be crucial for fostering consumer and business confidence, ultimately driving the widespread adoption of AI technologies. In the meantime, GenAI will continue to be deployed with human supervision while we improve their understanding of its risks and limitations and establish regulatory and technical safeguards for its use.

We will continue to follow the development of GenAI and its adoption by consumers and telecom operators to gauge its impact on network performance and optimization. Furthermore, Ookla is actively using GenAI to transform its data into actionable insights and predictive analytics that help providers understand how to deliver better real-world connectivity experiences to consumers.

Since the beginning of 2024, there have been several high-profile outages causing service disruptions. Ookla’s Downdetector™ captured these events based on consumer reports, providing a unique perspective that can help us understand how they affect end-users. In this article, we analyze this data to assess the scale of selected outages, explore how they spread, and uncover interesting consumer behavior patterns.

Key takeaways

• On February 22, 2024, AT&T experienced the largest operator outage in the world since 2020. Downdetector captured over 1.8 million reports related to AT&T’s nationwide outage reflecting its large scale. Ookla’s platform also helped alert Verizon and T-Mobile customers about the outage caused by AT&T to reduce unnecessary reports to their respective Downdetector pages.
• In March 2024, Meta experienced one of the largest outages to date affecting several core services. Over 6.5 million reports were submitted in just over 2 hours related to Facebook on March 5th. A second outage in April 2024 highlighted the value of Downdetector to rapidly detect the outage for swift response times, as it identified the issue quickly through user reports, unlike traditional network and application testing solutions.
• Telkom in South Africa witnessed a few network outages since March 2024: On May 13th, Telkom’s South African network experienced a temporary nationwide outage, causing customers to lose signal and access to their services. That outage followed a series of disruptions affecting subsea cables in Africa, highlighting the vulnerability of this critical communications infrastructure and the need for diversification and backup solutions such as satellite internet.

Services outages have been more in the news in recent months and have an ever-growing impact on consumers and businesses alike

In the past 18 months, several high-profile outages have disrupted services across several industries – from telecommunications (AT&T in the U.S.) and social media (Meta) to cloud services (Microsoft and AWS). These disruptions extend far beyond momentary inconvenience. As consumers increasingly depend on constant connectivity for communication, entertainment, and essential services like emergency response, the stakes are high. Businesses with a strong online presence and those reliant on cloud services are particularly vulnerable, risking productivity and revenue loss, as well as potential reputational damage.

Our digital infrastructure’s highly interconnected nature means a single outage can trigger a cascade of disruptions across various sectors. In today’s era of round-the-clock media and social platforms, even small disruptions can quickly escalate into significant crises, amplifying their visibility and impact.

It is therefore crucial to have systems in place to detect such events, manage outages, and develop a comprehensive contingency plan. By spotting anomalies early, service providers can isolate problems, minimize downtime, prevent escalations, and keep users informed throughout the outage. In this context, crowdsourced data can complement internal fault detection systems by assessing the outage’s scale and providing real-time information to affected users. Identifying priority areas allows for a more coordinated response, minimizing impact and protecting the company’s reputation.

Ookla’s Downdetector™ is the leading source for real-time status and outage information for thousands of services and websites around the world. Powered by unbiased, transparent user reports and problem indicators from around the web, it helps understand disruptions to vital services, empowering consumers, and informing businesses when customers are experiencing issues. The platform tracks over 14,000 services from around the world and receives reports from more than 200 million unique users. Users submit problem reports on Downdetector localized websites, which also collect indicators from social media and other web sources. These reports are then validated and analyzed in real-time to flag potential service disruptions and other problems. An incident is confirmed when the volume of reports significantly exceeds the typical baseline for a service. 

In the sections that follow, we leverage Downdetector data to analyze three outages that occurred during the first half of 2024 by tracing back their evolution, providing insightful analysis, and uncovering interesting consumer behavior trends.

AT&T experienced the largest operator outage in the world since 2020 according to Downdetector

AT&T, the largest mobile operator in the U.S.A. with over 240 million subscribers, experienced a nationwide network outage on February 22. This affected its mobile network, leaving thousands of users without voice, messaging, and data services for several hours. Based on the number of reports on Downdetector.com, this was the largest outage of any telecom operator in the world since November 2020.

At 2:45 AM CST on 22 February 22, 2024, Downdetector started receiving thousands of self-reported incidents related to AT&T services, far exceeding the baseline. Reports peaked at 73,502 at 8:15 AM CST as people started their day. In total, AT&T received nearly 1.8 million issue reports on Downdetector between 2:45 AM CST and 5:45 PM. The number of reports started to dwindle rapidly after 10:45 AM, returning to normal by day’s end. This outage also affected AT&T’s sub-brand, Cricket Wireless, with reports tailing off in the late afternoon.

Rivals Verizon and T-Mobile also had higher-than-normal report volumes but on a much lower scale. Self-reported incidents peaked at 7:00 AM CST at 4358 and 1990 for Verizon and T-Mobile, respectively. The majority of these reports resulted from customers trying to connect to AT&T customers since both operators confirmed their networks were operating normally. These consumers are not wrong, though: they were unable to use their service as intended. To reduce the number of reports, Verizon and T-Mobile customers visiting Downdetector.com were informed that the issues being reported were likely related to AT&T. Such proactive measures helped to alert customers unaware of issues with third-party services that affect their experience and avoid unnecessary support calls.

Downdetector data points to an internal root cause within the AT&T network since no major cloud services provider, or popular online services, received a large number of reports at the same time as it did. The issues were reported from across the US, with users from Houston, Chicago, and Dallas generating the most reports. AT&T attributed the issue to a technical error in the application and execution of an incorrect process during the network expansion process. Initial concerns were about potential cyberattacks but there was no evidence to suggest that. The outage onset also corroborates with the explanation provided by AT&T that it occurred during typical maintenance hours in the very early morning. According to AT&T, three-quarters of the network was restored by the afternoon. 

The outage also meant that customers were unable to call emergency services. Some public services, such as the New York Police Department, could not use their phones connected to the AT&T network. However, AT&T’s FirstNet network for first responders such as the police and fire departments remained operational.

As a result of this incident, AT&T’s share price fell by 2% and it could face fines due to the inaccessibility of emergency services during the outage. AT&T also offered customers a $5 credit in compensation for the incident. This highlights the potential financial cost of service disruption if not managed efficiently and if the network is not quickly restored. 

Two months later to the day, AT&T experienced another, albeit more limited, outage that affected residents of Virginia and North Carolina due to equipment failure. The number of self-reported issues peaked at nearly 1300 in the morning of 22 May before subsiding one hour later.

Meta experienced one of the largest outages to date based on the number of services affected and the duration

On March 5, 2024, Meta experienced a widespread global outage impacting several of its core services including WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Threads. The outage was first reported by mid-afternoon and began to clear at about 5:00 pm UTC, lasting about 2 hours. During this time, people could not log in to their Facebook accounts, with the site erroneously indicating that their passwords were no longer correct, sparking concerns about potential hacking.

Reports of issues with Meta’s services followed a similar trend:

• Facebook reports started pouring into Downdetector around 03:15 PM UTC, peaking just 15 minutes later at over 2.35 million trouble notifications within that period. Between 3:15 PM and 5:15 PM, the total number of submitted reports exceeded 6.5 million.
• For Instagram, the number of reports peaked at 529,140 at 3:30 PM UTC, with users reporting problems with the app.
• People started reporting issues with Facebook Messenger‘s chatting services and problems logging in mid-afternoon, with a peak of 158,419 reports at 3:30 PM UTC.
• Users on WhatsApp were comparatively much less affected by the outage, with only 25,312 reports between 3:00 PM and 5:30 PM, compared to 6.5 million for Facebook, over 1.8 million for Instagram, and 410,281 for Facebook Messenger.

Meta attributed the outage to an unspecified technical issue, with most users regaining access to its services by late afternoon. This episode highlights the potential risk of not quickly communicating about ongoing outages, raising customers’ concerns, and prompting them to change their passwords multiple times to regain access to their accounts, compounding incoming traffic to Meta platforms.

At the beginning of April, WhatsApp services went briefly offline again. Users could open the app and view their chats and history, but could not send or receive any messages. The same applied to Facebook Messenger; Instagram and Threads were less impacted. Starting at 6:10 PM UTC on April 3, 2024, Meta services, particularly WhatsApp, received many user reports on Downdetector. Between 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM UTC, WhatsApp reports amounted to over 1.7 million, much higher than that of Instagram at over 200,000 and Facebook at 35,721. Meta did not make an official statement explaining the cause of this outage.

Traditional network and application testing solutions did not detect this Meta outage because the network paths looked normal and did not exhibit any errors from the outside (using Ping-type tests). However, Downdetector identified the issue early thanks to user reports, highlighting the importance of quicker outage detection enabling faster response times.

Telkom in South Africa has witnessed a few network outages since March 2024

On May 13, 2024, a significant outage affected Telkom’s nationwide operations, leaving customers unable to use internet services, place calls, or send text messages. The service interruption began around 1:00 PM UTC, with user reports peaking between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM UTC. During this window, approximately 48,433 outage reports were logged in Downdetector. Users also went to social media platforms such as X (formally Twitter) to voice their frustration. 

Although service was largely restored by 4:00 PM UTC, lingering issues persisted in some areas. Downdetector received reports well into the evening, indicating that certain users continued to face connectivity problems. In response to the inconvenience, Telkom offered all affected customers compensation of 1GB of data, valid for two days.

Analysis of the outage reported by Telkom subscribers revealed that 40% pertained to internet connectivity, while 35.2% related to mobile phone services. Almost a quarter of the complaints described the situation as a “total blackout” of the mobile network, suggesting an extensive disruption. The outage inevitably impacted access to popular online platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Netflix.

The root cause of Telkom’s outage on May 13, 2024, remains unspecified but it follows another disruption that occurred the day before and affected online services in South Africa and several countries on the east coast of the continent including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda. This broader disruption was attributed to damage to the undersea cable system that connects the region to the rest of the world. Customers reported slow internet speeds and intermittent service throughout the day.

A more extensive outage had previously impacted the Western and Southern parts of Africa, including South Africa, on March 14, 2024. This disruption was due to multiple failures of the undersea cables and resulted in significant economic repercussions. For example, banks were forced to close in several countries including Nigeria, and mobile users across the region faced sluggish speeds and interference with financial transactions.

Regardless of whether Telkom’s recent service disruption was directly related to the recent subsea cable damages or not, these events underscore the critical importance of this infrastructure in sustaining Africa’s connectivity with the globe and expose the vulnerabilities inherent in a communications network reliant on limited pathways. They also show the important role of South Africa in serving parts of the continent since big regional companies have data centers located in the country. 

The situation highlights the urgency for diversifying subsea cables and exploring alternative technologies, such as satellite internet from providers like Starlink, to serve as a contingency measure. However, even these technologies are not immune to challenges, as evidenced by the disruptions to Starlink in May 2024 due to a geomagnetic storm.

The network outages experienced by major service providers like Meta and AT&T emphasize that even the most extensive and relied-upon networks are susceptible to major service interruptions. Such disruptions can have a profound impact and disrupt critical services given consumers’ and businesses’ dependence on such infrastructure. The network disruptions faced by countries in Africa since March 2024 also highlight the economic risks linked to the limited number of subsea cables.

While infrastructure resilience improves over time, the complexity of modern systems means that organizations must proactively identify and mitigate network failures. Tools like Downdetector enable early detection, informed contingency planning, and transparent communication with concerned users – all essential for navigating outages and preserving user trust in an increasingly interconnected world.

If you would like to know more about Downdetector, please contact us.

Following the FIFA World Cup® 2022, the first in the Middle East and the pioneering global football competition to be supported by 5G networks, Qatar welcomed an estimated 1.5 million fans for the 18th edition of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Asian Cup from 12 January to 10 February 2024. This article examines the performance of 5G networks in selected stadiums during the event and compares it to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and other major international sporting events in 2023 and 2024. 

Key takeaways

• Qatar tops Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index®. Qatar moved into the top spot of the Speedtest Index in February 2024, surpassing the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This result showcases operators’ commitment to delivering the best network performance for visitors and residents.
• Qatari stadiums delivered world-class 5G network performance. All six stadiums we tracked during the competition had a median download speed of at least 600 Mbps. The Ahmed bin Ali Stadium took a top spot with a speed of 964.33 Mbps, ranking favorably in the leaderboard of global sporting events, second only to the Super Bowl® in the U.S.
• Superior network capabilities significantly enhanced web browsing and real-time online services. The high download speeds combined with ultra-low latency, under 34 ms across the stadiums, suggest that fans experienced minimal lag when streaming, video calling, or gaming online. The web browsing experience over 5G was excellent, evidenced by the low webpage load times ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 seconds.

Qatar was well-prepared for the AFC Asian Cup, drawing from its experience as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup 

Operators should prepare in advance and invest heavily in upgrading infrastructure in preparation for large sporting events. 5G is helping to transform the live event experience, creating a more engaging and interactive experience. Spectators and fans expect to share their experiences with friends and family through social media and stream the actions while watching live action from the pitch and replays from multiple angles and enjoy augmented reality games and services.

The AFC Asian Cup 2023 concluded in February 2024 with the host nation, Qatar, beating Jordan 3-1. Matches were played in nine stadiums across five cities as part of the international football tournament that involved 24 national teams.

It follows the successful organization of the World Cup 2022 in the country that saw 5G networks support 2.45 million cumulative stadium spectators and set a high standard, surpassing other major events like the French Open and Wimbledon in terms of 5G download speeds. The two local operators, Vodafone and Ooredoo, invested heavily in 5G infrastructure in preparation for this regional sporting event. 

The analysis covers eight stadiums across five cities. We used Speedtest Intelligence® to examine download and upload speeds and multi-server latencies for 5G within 200m of the stadiums’ center throughout the tournament for both operators combined. We also used Consumer QoE™ data with the same criteria to determine web page load time, reflecting the quality of supporters’ experiences, whether posting a picture or a message on Facebook or checking their live scores.

Qatar outdid itself with ever better mobile 5G performance during AFC Asian Cup 2023

We used Speedtest Intelligence data to observe performance in the lead-up to and during the AFC Asian Cup. From September 2023 to February 2024, Qatar witnessed significant advancements in 5G network speed.  The median 5G download speed rose from 441.46 Mbps to 607.0 Mbps, and the upload speed increased from 24.79 Mbps to 36.66 Mbps. 

Qatar welcomed over 1 million visitors during the group stage, beating the previous AFC record achieved 20 years ago during the 2004 tournament in China. During that period, Ooredoo reported 190 TB of data volume while 5G usage share reached 50.1%. The tournament concluded with an estimated 1.5 million fans attending 51 games. The final match attracted over 86,000 fans at Lusail Stadium, where Ooredoo reported total data traffic of 35TB and delivered an average download speed of 244 Mbps and an upload speed of 50 Mbps.

These improvements contributed to elevating Qatar’s ranking to the number one position on the Speedtest Global Index® in February 2024, surpassing the United Arab Emirates, with a median download speed of 286.42 Mbps across all technologies. Qatar maintained its top spot in March 2024, following the Asian Cup, with a median download speed of 313.3 Mbps. To increase capacity and improve speed, operators have been deploying additional 5G sites and activating new 5G carriers, delivering exceptional network performance for their customers.

Qatari stadiums delivered world-class 5G network performance during the Asian Cup

Speedtest Intelligence data show that all six surveyed stadiums recorded a median 5G download speed of over 600 Mbps and a median upload speed of over 90 Mbps.  We identified two distinct groups based on their 5G performance:

• The first group is where fans experienced the fastest speeds. It is led by Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, with a median download speed on 5G of 964.33 Mbps, followed by  Al-Janoub Stadium and Khalifa International Stadium, with median download speeds of 899.27 Mbps and 888.36 Mbps, respectively. 
• The second group of stadiums had weaker performance overall but still commanded very high speeds, ranging from 602.20 Mbps for Education City Stadium to 730.73 Mbps for Al Bayt Stadium.

The leading stadiums in terms of median download speed also excelled in upload, with speeds exceeding 108 Mbps. Ahmed bin Ali Stadium and Al-Janoub Stadium had upload speeds of 110.46 Mbps and 110.87 Mbps, respectively. Education City Stadium was at the bottom of the list but still offered excellent download and upload speeds.

There has been a marked improvement in 5G network performance around the stadiums when comparing the 2023 AFC Cup to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Al Janub Stadium, previously the top performer, saw an 18.7% increase in download speed to 757.77 Mbps. However, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium surpassed it with a 54.5% increase, reaching 964.33 Mbps in 2024. Khalifa International Stadium saw the most significant improvement since World Cup 2022, an increase in download speed to 888.36 Mbps. Al Bayt Stadium’s median download speed also climbed to 730.73 Mbps.

Significant 5G performance improvements during the AFC Asian Cup propelled the six Qatari stadiums to rank favorably against other major sporting venues in the region and beyond, with the six surveyed stadiums used in AFC Cup 2023 just behind Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas where the Super Bowl took place in 2024.

Latency is crucial for streaming, video calling, and online gaming and measures real-time online interactions. AFC stadiums had a tight range of multi-server latencies for 5G, except for Khalifa International Stadium. The latter had a lower latency at 20.3 ms, offering less lag and a better streaming experience than Al Bayt Stadium, which had a much higher latency at 33.8 ms. Fans in the other stadium experienced decent response times, ranging from 30.5 ms in Lusail Stadium to 32.7 ms in Education City Stadium.

Web browsing performance across stadiums was excellent during the competition

We used Consumer QoE data to explore web page load time over 5G. These measurements reflect consumers’ real-world experiences of using the internet, like accessing social media sites and searching for information online. Accessing these services with little or no delay means less customer frustration and increased satisfaction. 

For this analysis, we included Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa and Jassim bin Hamad Stadiums due to their larger data samples compared to Education City Stadium. The data shows that users experienced very quick webpage load times over 5G in all surveyed stadiums, with median load times ranging from 1.4 seconds to as low as 1.1 seconds. Fans in Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa and Al-Janoub Stadiums enjoyed marginally faster webpage load times than those in other venues.

The introduction of 5G has undoubtedly opened up new possibilities for enhancing the stadium experience for fans and spectators. Thanks to its high speed and low latency, 5G can enable more immersive and personalized experiences beyond traditional live viewing. Insights from the latest AFC Cup demonstrate how Qatar elevated its stadium mobile infrastructure to a world-class level, surpassing its notable efforts during the FIFA World Cup 2022.  This achievement also reflects the significant investments made by network operators to enhance 5G performance and ensure a great internet experience for fans and spectators alike.

To find out how Ookla’s crowdsourced data and analytical tools can help you track network performance during major sporting events, contact us.