Category: Uncategorized

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 13, 2025

Ookla and Deloitte Announce Strategic Collaboration

Ookla® has formed a strategic collaboration with Deloitte, bringing together Ookla’s industry-leading connectivity intelligence with Deloitte’s global consulting expertise. This partnership aims to revolutionize telecommunications network performance worldwide.

The combination of Ookla’s connectivity insights and Deloitte’s services creates a synergy that significantly enhances their joint offerings. With this alliance, organizations can gain a deeper understanding of network performance, make informed strategy decisions, and improve the end-user experience for countless users across the globe.  

“At Ookla, our mission is to provide industry-leading network intelligence that empowers organizations,” said Chip Strange, Chief Strategy Officer at Ookla. “By partnering with Deloitte, we are extending the impact of our insights, enabling clients to make data-driven decisions with greater confidence.”

Key benefits of the collaboration between Ookla and Deloitte include performance benchmarking for telecom providers, broadband connectivity reporting for governments, and data-driven investment insights for telecommunications infrastructure providers.

“Deloitte’s Telecom Network Engineering consulting services, now strengthened by Ookla’s comprehensive network intelligence, help optimize networks and drive better connectivity outcomes,” said Pedro Tavares, Deloitte Portugal Cyber & Telecom Networks Lead Partner.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the Author

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 16, 2025

Checking In with Speed: Wi-Fi Performance in Luxury Hotels Across APAC’s Top Business Hubs

Hong Kong

For business travelers, fast and reliable Wi-Fi is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. In today’s digital-first business environment, seamless connectivity enables real-time communication, access to cloud-based applications, and virtual meetings, all of which are critical for productivity and efficiency. A hotel’s Wi-Fi quality plays a major role in a business traveler’s accommodation choice, making high-speed internet a key differentiator for luxury hotels in APAC’s top business cities.

Key Takeaways

  • Only five out of the selected 20 hotels provided Wi-Fi with a median download speed of at least 100 Mbps. The majority of selected hotels fall into either the good performers category (50–100 Mbps) or the laggards category (below 50 Mbps). Leading hotels such as The Peninsula Tokyo and Rosewood Hong Kong demonstrate the benefits of investing in high-quality Wi-Fi infrastructure. 
  • Having a strong national broadband infrastructure does not guarantee fast hotel Wi-Fi. Even in cities with strong broadband infrastructure like Singapore, inconsistent hotel speeds highlight the need for better in-house network optimization. Raffles Singapore and InterContinental Singapore, for example, recorded some of the lowest speeds at 21.35 Mbps and 20.03 Mbps, respectively, underscoring the importance of proper Wi-Fi setup for a better guest experience.
  • Wi-Fi performance in APAC luxury hotels strongly correlates with the adoption of modern technology and effective frequency band usage. Top-performing hotels lead with 47.1% of tests conducted on Wi-Fi 6 and a high reliance on the 5 GHz band (88.4%), delivering faster speeds and more stable connections. In contrast, hotels with download speeds less than 50 Mbps relied heavily on outdated standards, with 75.2% of tests conducted on Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 and only 69.8% of their tests using the faster 5 GHz band. 

Connectivity is a key factor for business travelers in APAC

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region remains a major hub for global business travel, driven by strong economic growth and dynamic markets. In 2023, business travel spending in APAC surged by 41%, reaching US$567 billion, with projections to exceed US$800 billion by 2027. The top five business meeting destinations in APAC; Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Sydney, serve as major business hubs, attracting professionals from around the world.

This report analyzes Wi-Fi performance in selected 5-star hotels across the five cities: Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Sydney, with the addition of hotels in Bali, a key location for international conventions and events such as the G20 Bali Summit, the APEC Summit, and the World Bank Annual Meeting.

Map: List of selected hotels and location (cities)

Map of locations of select 5-star hotels in APAC

APAC luxury business hotels show mixed Wi-Fi performance

Using Speedtest Intelligence® data, we analyzed median download speeds inside and around selected hotel properties throughout 2024. This year-long period allows us to assess Wi-Fi performance and stability under varying hotel occupancy levels and guest profiles. To ensure data reliability, we excluded hotels with insufficient measurement samples and focused only on the most commonly used Wi-Fi network at each hotel—typically the one freely accessible to guests.

Chart of Wi-Fi Performance for Select Hotels in Asia Pacific

The Wi-Fi download speeds of selected hotels across major APAC business destinations show significant variation, with some properties delivering top-tier connectivity while others fall short. In a similar report that analyzed Wi-Fi download speeds of luxury hotels in the MENA region, we categorized the results to three groups of hotels based on Wi-Fi download speed:

  1. Top performers are hotels that offer exceptionally fast Wi-Fi, with median download speeds exceeding 100 Mbps. Such speeds provide seamless connectivity for business travelers, enabling ultra-high-definition video conferencing, large file transfers, and lag-free virtual collaboration. These results suggest that these hotels have made significant investments in high-performance Wi-Fi infrastructure, ensuring a premium experience for their guests.
  2. Good performers offer solid Wi-Fi performance, ranging between 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps. These speeds are sufficient for most business activities, including video conferencing, cloud-based work, and high-speed browsing. While they don’t reach the top-tier speeds of the leading hotels, they still provide a strong and stable connection for business travelers.
  3. Performance laggards include hotels with a median download speed below 50 Mbps, which may impact business travelers relying on high-speed internet for seamless virtual meetings, large data transfers, or streaming-intensive work applications. 

Top performers represent 23.8% of the properties reviewed in this report. The Peninsula Tokyo is a leader, offering nearly double the speed (188.57 Mbps) of the next best hotel, Rosewood Hong Kong (113.21 Mbps). The InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong also secured a position among the top performers, with a reported download speed of 109.74 Mbps, reinforcing Hong Kong’s strong presence in high-quality hotel Wi-Fi infrastructure.

The good performers category included properties such as Island Shangri-La Hong Kong (99.33 Mbps), Four Seasons Hotel Sydney and Tokyo (99.05 Mbps and 80.68 Mbps respectively), Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (88.58 Mbps), The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo (73.46 Mbps), and Marina Bay Sands Singapore (70.51 Mbps). These speeds are sufficient for most business activities, including video conferencing, online collaboration, and cloud-based applications. Notably, hotels in Bali, such as W Seminyak Bali and The St. Regis Bali Resort performed well, recording download speeds of 56.63 Mbps and 50.25 Mbps respectively, suggesting that luxury resorts catering to international business events are prioritizing strong internet connectivity. The presence of multiple Four Seasons properties in this range also indicates that while this chain generally provides good connectivity, they do not always reach the highest tier of performance.

Almost all of the cities have hotels in the laggards’ category. Despite Singapore’s strong fixed broadband infrastructure, and consistently topping Speedtest Global Index fixed broadband ranking, hotel Wi-Fi performance varied significantly. This suggests that the issue is most likely with the Wi-Fi network configuration rather than national broadband capacity. Raffles Singapore and InterContinental Singapore recorded some of the lowest speeds in the list, at 21.35 Mbps, and 20.03 Mbps respectively.

Modern Wi-Fi technology boost hotel connectivity performance 

Many factors influence Wi-Fi performance, including network design and the number of users connected to each access point (AP). Wi-Fi technology has also evolved significantly, with each generation introducing key improvements in speed, efficiency, and capacity. Rolling out modern, well-configured Wi-Fi equipment enhances reliability while maximizing the performance benefits of newer Wi-Fi technology.

Speedtest Intelligence data reveals a clear correlation between Wi-Fi standards and network performance across the three categories. Top performers reported more test samples on Wi-Fi 6 (47.1%), with a smaller share using Wi-Fi 5 (32.9%) and Wi-Fi 4 (20.0%). In contrast, good-performing hotels reported 61.9% of samples were on Wi-Fi 5, with only 21% utilizing Wi-Fi 6. Performance laggards rely more on older Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 setups, with a combined total of 77.7% of test samples reported on these two Wi-Fi standards.

Test Distribution by Wi-Fi Standard for Different Hotels’ Performance Levels
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Jan 2024 – Dec 2024

The distribution of Wi-Fi frequency bands further demonstrates the impact of network optimization on hotel performance. Hotels in the Top Performers category conducted 88.4% of their tests on the 5 GHz frequency band, followed by 80.8% for Good Performers hotels. Performance Laggards reported the lowest distribution at 64.6%.

Test Distribution by Frequency Band for Different Hotels’ Performance Levels
Source: Speedtest Intelligence | Jan 2024 – Dec 2024

Meeting the needs of modern business travelers

Reliable, high-speed Wi-Fi is essential for business travelers in luxury hotels. Poor connectivity disrupts productivity, affects virtual meetings, and leads to guest dissatisfaction. To remain competitive, hotels must invest in strategic Wi-Fi planning and infrastructure upgrades to meet the increasing connectivity demands of business travelers.

Effective Wi-Fi planning requires upgrading to modern standards such as Wi-Fi 6E or 7, thereby unlocking wider channels in the  6 GHz band to help alleviate congestion, and optimizing network capacity for high-density environments. Hotels must assess access point placement, bandwidth allocation, interference management, and simultaneous device connections to ensure a seamless experience for guests.

To address these connectivity gaps, professional Wi-Fi design solutions like Ekahau help hotels optimize network configurations from the outset. These tools enable precise access point placement, configuration, and performance monitoring, ensuring reliable coverage and high-speed connectivity across all areas of the hotel. Proper planning and investment in advanced Wi-Fi infrastructure are critical for delivering a seamless and high-quality digital experience for business travelers.

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.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Hong Kong
WiFi

About the Author

Affandy Johan

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 12, 2025

How a Power Outage Impacted Chile’s Mobile Network Resiliency

Network Resilience
Spanish / Español

Here’s what Chile’s 12-hour nationwide power outage looked like according to mobile Speedtest data

A major transmission line failure caused a massive power outage across most of Chile. The outage began in the afternoon of February 25th and lasted approximately 12 hours, into the early morning of February 26th. Critical facilities like hospitals had to rely on backup power generators and the outage was disruptive enough that a state of emergency was declared for the country. 

How did mobile networks perform during the outage? This article looks at mobile networks’ performance through SpeedtestⓇ metrics of sample counts (i.e., the number of completed Speedtests) and download speeds. 

Ookla examined the hourly Speedtest sample counts of the main four mobile carriers in Chile over a 72-hour period. Prior to noon on February 25, 2025, the networks performed in a  normal state with fewer samples in the night and more in the day. 

The outage reportedly started at 3:16 p.m., which matches the spikes in the counts of Speedtest users checking on the network. Comparing the 12-hour outage to the same time the day before, the rate of testing was over 2.5x. This behavior is typical of, and similar to, mobile network outages seen around the world. Staying connected in an emergency is critically important, so checking the status of the network makes good sense.

By the morning of February 26, 2025, when the outage is over and power restored, there is more testing than the prior two mornings. This is likely due to many people checking their phones upon waking up, so it isn’t unusual to see more aggressive testing than usual.

How did the mobile networks perform?

When mobile networks are “unloaded” — that is, not carrying much traffic — as they usually are at night, Speedtest users clock faster speeds. These are the peaks in the chart. The valleys are the times when most people are active and more loading occurs, resulting in slower speeds. 

Selecting the 12 hours of the power outage (the labeled box) and the same 12 hours the prior day (the unlabeled box), the median download speed for the group of operators was effectively cut in half — 16.42 Mbps during the power outage compared to 33.68 Mbps before.

Taking a closer look at all the mobile service providers together, from the outage starting just after 3 p.m., median download speed initially held around 12+ Mbps, then dipped to its low point during the 6 p.m. hour at 7.49 Mbps. Thereafter and until recovery started around 11 p.m., download speeds remained in a narrow range around 9-10 Mbps through the 10 p.m hour. While these median download speeds wouldn’t be considered fast, they do suggest that the mobile networks were serviceable and customers were able to stay in touch.

However, noting that median means the middle, half of the Speedtest users were experiencing slower speeds than seen in the line chart. (And obviously, half were faster, but they wouldn’t have as poor an experience.) To get a sense of the bottom, the slowest 10th percentile for the day of the outage (February 25) compares unfavorably to the same three prior Tuesdays in February. On the day of the outage, the 10th percentile speed was below 1 Mbps – effectively unusable apart from a text message and hopefully holding a voice call. The prior three Tuesdays recorded 2.60 Mbps – still not great, but in older wireless network generations this was fast enough for watching a standard definition (SD) video.

Another observation from the closer look at All Providers Download Speed is the speed declined from early in the outage (3 p.m. to 4 p.m.) to the middle of the outage (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.). One explanation could be the network loading mentioned before, but this seems unlikely since the normal peak loading pattern would have been entirely disrupted by the power outage. A second explanation may be that backup battery power for the cell sites on mobile networks ran out. That is to say, if, for example, every site had a couple hours of battery backup, and some sites also had generators that came online after the batteries were used up, a pattern like this could be seen.

The Chilean telecoms regulator, SUBTEL, was cited in tech press to be looking into increasing the purported four-hour back up to six hours. Network hardening, whether against a power outage or other disruptions like natural disasters, is critical for network resilience.  

Ookla data can offer insights into network performance, reliability, and resiliency. To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, please contact us here.

Cómo afectó un apagón eléctrico a la resiliencia de la red móvil de Chile

Así fue el apagón nacional de 12 horas en Chile según los datos de Speedtest móvil

Una importante avería en una línea de transmisión provocó un apagón masivo en la mayor parte de Chile. El corte comenzó en la tarde del 25 de febrero y duró aproximadamente 12 horas, hasta la madrugada del 26 de febrero. Las instalaciones críticas, como los hospitales, tuvieron que recurrir a generadores de energía de reserva y el apagón fue tan disruptivo que se declaró el estado de emergencia en el país. 

¿Cómo funcionaron las redes móviles durante el apagón? Este artículo examina el rendimiento de las redes móviles a través de las métricas de recuento de muestras de SpeedtestⓇ (es decir, el número de Speedtests completados) y velocidades de descarga.

Ookla analizó los recuentos horarios de muestras Speedtest de los cuatro principales operadores de telefonía móvil de Chile durante un período de 72 horas. Antes del mediodía del 25 de febrero de 2025, las redes funcionaban de manera normal, con menos muestras durante la noche y más durante el día. 

Al parecer, la interrupción comenzó a las 15.16 horas, lo que coincide con los picos en los recuentos de usuarios de Speedtest que comprueban la red. Si se compara la interrupción de 12 horas con la misma hora del día anterior, la tasa de comprobación se multiplicó por más de 2,5. Este comportamiento es típico y similar al de las interrupciones de la red móvil en todo el mundo. Mantenerse conectado en caso de emergencia es de vital importancia, por lo que comprobar el estado de la red tiene mucho sentido.

En la mañana del 26 de febrero de 2025, cuando terminó el apagón y se restableció el suministro eléctrico, se registraron más test que las dos mañanas anteriores. Esto se debe probablemente a que muchas personas comprueban sus teléfonos al despertarse, por lo que no es raro ver más pruebas de lo habitual. 

¿Cómo funcionaron las redes móviles?

Cuando las redes móviles están “descargadas”, es decir, no tienen mucho tráfico, como suele ocurrir por la noche, los usuarios de Speedtest registran velocidades más rápidas. Esto es lo que representan son los picos en el gráfico. Los valles son los momentos en los que la mayoría de las personas están activas y se produce una mayor carga en la red, lo que da como resultado velocidades más lentas.

Seleccionando las 12 horas del apagón (el recuadro con la línea más gruesa) y las mismas 12 horas del día anterior (el recuadro con la línea más fina), la velocidad media de descarga del grupo de operadores se redujo efectivamente a la mitad: 16,42 Mbps durante el apagón frente a 33,68 Mbps antes.

Si analizamos todos los proveedores de servicios móviles en su conjunto, desde el apagón que comenzó justo después de las 15.00 horas, la velocidad mediana de descarga se mantuvo inicialmente en torno a los 12 Mbps o más, para descender a su punto más bajo a las 18.00 horas, con 7,49 Mbps. A partir de entonces, y hasta que comenzó la recuperación hacia las 23.00 horas, las velocidades de descarga se mantuvieron en un estrecho margen de entre 9 y 10 Mbps hasta las 22.00 horas. Aunque estas velocidades medianas de descarga no se pueden considerar rápidas, sugieren que las redes móviles estaban operativas y los clientes pudieron mantenerse en contacto.

Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta que la mediana significa el medio, la mitad de los usuarios de Speedtest experimentaron velocidades más lentas que las que se ven en el gráfico lineal (y obviamente, la mitad eran más rápidos, pero no tendrían una experiencia tan mala). Para hacerse una idea de la parte inferior, el percentil 10 más lento para el día de la interrupción (25 de febrero) se compara desfavorablemente con los mismos tres martes anteriores de febrero. El día del apagón, la velocidad del percentil 10 estaba por debajo de 1 Mbps, prácticamente inutilizable salvo para enviar un mensaje de texto y, con suerte, mantener una llamada de voz. Los tres martes anteriores se registraron 2,60 Mbps, lo que sigue sin ser bueno, pero en las antiguas generaciones de redes inalámbricas era lo bastante rápido para ver un vídeo de definición estándar (SD).

Otra observación que se desprende del análisis de la velocidad de descarga de todos los proveedores es que la velocidad disminuyó desde el principio del apagón (de 15.00 a 16.00 horas) hasta la mitad del mismo (de 17.00 a 22.00 horas). Una explicación podría ser la carga de la red mencionada antes, pero parece poco probable, ya que el patrón normal de picos de carga se habría visto totalmente interrumpido por el apagón. Una segunda explicación podría ser que se agotaran las baterías de reserva de los emplazamientos de las redes móviles. Es decir, si, por ejemplo, cada emplazamiento tuviera un par de horas de batería de reserva, y algunos emplazamientos también tuvieran generadores que entraran en funcionamiento una vez agotadas las baterías, podría observarse un patrón como éste.

La SUBTEL, organismo regulador de las telecomunicaciones en Chile, ha sido citada en la prensa tecnológica por estudiar la posibilidad de aumentar a seis horas la supuesta reserva de cuatro horas. El refuerzo de la red, ya sea contra cortes de electricidad u otras interrupciones como catástrofes naturales, es fundamental para la resistencia de la red.  

Los datos de Ookla pueden ofrecer información sobre el rendimiento, la fiabilidad y la resistencia de la red. Para obtener más información sobre los datos y perspectivas de Speedtest Intelligence, póngase en contacto con nosotros ®aquí.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Network Resilience

About the Author

Kerry Baker

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 11, 2025

Top Five Takeaways from MWC 2025

More than 109,000 industry leaders from 205 countries and territories around the globe gathered in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month for Mobile World Congress, as the annual confab shined a light on some of the latest advancements in mobile technology. Many members of the Ookla team were in Barcelona for MWC and here are the top takeaways that we observed:

The buzz about AI is at an all-time high


Not surprisingly, much of the chatter on the convention hall floor was about AI and the many ways the technology will support communications networks. For example, using AI to enhance the performance of the RAN, also known as AI RAN, was a hot topic at the show with SoftBank, Nvidia and other members of the AI-RAN Alliance touting their progress with the technology. Ookla Analyst Luke Kehoe noted that the omnipresence of AI seemed to override many of the discussions of 6G.

5G SA will drive enterprise revenue


As Ookla recently noted in this report, the global rollout of 5G standalone (SA) is gaining momentum after a slower-than-expected start. However, Europe, in particular, has been slow to deploy SA, causing a widening to its gap with leaders like the US and China. During the opening keynote address at MWC, GSMA Director General Mats Granryd said that as of December 2024, 60 operators had deployed SA and were offering commercial services. The GSMA predicts that SA will drive 70% of all enterprise revenue expansion until 2030, representing a $127B opportunity for the industry.

5G use cases are shifting toward the enterprise


With more operators deploying 5G SA, there’s a noticeable shift toward using 5G for B2B-focused applications such as logistics, manufacturing and public safety instead of consumer-facing applications.
Public safety, in particular, appears to be a promising use case for 5G SA-based slicing, with multiple demos drawing inspiration from T-Mobile’s ‘T-Priority’ first responder solution in the U.S. Similarly, Vodafone announced the launch of a mission critical emergency service called MCx that is intended for first responders in Europe.

The role of NTNs gains momentum


Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and the possibility that the convergence of satellite and cellular networks will result in true, ubiquitous coverage continues to attract a lot of interest in the industry. Panels on NTN were filled to capacity. T-Mobile’s Chief Network Officer Ankur Kapoor touted the company’s arrangement with SpaceX’s Starlink to offer a direct to device (D2D) service, telling Fierce Network that the service now has hundreds of thousands of customers signed up. In addition, Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile announced that they plan to create SatCo, a company that will deliver space-based broadband to mobile operators. Plus there was also some discussions on the sidelines of the show about Europe’s IRIS² satellite constellation as a potential competitor to Starlink.

Policy discussions were front-and-center


While it isn’t uncommon for regulators and regulatory policy discussions to be part of the MWC, there have been many years when these discussions received little attention. However, that was not true this year. European telecom executives used their opening main-stage addresses to opine about regulation rather than innovation. It’s clear that Europe’s upcoming Digital Networks Act, while welcomed by telcos, will require a lot of support to increase 5G SA deployments and meet coverage targets. Separately, the EU’s Digital Services Act was a topic brought up by the new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr. Speaking at MWC, Carr told the audience that the agency will defend the interests of America’s technology companies against what he believes is “excessive” European regulation, particularly with respect to free speech.

Here’s a closer look at Ookla’s MWC experience:

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the Author

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 13, 2024

Controlled Network Testing in one of the World’s Top Performing Cities - Seoul

5G

South Korea stands out as an international 5G benchmark

South Korea is a global leader in 5G technology and adoption, having launched the first commercial 5G networks in April 2019. Its exclusive use of C-band for 5G services, with no sub-GHz spectrum allocated for 5G, also puts it in a unique position. 

This focus on C-band across the entire market has led to strong 5G network densification, with the OECD’s most recent Digital Economy Outlook 2024, highlighting the lead South Korea enjoys among a selection of advanced global markets on 5G deployment, with 593 5G base stations per 100,000 inhabitants, well ahead of next placed Lithuania (328) and Finland (251). Earlier this year, the Korean regulator, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced that South Korea had attained nationwide 5G coverage.

MSIT allocated wide bands to each of the three mobile operators, KT, SK Telecom and LG U+, with the former two receiving 100 MHz, and the latter initially receiving 80 MHz. Despite its spectrum disadvantage, our previous South Korean benchmark placed LG U+ in pole position in terms of median download performance. Since that benchmark, LG U+ was awarded an additional 20 MHz of C-band spectrum in mid-2022, which it deployed during 2023, which brought its C-band holdings in line with the competition.

Given its level of network densification, and deployment in wide spectrum bands in the prized C-band, it’s no surprise that South Korea consistently ranks in the top-10 of Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for mobile performance, (which ranks countries based on median download speeds), currently placing 6th as of October 2024.

This lead is helping deliver improved consumer experiences, with South Korea outpacing other East Asian markets (including Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) on mobile gaming performance, recording the lowest latency, as well as the highest median download and upload performance in the region.

Strong 5G adoption, but performance has been a concern for consumers

From a consumer perspective, South Korea is a mature 5G market, with LG U+, for example, recording a 5G penetration rate (among handsets) in excess of 70% as of Q3 2024. South Korean users have been swift to embrace the new technology, with 5G connections in the market growing steadily, crossing the 30 million mark during 2023, and reaching 36.11 million as of Q3 2024, according to GSMA Intelligence.

Despite strong adoption, and 5G providing a significant uplift over 4G performance in the market – median 5G download speeds in November 2024 were 524.23 Mbps across the market according to Speedtest Intelligence, compared to 64.08 Mbps for 4G-LTE – the mobile providers have had to focus their efforts on continuous improvements in performance levels. All three mobile providers were fined by South Korea’s antitrust regulator in 2023, following consumer complaints that 5G had not delivered on promises the mobile providers had made in their marketing.

To assess how South Korean mobile performance has evolved since our last benchmark, and how mobile providers have responded to consumer concerns on performance, we returned to the capital Seoul during 2H 2024 to benchmark performance in the city. We measured mobile performance using RootMetrics’ controlled methodology across a variety of indoor and outdoors locations, using the latest Samsung Android devices. We tested where and when people most often use their smartphones: tourist areas, business districts, and other areas at times of peak mobile usage. Tests were conducted while walking and driving across more than 900km in distance within Seoul, and including in excess of 17,000 samples, including more than 50 major indoor locations. RootMetrics controlled testing methodology is specifically designed to mimic the end-user’s real-world mobile experience.

In addition to benchmarking the mobile providers based on median download and upload performance, as well as latency and availability metrics, we also examined video streaming and voice call performance.

The results: LG U+ approaches gigabit median mobile speeds

LG U+ led the market in 2H 2024 overall performance, with the carrier’s consistently strong showings across speed, reliability, and latency, allowing it to capture the award for the Best 5G Network in Seoul. Based on RootMetrics RootScore methodology, which combines scores across all components of the testing, LG U+ scored 990 out of 1000, ahead of both KT and SK Telecom, which ranked second jointly, with scores of 979 and 978, respectively.

South Korean mobile providers continue to push the boundaries of mobile performance in the South Korean capital, with all three providers recording a significant uplift in download throughput when compared to 1H 2022. LG U+ led the pack, with a median download speed of 916.90 Mbps, while it also led the market based on its performance at the 5th and 95th percentiles. This marks a large increase when compared to our controlled testing in 1H 2022, where LG U+ led the market with a median download speed of 663.4 Mbps, with all three mobile providers increasing median performance significantly, highlighting their continued investment in their 5G networks to help meet consumer expectations. LG U+ recorded the highest median upload speed, with 108.00 Mbps, while SK Telecom led the way on median latency, with 98 ms.

RootMetrics Performance Results – Seoul

5G performance driving impressive user experience metrics

RootMetrics benchmarks voice calling and video streaming performance as part of its comprehensive testing suite. Among South Korean mobile providers, both LG U+ and SK Telecom use a 5G non-standalone (NSA) network configuration, where voice is delivered via VoLTE (using the 4G network), while KT employs a 5G standalone (5G SA) network, where voice is carried over the 5G new radio (VoNR). LG U+ recorded the shortest voice call setup time, of 0.882 seconds, while also achieving an impressive zero call drops or blocks from our testing.

Based on our video testing, KT recorded the fastest median video start time, at 0.91 seconds, while both LG U+ and SK Telecom were able to drive higher bitrates over their networks, of 8.0 Mbps. With these consistent bitrates, 1080p video quality was consistently delivered to users.

RootMetrics User Experience Results – Seoul

Outlook: Seoul serves as a benchmark for other cities across Asia Pacific

South Korea stands out as a global leader in 5G technology and adoption, having launched the first commercial 5G networks in April 2019, and is investing heavily in next generation technologies, with a strong focus on AI and 6G. Its capital city, Seoul, stands out as a benchmark for mobile network performance globally and has maintained its first-mover advantage.

To learn more about Ookla’s controlled drive and walk testing with RootMetrics® and first-party crowdsourced data from Speedtest®, please contact us.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

5G
RootMetrics

About the Author

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 26, 2025

Ookla and HEAVY.AI Announce Strategic Partnership

Ookla® has formed a strategic partnership with HEAVY.AI, bringing together Ookla’s industry-leading connectivity intelligence with HEAVY.AI’s GPU-accelerated analytics platform. This collaboration aims to transform how organizations visualize and analyze network performance data at scale.

The combination of Ookla’s network insights and HEAVY.AI’s high-performance computing capabilities creates a synergy that significantly enhances their joint offerings. With this alliance, organizations can process multi-terabyte datasets in real time, uncover patterns in complex data, and make faster, more informed decisions about network optimization.

“At Ookla, our mission is to provide unparalleled network intelligence to help improve global connectivity,” said Chip Strange, Chief Strategy Officer at Ookla. “Partnering with HEAVY.AI allows us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in network analytics, enabling our customers to make faster, smarter decisions that can drive meaningful improvements in network performance, consumer experiences, and better business outcomes.”

Key benefits of the collaboration between Ookla and HEAVY.AI include optimizing infrastructure investments for 5G deployment and fiber rollouts, enhancing consumer experience with real-time insights, and accelerating network diagnostics by processing billions of data points in milliseconds.

“HEAVY.AI’s mission is to redefine how organizations interact with large-scale geospatial and time-series datasets,” said Todd Mostak, Founder and CEO of HEAVY.AI. “By partnering with Ookla, we are giving telecommunications providers the ability to analyze and visualize complex network performance data faster than ever before, allowing them to proactively address challenges and capitalize on opportunities in real time.”

The partnership’s integrated solution is available immediately for network operators, government entities, and other organizations who need real-time network insights.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the Author

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 26, 2025

Wi-Fi 7 in Europe: France Leads in Differentiating Multi-Gigabit Fiber Experiences

Europe

Intense fiber overbuilding in advanced European markets has made investments in timely Wi-Fi upgrades a critical lever for enhancing and differentiating multi-gigabit experiences

European markets are at the forefront of the global transition to full-fiber networks in the last mile, with multi-gigabit home broadband connections becoming increasingly common in the most advanced Western and Northern European markets. A groundswell of fiber investment has driven extensive network overbuilding at many residential addresses, expanding consumer choice but making it difficult for ISPs to differentiate beyond price.

The critical role of home Wi-Fi solutions in enhancing broadband experiences has come into sharper focus in recent years, with leading European ISPs adopting mesh solutions and offering more advanced customer premise equipment (CPE) to improve performance and unlock new revenue streams through innovative bundling and minimum Wi-Fi speed guarantees. The challenge now lies in spreading gigabit-level performance throughout the entire home, beyond the line connection point, to meet the growing demands of an increasing number of connected devices.

The arrival of Wi-Fi 7 presents a unique opportunity for leading ISPs to address this challenge head-on, offering a new avenue for fiber differentiation and a stronger focus on quality of experience (QoE). With advancements in speed, latency, and efficiency, Wi-Fi 7 is becoming an important tool for ISPs looking to compete more effectively in the premium segment of the fixed market, enabling best-in-class experiences on multi-gigabit connections.

Key Takeaways:

  • Central and Western European countries lead in Wi-Fi 7 adoption, while the Nordics boast the most advanced overall Wi-Fi mix: At the end of 2024, France (1.5% Speedtest sample share1), Switzerland (0.9%), and Denmark (0.6%)—among the world’s leading fixed broadband markets in fiber penetration and consistently ranked in the Speedtest Global Index™ top ten for median download speed—had the highest adoption of Wi-Fi 7 connections. When considering overall adoption of modern Wi-Fi standards (Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 combined), Nordic countries such as Iceland (46%), Norway (39%), and Sweden (38%) led in Europe, with over a third of all connections in each of these countries using these modern Wi-Fi standards.
  • Wi-Fi 7 drives substantial improvements in performance across all metrics: Among the ten countries with the highest Wi-Fi 7 penetration at the end of 2024, the average country-wide median download speeds on Wi-Fi 7 (565.80 Mbps) were up to 78% higher than those on Wi-Fi 6. Upload speeds—boosted by technical advancements like Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which enables simultaneous transmissions across multiple spectrum bands—were nearly twice as fast as those on Wi-Fi 6. Latency improvements, meanwhile, have been more modest, with median latency (13 ms) across the country sample just over 11% lower than on Wi-Fi 6.
  • Legacy Wi-Fi standards continue to dominate in Europe, weighing on fiber experiences: By the end of 2024, legacy Wi-Fi standards (Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5) still accounted for over 70% of connections in many European countries. Western European markets with very high fiber penetration, such as Spain (75% legacy Wi-Fi share), Portugal (78%), and Ireland (84%), lagged, hindering their competitiveness in fixed network performance.

Legacy Wi-Fi standards have become a bottleneck in fiber-rich countries, limiting the potential of multi-gigabit connections

ISP investments in advanced CPE, particularly those supporting the latest Wi-Fi standards and mesh solutions, are critical for maximizing the throughput, coverage, and overall reliability benefits of fiber broadband—especially to optimize the experience in bread-and-butter applications like video streaming, gaming, and web browsing.

Failing to migrate fixed subscribers to modern CPE (e.g., Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7) is strongly associated with poorer performance outcomes, especially at the upper end (e.g., 90th percentile). This undermines the benefits of full-fiber connections, especially when higher-speed tiers—often offered at a premium price—are not matched with sufficiently capable CPE.

The Profile of Wi-Fi Standard Adoption Varies Widely Across Europe
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

The rollout of full-fiber networks in Europe—particularly investments in infrastructure supporting symmetrical 10 Gbps speeds with XGS-PON (the latest standard in passive optical networking)—is driving the proliferation of multi-gigabit residential connections. As a result, the bottleneck has shifted from the last-mile access line to in-home Wi-Fi networks, which now face challenges from larger property sizes, modern insulation materials that hinder signal propagation, and the rapid growth in both the number and diversity of connected devices.

Majority of Fixed Broadband Subscriptions in France Are Now Multi-Gigabit Capable
European Commission | DESI 2024

Multi-gigabit fiber connections accounted for nearly 20% of all fixed broadband subscriptions on average across the EU, according to the latest Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) published by the European Commission in 2024. France (52%), Hungary (37%), and Romania (30.45%) led the bloc, each featuring well over a quarter of all fixed subscriptions provisioned with download speeds of at least 1 Gbps.

For these multi-gigabit subscribers—who typically represent the high-value premium segment of the fixed market and typically expect the best experience—legacy Wi-Fi standards can significantly constrain performance. Wi-Fi 4, for example, which still accounted for over 20% of active connections in the UK and France at the end of 2024 (based on Speedtest sample share), offers a maximum theoretical throughput of 600 Mbps, while Wi-Fi 5 (which made up more than half of all Wi-Fi connections in the UK) raises this to 3.5 Gbps. However, both fall well short of the increasingly common provisioned fiber speeds of 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps seen in advanced European markets such as France.

Fiber-Rich Countries like Ireland, Spain, and Portugal Still Have a Large Legacy Wi-Fi Base
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® data reveals a general trend in Europe: markets with higher full-fiber penetration and a greater share of multi-gigabit subscriptions tend to have a lower proportion of legacy Wi-Fi standards in use, reflecting ISP success in migrating customers to modern CPE. However, several notable markets stand out as exceptions to this trend, highlighting the need for new strategies to increase the adoption of more capable Wi-Fi standards.

Spain, Portugal, and Ireland, for example, rank among the highest in Europe for full-fiber coverage but have a disproportionately outdated Wi-Fi mix, with up to 84% of fixed connections still reliant on Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5 in these countries at the end of 2024. The persistence of legacy Wi-Fi standards, combined with lower multi-gigabit adoption—partly due to ISPs limiting access to higher provisioned speed tiers—may help explain why these countries underperform in the Speedtest Global Index compared to France and Denmark, despite exhibiting wider overall full-fiber coverage. This is a notable example of legacy Wi-Fi standards acting as a bottleneck on fixed performance in fiber-rich countries. 

Early deployments of Wi-Fi 7 demonstrate significant performance gains, showcasing the full potential of fiber

Wi-Fi 6, introduced five years ago, marked a major advancement in home networking, delivering the first Wi-Fi standard designed to fully harness the multi-gigabit capability of full-fiber connections. The later introduction of Wi-Fi 6E, with support for the 6 GHz band, unlocked significant additional capacity in less congested spectrum, enhancing ISPs’ ability to improve home Wi-Fi performance at the high end. Beyond delivering better performance, it also enabled ISPs to monetize ‘Wi-Fi guarantees’ for the first time through the provision of high-performance mesh systems and minimum multi-room speed commitments.

Despite early supply chain disruptions from the pandemic affecting the availability of Wi-Fi 6-capable CPE, the technology has been widely deployed across advanced markets in Europe, yielding significant improvements in real-world fixed broadband performance. By the end of 2024, for instance, median download speeds on Wi-Fi 6 in the top three European markets with the highest adoption—based on Speedtest sample share—were at least 50% faster than those on Wi-Fi 5, demonstrating a marked performance uplift. These high-penetration markets, primarily in the Nordics, included Iceland (Wi-Fi 6 accounting for 45% of all connections), Switzerland (42%), and Norway (38%).

The introduction of Wi-Fi 7, driven in Europe by large-scale launches from Iliad’s Free in France and BT’s EE last year, marks the next step in ISPs’ efforts to maximize the performance of multi-gigabit full-fiber connections and spread it throughout the home with advanced mesh systems. While Wi-Fi 6/6E CPE will continue to serve the vast majority of full-fiber connections effectively, Wi-Fi 7’s future-proof scalability and its notable latency improvements—beyond just headline provisioned speeds—will become key differentiators over time for better QoE outcomes. 

Central and Western European Countries lead Europe in Wi-Fi 7 Adoption
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

Wi-Fi 7-capable CPE significantly expand the theoretical performance ceiling of home Wi-Fi, supporting more connected devices and nearly quintupling potential downlink speeds. These enhancements are enabled by key features such as doubling the bandwidth in the 6 GHz band, allowing devices to operate across multiple bands simultaneously with Multi-Link Operation (MLO), and improving scheduling to minimize congestion and interference.

The real-world performance gains from Wi-Fi 7, coupled with the higher provisioned tariff speeds typically offered with Wi-Fi 7-capable CPE (such as Free’s 8 Gbps symmetrical offering in France), are evident in Speedtest Intelligence data. At the end of 2024, Free’s subscribers in France—where Wi-Fi 7 made up over 4% of the ISP’s Wi-Fi connections, among the highest share in Europe—recorded median download speeds of over 1.1 Gbps on Wi-Fi 7, nearly double the performance levels observed on Wi-Fi 6.

Wi-Fi 7 Drives Substantial Download Speed Uplift on Multi-Gigabit Connections
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

Similar improvements in download speed performance on Wi-Fi 7 have been observed in the UK, where EE has bundled Wi-Fi 7 CPE with tariffs offering full-fiber speeds of up to 1.6 Gbps and introduced a money-back guarantee to ensure at least 100 Mbps in ‘every corner’ of the home. Speedtest Intelligence data shows that median download speeds on Wi-Fi 7 with EE’s fixed broadband reached 665.01 Mbps at the end of 2024—more than four times the performance recorded on EE-based Wi-Fi 6 connections during the same period.

Wi-Fi 7 is a Key Enabler of ISP Ambitions for Symmetrical Uplink and Downlink Performance
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

In terms of upload speed performance—critical for applications like live streaming and video conferencing—Wi-Fi 7 has been positioned as a mechanism to strengthen ISPs’ ability to deliver symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds across both the downlink and uplink. At the end of 2024, median upload speeds on Wi-Fi 7 were up to 80% faster on Free and nearly twice as fast on EE compared to Wi-Fi 6 connections.

Wi-Fi 7's Latency Improvements Surpass Those of Recent Generations
Speedtest Intelligence® | December 2024

Latency, unlike download and upload speeds, is not directly influenced by the impact of ISPs bundling Wi-Fi 7-capable CPE with higher-tier tariff speeds. However, notable improvements are still evident in this metric on Wi-Fi 7, driven by Multi-Link Operation (MLO). Median latency on EE’s Wi-Fi 7 connections in the UK reached 17 ms at the end of 2024, a 12% improvement over Wi-Fi 6, while Free in France recorded a median latency of 18 ms, reflecting a 7% reduction.

While these latency improvements may seem modest, they can translate into significantly enhancing QoE in interactive, time-sensitive applications such as gaming and videoconferencing, delivering a substantial upgrade over legacy Wi-Fi standards.

Premium Wi-Fi experiences present new opportunities for ISPs

The strategic shift toward integrating high-performance Wi-Fi 7 CPE at the core of multi-gigabit fiber offerings highlights leading ISPs’ efforts to meet consumer demand to spread best-in-class performance throughout the home. This approach not only enhances QoE outcomes but also unlocks new recurring revenue streams for ISPs through bundled equipment and minimum performance guarantees.

European countries and ISPs that swiftly transition a larger share of their base from legacy Wi-Fi standards to more advanced CPE will maintain a significant competitive edge in differentiating their fiber experiences. 

Ookla can assist ISPs, venue owners, and companies in designing Wi-Fi networks, monitoring their performance, and optimizing them. Please contact us to learn more about Speedtest Intelligence and Ekahau.

  1. Sample share based on Android only. ↩︎

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Europe
WiFi
WiFi 7

About the Author

Luke Kehoe

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 23, 2025

A Global Evaluation of Europe's Competitiveness in 5G SA

5G

The European Commission has positioned 5G SA at the center of its emerging pro-growth industrial strategy to boost competitiveness. Yet, despite setting the most ambitious 5G infrastructure targets of any advanced liberal economy, Europe trails the US and Asia in deployment progress.

The global rollout of 5G standalone (SA) networks is gaining momentum after a slower-than-expected start, driven in part by its technical complexity and significant capital requirements in a challenging business environment. Operators continue to advance cautiously, seeking monetization strategies to capture new revenues in both consumer and enterprise segments.

For governments, being at the frontier of the next phase of the 5G cycle is a key differentiator, with the low-latency and high-reliability capabilities of 5G SA pitched as critical to enabling new industrial applications, strengthening digital competitiveness, and attracting inward investment. Mobile networks are now a core pillar of strategic national infrastructure.

The European Commission’s commitment to high-performing mobile network infrastructure has been a hallmark of its Digital Decade program in recent years, further strengthened by the recent launch of the “Competitiveness Compass”—a key strategic framework based on the recommendations of Mario Draghi’s high-profile report. This initiative aims to enhance Europe’s competitiveness in critical industries through a new pro-growth industrial strategy, prioritizing 5G SA investments as a central driver of the program.

However, despite setting the most ambitious 5G infrastructure targets of any advanced liberal economy, Europe currently features the poorest outcomes in terms of 5G SA performance and availability among major global regions. Across Europe, significant disparities in 5G SA rollout progress among countries have undermined the bloc’s competitiveness in the technology, widening the gap with leaders like the US and China.

For the first time, Ookla, in collaboration with Omdia, has published comprehensive research on the global reach and performance of 5G SA networks. The report focuses on Europe’s competitiveness in the technology, progress in monetizing the 5G core for consumer and enterprise use cases, and successful government policies, forming part of a flagship global report on 5G SA commercialization progress.

Key Takeaways:

Europe severely lags other major regions in 5G SA rollout and performance

In Q4 2024, China (80%), India (52%), and the United States (24%) led the world in 5G SA availability based on Speedtest® sample share, markedly ahead of Europe (2%). The region also lagged behind its peers on other key metrics, with the median European consumer experiencing 5G SA download speeds of 221.17 Mbps—lower than those in the Americas (384.42 Mbps) and both Developed (237.04 Mbps) and Emerging (259.73 Mbps) Asia Pacific. The interplay of earlier deployments, a more diversified multi-band spectrum strategy, and greater operator willingness to invest in the 5G core to monetize new use cases have driven rollouts at a faster pace in regions outside Europe.

Europe Trails Other Regions in 5G SA Availability and Performance
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q1 2023 – Q4 2024

Europe exhibits significant disparities in 5G SA deployment among member states

Within Europe, while 5G SA rollout progress remains highly varied, the best outcomes have been observed in countries that have specific policies intended to incentivize 5G SA deployment. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain—all four-player markets benefiting from targeted 5G SA-specific fiscal stimuli or coverage obligations— lead Europe in terms of 5G SA rollout across multiple operators. Meanwhile, Southern and Central European countries have supplanted the Nordics at the forefront of this phase of the 5G cycle, with Greece (547.52 Mbps) leading on median download speed in Q4 2024 thanks to its 3.5 GHz usage, and Spain and Austria excelling in rural 5G SA coverage on the back of intensive deployment of the 700 MHz band.

Spain and Austria Lead Europe's 5G SA Rollout in Urban Areas as Expansion Accelerated at the end of 2024
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q1 2023 – Q4 2024

For Europe, the performance improvements unlocked by 5G SA demonstrate the strategic importance of the technology in driving digital competitiveness

Globally, 5G SA networks are delivering significantly improved performance across key metrics compared to the non-standalone architecture. In Q4 2024, median latency—a key beneficiary of transitioning to the 5G core—was nearly 20% lower on 5G SA networks compared to 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) networks in Europe and China, and more than 25% lower in the United States and Japan. Similarly, median download speeds on 5G SA were more than 57% higher in Europe and 84% higher in China than those on non-standalone networks.

European 5G SA Users Benefit from Markedly Lower Latency and Higher Download Speed
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024

Notwithstanding these improvements, 5G SA’s full potential remains largely untapped in Europe. Advanced uplink capabilities unlocked by the technology—such as higher-order MIMO and carrier aggregation—remain limited to a few operators in leading markets like the United States, highlighting the still nascent profile of the device and equipment ecosystems for 5G SA. 

To capture the full monetization potential of the technology, European operators need to adapt their business models and cater to new verticals

While 5G investments in Europe have yet to yield significant monetization, operators in other regions are leveraging the enhanced performance and flexibility of the new 5G core to drive tariff and service innovation. They are focusing on consumer segmentation with performance-oriented tariff upsells and developing tailored network slices to deliver new services across diverse enterprise verticals.

European operators at the forefront of business model evolution with 5G SA—such as BT’s EE in the UK, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Elisa in Finland, and 3 in Austria—are leveraging the technology to consolidate their positions at the premium end of the market and stimulate average revenue per user (ARPU) growth.

Download the full report

For an in-depth, first-of-its-kind analysis of Europe’s competitiveness in 5G SA—covering global deployment and monetization trends, Speedtest Intelligence® network performance data, Omdia’s adoption and core spending forecasts, and key policy recommendations to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness—download our full white paper, A Global Evaluation of Europe’s Competitiveness in 5G SA.

Download .pdf

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

5G
Europe

About the Author

Luke Kehoe

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 24, 2025

Illustrating the Global State of 5G SA (Poster Download)

Global Speeds

Global 5G SA rollouts are gaining momentum after a sluggish start, with China, India, Singapore, and the U.S. maintaining a substantial lead

The telecoms industry is approaching the midpoint of the 5G technology cycle, with capital investment in radio access network (RAN) expansion slowing significantly in developed markets over the last two years as the initial 5G coverage layer nears maturity. Many advanced operators are now prioritizing network densification while cautiously transitioning to a new 5G core architecture with standalone (SA), seeking to unlock new monetization opportunities through the enhanced flexibility, agility, and performance that 5G SA enables.

The interplay of high interest rates driving up the cost of capital, challenges in monetizing the initial non-standalone (NSA) architecture, and the technical complexity of the new 5G core—demanding an entirely new skill set to support implementation—has weighed on the global rollout of 5G SA, with significant regional disparities persisting in commercialization progress.

For the first time, and with the goal of offering deeper insight into the state of 5G SA worldwide, Ookla® has created a high-resolution downloadable poster based on Speedtest Intelligence® data, providing a unified view of the global reach of both 5G NSA and 5G SA networks in 2024. This visual is part of a flagship global study in collaboration with Omdia, comparing the competitiveness of leading regions and countries in 5G SA deployment, performance, and monetization.

Key Takeaways:

Asia Pacific remains at the forefront of global 5G SA deployment

In 2024, seven of the top ten countries by 5G SA reach were in Asia Pacific, with China (77.1% 5G SA sample share), India (51.1%), and Singapore (37.5%) leading globally. The region’s strong position has been driven by a higher number of multi-operator 5G SA deployments (as seen in China and Australia), extensive low-band rollout (such as Reliance Jio’s use of the 700MHz band for deep nationwide coverage in India), and favorable demographics, including very high urbanization in countries like Singapore.

Asia Pacific leads the world in 5G SA reach
Speedtest Intelligence® | 2024

Outside of Asia Pacific, the United States also ranks highly in 5G SA reach, despite only one of its three largest operators engaging in a commercial launch to date. In contrast, just two European countries—Spain and Austria—make the top ten, highlighting the region’s slow pace of 5G SA deployment and the broader decline in its global competitiveness in mobile network infrastructure during the 5G cycle.

Spectrum diversity propels the U.S. to a leading position in 5G SA performance

The U.S. has distinguished itself with significantly higher 5G SA reach than competing regions like Europe while also delivering superior median download speeds. In Q4 2024, median download speeds on 5G SA in the U.S. reached 388.44 Mbps, a substantial increase from 305.36 Mbps in the same period the previous year, and well ahead of Asian competitors such as Japan (254.18 Mbps) and China (224.82 Mbps).

The U.S.’s strong performance has been driven by T-Mobile’s post-merger 5G SA buildout—the first globally—which balanced nationwide reach with network depth. Its “layer cake” strategy combined a broad 600 MHz rollout, initially launched as 5G NSA in 2019 before transitioning to 5G SA in 2020, with mid-band deployments in the 2.5 GHz band. This approach has allowed T-Mobile to more extensively implement features like carrier aggregation and Voice over NR (VoNR) on its maturing 5G SA network, lending it a competitive edge in both availability and key performance metrics such as download speed and latency.


South Korea led the world in Q4 2024 with the highest median 5G SA download speeds at 746.25 Mbps, driven by its exclusive use of the 3.5 GHz band. However, it continues to trail its regional peers in 5G SA reach due to the challenging propagation characteristics exhibited by this spectrum and the limited commercialization beyond a single operator, KT.

5G SA enhances download speeds and latency globally, yet uplink advancements remain underutilized

Globally, 5G SA networks are delivering significantly improved performance across key metrics compared to the non-standalone architecture. In Q4 2024, median latency—a key beneficiary of transitioning to the 5G core—was nearly 20% lower on 5G SA networks compared to 5G NSA networks in Europe and China, and more than 25% lower in the United States and Japan. Similarly, median download speeds on 5G SA were more than 57% higher in Europe and 84% higher in China than those on non-standalone networks.

European 5G SA Users Benefit from Markedly Lower Latency and Higher Download Speed
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024

Notwithstanding these improvements, 5G SA’s full potential remains largely untapped in Europe. Advanced uplink capabilities unlocked by the technology—such as higher-order MIMO and carrier aggregation—remain limited to a few operators in leading markets like the United States, highlighting the still nascent profile of the device and equipment ecosystems for 5G SA. 

A detailed analysis of the state of 5G SA around the world is featured in Ookla’s flagship report, produced in collaboration with Omdia, on regional competitiveness in the technology.

Ookla will be at Mobile World Congress this year, located at Booth 2I28 in Hall 2. Please drop by to discuss the state of connectivity in your market, and how Ookla’s network insights can help deliver better connected experiences.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Global Speeds
5G
5G SA

About the Author

Luke Kehoe

Ookla Research™ Articles
| May 8, 2023

New Speedtest Data Shows Starlink Users Love Their Provider

Network Evolution

Satellite internet competition is heating up and Ookla® has exciting, fresh data from Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 for HughesNet, SpaceX’s Starlink, and Viasat in North America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as new Starlink markets we haven’t yet featured in our ongoing satellite internet series. 

This analysis includes Starlink Net Promoter Score (NPS) for metro and nonmetro internet connections in the United States, year-over-year data for Starlink in Canada, Chile, Mexico, and the U.S., and Starlink results from three new countries (Philippines, Nigeria, and Peru).

Starlink users in metro and nonmetro areas love Starlink, fixed broadband users dislike their internet service providers

Using Speedtest Intelligence®, we examined NPS ratings by Starlink users and all fixed broadband providers combined for “metropolitan” and “nonmetropolitan” counties as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. NPS based on Speedtest® user responses after being asked how likely they are to recommend their provider to friends or family on a 0 to 10 scale. NPS ratings are categorized into Detractors (score 0-6), Passives (score 7-8), and Promoters (score 9-10), and is calculated as (% Promoters – % Detractors) x 100. Any NPS score above 0 indicates that a provider’s audience is more loyal than not.

Chat of Metropolitan vs. Nonmetropolitan NPS and Performance in the United States

As you see above, the difference in NPS between Starlink and all fixed broadband providers combined is stark: both metro and nonmetro Starlink far outperformed metro and nonmetro ISPs combined for NPS. Metro Starlink had a score of 31.94 compared to -23.62 for all metro fixed broadband providers combined, despite Starlink having a median download speed of 65.29 Mbps compared to 203.93 Mbps for all metro fixed broadband providers combined. Nonmetro Starlink had an even higher NPS at 42.21 compared to nonmetro ISPs at -21.27 — that’s especially notable given that Starlink’s median download speed was much closer to the median nonmetro fixed broadband speed at 72.18 Mbps to 100.41 Mbps. 

Clearly, Starlink provides a much loved option for more rural, nonmetro users who often don’t have many good — if any — internet options. And the message is loud and clear: Starlink users are more than willing to recommend the service and love the internet they are getting.

Starlink speeds increased in Canada and the U.S. over the past two quarters, but are mixed year-over-year

Chart of Starlink Performance in Select Countries in North and South America

As Starlink continues to become an increasingly popular and beloved option for users, especially those in more rural areas, steady increases in speeds in two large markets like Canada and the U.S. bode well for the internet provider. These increases come as major upgrades to Starlink’s satellite array are beginning, with Starlink having just launched 46 nextgen satellites on April 27, so we wouldn’t be surprised if speeds keep climbing across the globe.

In North America, all of the countries we surveyed saw slower median download and upload speeds during Q1 2023 than Q1 2022. However, Canada saw just about a 3 Mbps decrease in download speed from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, with about a 28 Mbps increase over the past two quarters. The U.S., where Starlink has many more users, saw about a 24 Mbps decrease year-over-year for median download speeds, but at least a 13 Mbps increase during Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. Mexico, which saw 100+ Mbps median download speeds during Q1 2022, saw a roughly 49 Mbps dip year-over-year as more users signed up for the service; however, speeds leveled slightly with only an overall dip of about 8 Mbps during the past two quarters.

In South America, Chilean Starlink speeds slowed about 22 Mbps from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, however, speeds only slowed about 8 Mbps over the past two quarters. Chile has continually ranked in the top four for fastest fixed broadband speeds on the Speedtest Global Index™ for over a year now. 

Starlink in Canada blazed ahead as the fastest satellite provider in mainland North America

Chart of Satellite vs. Fixed Broadband Internet in North America

Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Starlink in Canada had the fastest download speed among satellite providers in mainland North America at 93.97 Mbps. That was about 40% faster than the runner-up, which was Starlink in the U.S. at 66.59 Mbps. Starlink in Mexico was next at 56.42 Mbps, and was faster than all fixed broadband providers in Mexico combined at 50.46 Mbps. 

Viasat in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. made noticeable performance leaps over download speed from Q3 2022 when we last measured North American satellite providers. Canada went from 24.36 Mbps in Q3 2022 to 48.24 Mbps in Q1 2023, the U.S. from 28.07 Mbps to 36.47 Mbps, and Mexico from 16.14 Mbps to 24.06 Mbps. Hughesnet trailed over download speed in the U.S. (16.32 Mbps) and in Mexico (12.98 Mbps).

For upload speeds, all satellite providers trailed fixed broadband speeds in their respective countries, with Starlink in Canada achieving the fastest satellite upload speed at 9.60 Mbps, followed by Starlink in Mexico (8.47 Mbps) and the U.S. (7.74 Mbps). Viasat and HughesNet trailed behind.

Multi-server latency showed the stark difference of satellite internet’s real limitations, with the huge distances between satellite and users adding up to longer lag times than fixed broadband. Starlink had the only latencies under 100 ms among satellite providers, with Starlink in the U.S. having the lowest latency at 62 ms, followed by Canada (70 ms) and Mexico (97 ms). Viasat and HughesNet, which have farther geosynchronous orbits (GEO) than Starlink’s low-earth orbit (LEO), had much higher latencies.

Starlink in Chile raced ahead as the fastest satellite provider in South America

Chart of Satellite vs. Fixed Broadband Internet in South America

Starlink in Chile was the fastest satellite provider in South America during Q1 2023, edging out Starlink in Peru by about 5% with a median download speed at 84.62 Mbps to 77.17 Mbps. No satellite provider outperformed all fixed broadband providers combined in Q1 2023, but Starlink in Colombia and Brazil both reached median download speeds above 70 Mbps at 73.51 Mbps and 70.92 Mbps, respectively. HughesNet in Chile broke 20 Mbps at 21.01 Mbps, while Viasat in Brazil only reached 14.41 Mbps.

Satellites were outperformed by fixed broadband over upload speed in South America during Q1 2023, but Starlink had median upload speeds that ranged from 13.90 Mbps to 22.08 Mbps, the fastest being in Peru. HughesNet ranged from 2.12 Mbps to 3.21 Mbps, and Viasat in Brazil was at 1.42 Mbps.

Starlink’s multi-server latency dipped below 60 ms in three South American markets during Q1 2023: Peru (48 ms), Chile (54 ms), and Colombia (55 ms). Brazil followed at 75 ms, which was the next lowest. Viasat and HughesNet trailed far behind.

Starlink in Jamaica was the fastest Caribbean satellite provider

Chart of Satellite vs. Fixed Broadband Internet in the Caribbean

Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Starlink in Jamaica was the fastest satellite provider in the Caribbean at 83.79 Mbps during Q1 2023. Starlink was faster than all fixed broadband providers in Jamaica, and both Starlink and Viasat were faster than all providers combined in the Dominican Republic during Q1 2023. Starlink reached median download speeds of over 50 Mbps during Q1 2023 in Jamaica (83.79 Mbps), Puerto Rico (74.61 Mbps), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (57.08 Mbps), while it fell just short of that benchmark in the Dominican Republic (46.24 Mbps). Viasat had median download speeds of 37.07 Mbps and 33.37 Mbps in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, respectively, during Q1 2023, while HughesNet had a median download speed of 23.74 Mbps in Puerto Rico during Q1 2023.

Upload speeds showed a bit more parity between satellite providers with only Starlink in Jamaica rising above 10 Mbps with a median upload speed of 13.45 Mbps during Q1 2023. Starlink had median upload speeds ranging from 6.65 Mbps to 13.45 Mbps, HughesNet had a median upload speed at 3.78 Mbps in Puerto Rico, and Viasat had upload speeds of 1.02 Mbps and 1.03 Mbps in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, respectively, during Q1 2023. 

For multi-server latency, Caribbean satellite users saw higher multi-server latencies than mainland North and South America with only Starlink in Jamaica breaking under 100 ms. While fast speeds for remote users are always going to be appreciated, multi-server latencies of over 100 ms do make some internet uses much harder to do well like live gaming and video conferencing.

New Q1 2023 Starlink countries show promising initial results

Chart of Satellite vs. Fixed Broadband Internet in Select Countries

Speedtest Intelligence data shows new Starlink data in three countries during Q1 2023, including Nigeria, Peru, and the Philippines, where Starlink is still a nascent provider with limited market share. Median download speeds for new Starlink countries were: 110.78 Mbps in the Philippines, 77.17 Mbps in Peru, and 61.75 Mbps in Nigeria during Q1 2023. 

Starlink had slower upload speeds than all fixed broadband providers combined in all of the new countries except Nigeria, which was too close to call at 11.17 Mbps to 10.70 Mbps. Starlink had a much higher latency than fixed broadband providers in the Philippines (162 ms) in Q1 2023, though it came very close in Nigeria 57 ms to 46 ms. 

It should be noted that satellite constellations have limited network bandwidth capacity, which may affect the consumer experience as more users sign up for the service. Starlink’s reach within these markets will also be limited by the cost of equipment (CPE) in particular, which ranges from PEN 1,750 ($470) in Peru, to PHP 29,320 ($530) in the Philippines and NGN 268,584 ($590) in Nigeria (prices correct at time of publication).

The 2023 space revolution is off to a huge start

Here are some major updates about what’s next for various different satellite competitors:

Amazon’s Project Kuiper showcases low-cost customer satellite terminals

After Amazon’s Project Kuiper 3,236 satellite LEO constellation was greenlit by the FCC, Amazon swiftly moved to showcase its consumer terminals in March. These new terminals have different tiered models, which are promised to deliver 100 Mbps and 400 Mbps models for consumers and businesses, and 1 Gbps models for “enterprise, government, and telecommunications applications that require even more bandwidth.” Furthermore, Amazon is getting into the chipset business and producing their own 5G modem chip, which will feature in each terminal.

Viasat launched its Viasat-3 arrays

On April 30, 2023, Viasat launched the first of three long-awaited Viasat-3 arrays, which aims to provide 1 Terabit per second (Tbps) of network capacity on each satellite, double that of the entire operating fleet. Add two more satellites and Viasat could raise the throughput up to 500-600% of its current network capacity. That could allow its users to experience 100+ Mbps connections — a huge improvement for many consumers. We’ll be eagerly anticipating results in the coming quarters.

Eutelsat, OneWeb, and Intelsat are making big moves

While the merger of Eutelsat and OneWeb has yet to be fully completed, both satellite operators inked major deals with Intelsat to add more global satellite capacity. Furthermore, OneWeb launched an additional 36 LEO satellites into orbit in late March 2023, providing additional options for many of its resellers. 

European Union greenlights multi-orbit constellation

The European Union has approved its multi-orbit, €6 billion constellation plan, which includes GEO, MEO, and LEO arrays, and will offer connectivity to all EU citizens. The project will support EU connectivity priorities including the economy, environment, security and defense, and is hoping to launch in 2024, and be fully operational by 2027.

HughesNet aiming to launch Jupiter 3 array in Q2 2023

Incumbent satellite internet provider HughesNet has revealed its new Jupiter 3 array, which is designed to offer 500 Gbps over Ka-band and will allow HughesNet to provide consumers offerings of 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps. While the array still doesn’t have an official launch, the Jupiter 3 array is “doubling the size of the Hughes JUPITER fleet over North and South America.”

Ookla will continue monitoring new satellite internet developments

As 2023 continues to shape up as a pivotal year for satellite internet providers, we’ll be watching the sky to make sure providers are providing the connectivity consumers need. We’ll continue our series next quarter with Q1 and Q2 2023 data from Asia, Europe, Oceania, and any new countries where Starlink launches, and be back with Africa, North America, and South America data in Q4 2023. In the meantime, be sure to download the Speedtest® app for Windows and Mac computers or for iOS or Android for devices and see how your satellite internet stacks up to our findings.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on May 10 with clarifying details and an updated chart.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

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Josh Fomon