Tag: Brazil

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 4, 2019

In-Depth Analysis of Changes in World Internet Performance Using the Speedtest Global Index

Global Speeds

A lot has changed in the two years since 2017 when we first began ranking mobile and fixed broadband speeds of countries around the world with the Speedtest Global IndexTM. 5G is being deployed around the world and fiber continues to make gigabit speeds a reality in more and more countries. We’ve been tracking it all and are here to report on how much speeds have increased, which countries are leading internet performance and which are falling behind, and what trends we see across continents.

World mobile speed increased 21.4% with fixed broadband up 37.4%

World-Download-Speeds-2019-OG2

Looking just at the last year, the world’s mean download speed over mobile increased 21.4% from 22.81 Mbps in July 2018 to 27.69 Mbps in July 2019. Mean upload speed over mobile increased 18.1% from 9.13 Mbps to 10.78 Mbps. The world average for download speed over fixed broadband increased 37.4% from 46.48 Mbps in July 2018 to 63.85 Mbps in July 2019. Mean upload speed over fixed broadband increased 48.9% from 22.52 Mbps to 33.53 Mbps.

Shake-ups in the country rankings for internet performance

Fastest-Countries-Mobile-2018-2019

Mobile speeds in the fastest countries have skyrocketed in the past year which has dramatically shifted the rankings. South Korea, which was not even in the top ten a year ago, saw a 165.9% increase in mean download speed over mobile during the past 12 months, in large part due to 5G. Switzerland’s mean download speed increased 23.5%. Canada’s was up 22.2%, Australia 21.2%, the Netherlands 17.3%, UAE 11.1%, Malta 10.3% and Norway 5.8%. Qatar remained in the top ten, although the country’s mean download speed over mobile actually dropped 1.4% from July 2018 to July 2019.

Individual mobile operators can make a huge difference in a country’s speeds. In 2017 we were excited to see Telenor uncap their mobile speeds, which drove Norway to the top of the Speedtest Global Index. A big part of South Korea’s mobile success in the past year is the way KT, LG U+ and SK Telecom banded together to release 5G at the same time. Switzerland has also benefited from 5G and Sunrise leads the country with 262 5G deployments across the country while Swisscomm has 52.

Fastest-Countries-Fixed-2018-2019

Fixed broadband rankings on the Speedtest Global Index have not changed as dramatically during the past 12 months as those on mobile. Singapore remains the fastest country with an increase in mean download speed over fixed broadband of 5.6%. Taiwan had the largest jump in speeds among the top 10 with a 166.5% improvement in fixed download speed between July 2018 and July 2019. Mean download speed over fixed broadband increased 52.4% in South Korea, 26.4% in Macau, 21.7% in Romania, 21.0% in Switzerland, 19.3% in the United States and 3.5% in Hong Kong.

Monaco and Andorra did not have enough tests to qualify for the Speedtest Global Index one year ago, but massive fixed broadband improvements in both countries inspired us to lower our test count threshold for inclusion and also share these smaller countries’ success stories.

Technologies paving the way: 5G and gigabit

The presence of 5G is not enough to change a market

As discussed above, 5G has the potential to rocket a country to the top of the mobile rankings on the Speedtest Global Index. In practice, we’ve seen 5G speeds that were over 1000% faster than those on LTE.

Mobile-Download-Speeds-by-Country

In reality, though, unless 5G is commercially available widely across a country and from all mobile operators (as was the case in South Korea), the change in speeds at the country level is not that significant. Though commercial 5G was launched widely across Switzerland by Sunrise and Swisscom in April 2019, the country’s mean download speed only increased 2.8% in the three months since. The average mobile download speed in the U.S. has actually declined slightly since 5G was initially deployed. This is because 5G is still only available in a very limited number of markets to consumers with 5G-capable devices.

Visit the Ookla 5G Map for the latest on 5G deployments across the globe.

Gigabit is a game-changer, if you can get it

Unlike 5G, fiber connections have been rolling out since 2007, opening up the possibility of gigabit-speed fixed broadband. That said, it’s costly and time-intensive to lay miles and miles of fiber so progress has varied widely across the globe.

Gigabit-Test---Performance_Singapore-1

Geographically small countries like Singapore have the advantage when it comes to fiber, because It’s easier and cheaper to lay fiber optic cable across the country’s small footprint. Singaporean internet service providers (ISPs) have used this advantage to go beyond mere gigabit and offer connections as fast as 10 Gbps. This is reflected both in Singapore’s dominance of the fixed rankings on the Speedtest Global Index and in the fact that 2.87% of their total Speedtest results over fixed broadband are gigabit-speed (800 Mbps or higher).

Gigabit-Test---Performance_Brazil-1

Brazil offers a good contrast for how difficult it can be for gigabit to reach the masses. While the first Brazilian ISP to offer fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) initially did so in 2007, easy access to gigabit speeds was slow to follow. However, that may be starting to change. Between June and July 2019 we saw a large uptick in gigabit-speed results in Brazil, where the proportion of gigabit speed tests increased from 0.02% of total fixed broadband tests to 0.17%. This corresponded with a large increase in mean download speed at the country level.

Comparing world mobile and fixed broadband at a glance

We were curious to see just how different internet performance experiences were around the world, so we plotted average mobile download speed against average download speed on fixed broadband. All of the graphs below use a percentage difference from the global average, a number that changed between 2018 and 2019.

fade-Performance-vs-Global---Quadrant-All

Speed Leaders

There was not much change in the list of countries that showed above-average download speeds on both mobile and fixed broadband between July 2018 and July 2019, the “Speed Leaders.” What did change was that fixed broadband speeds increased significantly enough among the group to bring the whole pack closer to Singapore and Hong Kong. On the mobile axis, South Korea’s major increase in download speed made that country more of an outlier, pushing the boundaries of what great performance can look like.

Fixed-Focused countries

Between July 2018 and July 2019 we saw the number of countries considered to be “Fixed-Focused” (having faster download speeds over fixed broadband than the world average while their average mobile download speeds were slower than average) increase. Ireland was the only country that solidly fit this category in 2018. Thailand and Chile started near the midline for fixed speeds and below-average for mobile speeds in 2018. 2019 found both countries squarely in the Fixed-Focused category. Israel also edged into this category as their mobile download speed fell between July 2018 and 2019.

Mobile-Focused countries

The “Mobile-Focused” category saw the most movement between July 2018 and July 2019 as some countries (the UAE and Qatar) increased their fixed speeds sufficiently to join the Speed Leaders. Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s mobile download speed increased year-over-year to move them into the Mobile-Focused quadrant. Georgia’s mobile download speed decreased enough to move them from Mobile-Focused to Speed Laggers.

It will be interesting to see how many of these Mobile-Focused countries double down on their mobile investments and explore 5G alternatives to fixed broadband.

Speed Laggers

No country wants to be in the position of having slower than average mobile and fixed broadband speeds. We saw 57 countries in this “Speed Laggers” quadrant in July 2018 and 78 in July 2019. This increase is mostly due to our expansion of the number of countries we consider for the Speedtest Global Index based on test count. There were enough countries in this category that we’ve considered them separately by continent below.

Regional views of mobile and fixed broadband performance

Mobile-and-Fixed-Broadband-Improvement-by-Continent-02

We aggregated Speedtest results by continent to analyze mobile and fixed broadband performance by continent.

Mobile-and-Fixed-Performance-by-Continent-01

Asia had the highest percentage increase in mobile download speed followed by North America, Oceania, South America, Africa and Europe. Oceania had the fastest mean download speed in July 2019. North America placed second, Europe third, Asia fourth, South America fifth and Africa sixth.

On the fixed broadband side, South America saw the highest percentage increase in download speed. Asia came in second, Europe third, Africa fourth, North America fifth and Oceania sixth. North America had the fastest mean download speed in July 2019. Europe was second, Asia third, and Oceania fourth. As we saw with mobile, South America and Africa again ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.

A zoomed-in view of the speed quadrants separated by continent offers a more detailed view of each country’s role in these rankings.

Africa mostly lags in internet speeds

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Africa

In July 2019, all but two African countries in the Speedtest Global Index fell into the Speed Laggers category, having mobile and fixed broadband speeds that were below global averages. The exceptions were South Africa and Guinea, which both had fast enough mobile speeds to place them in the mobile-focused quadrant.

Asian markets show a wide breadth of internet performance

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Asia

Asia was the most diverse continent we examined in terms of internet performance. We saw a plurality of countries in each of the four quadrants in July 2019. Most of the Speed Leaders were in East Asia: China, Hong Kong (SAR), Japan, Macau (SAR), South Korea, and Taiwan. If we include Singapore, another Speed Leader, these are among the wealthiest nations in Asia (using GDP per capita). Two of Asia’s Fixed-Focused countries are in Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Thailand) and one is in the Middle East (Israel).

The Speed Laggers category contained countries from South Asia (including Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam) and the Middle East (Jordan). Mobile-Focused countries in Asia were mostly Middle Eastern, including Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

European mobile performance is mostly strong, fixed varies

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Europe

With the exception of Ireland, the European countries on the Speedtest Global Index fell into the Speed Leaders, Mobile-Focused, and Speed Laggers categories. All of the Speed Laggers (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine) were from Eastern Europe. Countries from Southeast Europe (including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia and Slovenia) and Central Europe (Austria and the Czech Republic) made up the bulk of the Mobile-Focused category.

Speed Leaders included countries from the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), the Nordics (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), Central Europe (Poland and Romania), and Western Europe (including Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain).

North American internet performance is sharply divided

2019-Performance-vs-Global---North-America

Canada and the U.S. are the only two North American countries in the Speed Leaders category. Panama is the only North American country under Fixed-Focused. Mexico and all of the Central American countries fall into the Speed Laggers category. There are no North American countries that are Mobile-Focused.

Each country in Oceania has a very different internet story

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Ocean

Oceania is represented in three of the four quadrants: Speed Leaders (New Zealand), Mobile-Focused (Australia) and Speed Laggers (Papua New Guinea) with Fiji straddling the divide between Speed Laggers and Mobile-Focused.

South America mostly lags in mobile and fixed internet speeds

2019-Performance-vs-Global---South-America

Most of the South American countries represented on the Speedtest Global Index are in the Speed Laggers quadrant (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela). Chile is an exception, being part of the Fixed-Focused group, as is Uruguay which sits in Mobile-Focused.

Global internet speeds are improving on average and 5G and gigabit are compounding those advances where available. However, not all countries are benefitting equally. We’ll be interested to see how 5G continues to push mobile speeds in the next year and also whether 5G Wi-Fi becomes a game changer for fixed broadband. Remember to check the Speedtest Global Index on a monthly basis for updated country rankings. And take a Speedtest to make sure your experience is represented in your country’s averages.

Editor’s Note: This article was edited on September 10, 2019 to correct an error in the labeling on the first image. The colors in a later image were updated for consistency.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 13, 2020

Tracking COVID-19’s Impact on Global Internet Performance (Updated July 20)

Global Speeds

We are no longer updating this article as internet speeds in most countries have stabilized to pre-pandemic levels. For ongoing information about internet speeds in specific countries, visit the Speedtest Global IndexTM or contact our press team.

Ookla® closely monitored the impact of COVID-19 on the performance and quality of global mobile and broadband internet networks in the early days of the pandemic. We shared regular information based on Ookla data to assist in the understanding of this unprecedented situation. You can still download the July 20, 2020 CSV here which contains all the public data we tracked in this article. If you are looking for information on internet or online service outages, please check Downdetector®.

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
Ookla for Good
coronavirus

About the Author

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| January 4, 2021

Slack Starts the New Year Late

Downdetector


2021 started with a sigh today as workers across the globe rushed back to their desks only to find that Slack was down. Users flocked to Downdetector® to report problems with Slack across the globe just after 7:00 a.m. Pacific. Issues were reported in Asia (Japan), Australia, Europe (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), North America (United States and Canada) and South America (Brazil). The most frequently reported issue was the inability to connect at all and the majority of reports came from the U.S.

Downdetector_Slack_Outage_1020

Although the spike has passed and the outage seems to be resolving itself, the service is not fully operational yet. Now might be a good time to take a breath and catch up on all that post-holiday email. The little red notification will be back on your desktop soon enough.

Downdetector data can help your team resolve service issues faster and improve customer experience when an outage occurs, which becomes all the more important during periods of high usage. Contact us here to learn how your network operations center can get faster outage detection.

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.

Downdetector

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| January 12, 2021

2020 Recap: How the Internet Held Up During a Global Pandemic

Global Speeds


There was major concern last year that the internet might fail under the pressure of increased use as COVID-19 drove unparalleled waves of remote work and schooling. We watched internet performance carefully using data from Speedtest Intelligence® as conditions changed in different areas of the world. Now we’re back to assess what happened during the year as a whole.

A note on the methodology: 5G launches drove up mean internet speeds on mobile in many countries. For this reason we’ve simplified our view to include only median speeds, which are less subject to being skewed by especially fast 5G tests.

Mobile speeds dipped in many G20 countries in the spring of 2020

Mobile-Broadband-Speeds-in-G20-Countries_0121

Median download speeds over mobile in many G20 countries dropped at some point during 2020. Countries that saw month-to-month declines during the spring include: Australia, Canada, France, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey. China saw a decline in mobile speed in February while Japan suffered a drop in June and July. Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia and the United Kingdom showed only very minor decreases, while speeds in Germany, Mexico, South Africa and the United States remained unchanged or increased.

Despite the drops, almost all G20 countries saw higher median download speeds over mobile in December 2020 than they had in January 2020. Median download speed over mobile increased 76.3% in China during that time. Germany saw a 62.8% increase, the United States 56.9%, South Korea 55.5% and Saudi Arabia 48%. Turkey saw a 0.7% decrease in median download speed over mobile during the same period.

Despite interim dips, fixed broadband improved in all G20 countries during 2020

Fixed-Broadband-Speeds-in-G20-Countries_0121

There were notable dips in median download speeds over fixed broadband in many countries during the spring of 2020. G20 countries that saw these declines on a monthly basis include: Argentina, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Brazil, China, Germany and Russia notably showed only increases in month-to-month median download speed over fixed broadband during this time. Other countries showed only very minor decreases.

Perhaps most important, all G20 countries saw higher median download speeds over fixed broadband in December 2020 than they had in January 2020. Median download speed over fixed broadband increased 51.9% in Brazil during that time. France saw a 48.3% increase, Japan 46.5%, Saudi Arabia 43.7% and South Africa 40%. South Korea saw the smallest increase in median download speed over fixed broadband over the same period at 8.1%.

We are impressed, on the whole, with how well the internet held up to the massive scale of increased use during the past year. Of course, month-by-month, country-level views are averages that might not reveal problems with specific mobile operators or internet service providers on individual days. If you want to assess how your internet connection is performing right now, take a Speedtest®. And if you are unable to connect to a specific service on the internet, check Downdetector® to see the status of that service.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| August 15, 2023

Ookla for Good Adds Centroid Coordinates to Open Data

Ookla for Good

Faster and Easier Mapping for Fixed and Mobile Network Performance Map Tiles

When we first offered our open performance datasets to the public in 2020, Ookla®’s main priorities were to make sure that our fixed and mobile network performance data would be accessible, relevant, and useful to those researching or trying to improve the state of networks worldwide. As conversations around connectivity continue to evolve, so too has our open dataset. For instance, earlier this year we extended our open performance dataset to include additional responsiveness insights by showing latency under load for both saturated downlink and uplink measurements.

As we continue to advance our datasets to include more new, exciting, and relevant metrics, we remain committed to ensuring that key data views are accessible to as many interested parties as possible: more people accessing network performance and consumer quality of experience insights means more important conversations surrounding connectivity and ultimately better public policy to help improve broadband access globally. This is why we are excited to announce the addition of centroid coordinates to our open data.

What are centroids?

So what exactly are centroid coordinates, and how do they help provide more access to our data? Centroids are the point where the medians of a shape intersect. Or, to put it simply, a centroid is the center point of a shape. For more in-depth information on the math behind how centroids are computed, check out RPubs documentation on the subject.

Why centroids are important

The Ookla for Good open dataset makes use of spatial tiles. While the geometries of tiles provide precision in mapping, working with and plotting spatial data can often be a long and arduous process. This issue is further compounded by the global nature of our datasets, making it difficult for users to subset specific areas to look at. Machines with limited RAM may take multiple hours to do a single spatial join to a small area, and if more metrics are added, the joins take longer and longer to run.

The addition of centroid coordinates means that rather than needing a geospatial toolset, users can filter to an approximation of their area of interest using a numerical bounding box. This will dramatically cut down on the time to join our data to other data sources, improving accessibility for those looking to work with Ookla’s Fixed and Mobile Network Performance Map Tiles.

Mapping open data using centroid coordinates

For this example let’s use the country of Brazil to demonstrate one way of mapping our open data with centroid coordinates in R.

library(geobr)
library(ggrepel)
# remotes::install_github("teamookla/ooklaOpenDataR")
library(ooklaOpenDataR)
library(scales)
library(sf)
library(tidyverse)
library(usethis)

# Set global defaults
theme_set(theme_minimal())
theme_update(text = element_text(color = "#181512")) 
theme_update(plot.subtitle = element_text(hjust = 0.5))

# plot colors
purple <- "#8D5DB2"
light_gray <- "#EDEAE6"
mid_gray <- "#9B9893"

colPal <- colorRampPalette(c("#E4AECF", "#3E0E1C"))

I am using the package geobr to grab the geometries for the country. There are multiple functions within this package that allow you to grab geometries at different administrative levels if you want to follow this tutorial for a smaller portion of the country.

We will be using st_bbox() to create a bounding box to help subset the performance map tiles. An alternative to this is to get min/max coordinates from searching online (for ex: google “Brazil bounding box”). We highlighted the dimensions for Brazil’s bounding box on the following map.

#Set up map
brazil <- read_country(year=2020) %>%
  st_transform(4326)

br_bbox <- brazil %>% # use to subset open data
  st_bbox()

ggplot(brazil) +
  geom_sf(color = mid_gray, fill = light_gray, lwd = 0.08) +
  labs(title = "Brazil") +
  geom_text_repel(aes(label = name_state, geometry = geom),
    family = "sans",
    color = dark_gray,
    size = 2.2,
    stat = "sf_coordinates",
    min.segment.length = 2
  ) +
  theme(
    panel.grid.major = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    axis.text = element_blank(),
    axis.title = element_blank()
  ) +
  annotate(geom = "rect", ymax = 5.27, ymin = -33.75, xmax = -28.85, xmin = -73.99, colour = purple, fill = colorspace::lighten("#8D5DB2", 0.5), alpha = 0.1)
Map Base of Brazil

We will then download the performance map tiles using the OoklaOpenDataR package, and then subset the global data to make it more manageable to work with when we do our join.

fixed_br_q2 <- get_performance_tiles(service = "fixed", quarter = 2, year = 2023) %>%
  filter(tile_y <= br_bbox['ymax'], tile_y >= br_bbox['ymin'], tile_x <= br_bbox['xmax'], tile_x >= br_bbox['xmin']) %>%
  st_as_sf(wkt = "tile", crs = 4326)

You can then check to see what the remaining data looks like. There will be points outside of the boundaries, but that is to be expected.

ggplot(brazil) + # Check
  geom_sf(color = mid_gray, fill = light_gray, lwd = 0.08) +
  geom_sf(data = fixed_br_q2, color = purple) +
  labs(
    title = "Brazil",
    subtitle = "Ookla® Open Data Fixed Tiles | Q2 2023"
  ) +
  geom_text_repel(aes(label = name_state, geometry = geom),
    family = "sans",
    color = dark_gray,
    size = 2.2,
    stat = "sf_coordinates",
    min.segment.length = 2
  ) +
  theme(
    panel.grid.major = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    axis.text = element_blank(),
    axis.title = element_blank()
  )
Map of Brazil with Ookla® Open Data Fixed Tiles Q2 2023

Voilà! You now have a smaller dataset that can then be used to perform analysis as needed.

Aggregating Loaded Latency

As stated before, we announced the addition of additional loaded latency metrics to our data in January. We can use the previous code to show a simple example of how to aggregate it. For more examples and information on how to perform your own analysis on our open data check out this tutorial.

First, use the following code to perform a spatial join to get a more precise location for our tiles.

#Join 
br_tiles <- brazil %>%
  st_join(fixed_br_q2, left = FALSE)

Then aggregate the data up to the desired level of granularity. In this case, we aggregated the data by states in Brazil.

br_aggs <- br_tiles %>%
  st_set_geometry(NULL) %>%
  group_by(name_state) %>%
  reframe(
    tiles = n(),
    avg_lat_download_ms = round(weighted.mean(avg_lat_down_ms, tests, na.rm = TRUE), 2),
    avg_lat_upload_ms = round(weighted.mean(avg_lat_up_ms, tests, na.rm = TRUE), 2),
    total_tests = sum(tests)
  )

Re-join the geometries from Brazil.

br_aggs <- left_join(brazil, br_aggs)

And then map.

ggplot(br_aggs) +
  geom_sf(aes(fill = avg_lat_download_ms), color = "white", lwd = 0.08) +
  scale_fill_stepsn(colors = colPal(5), labels = label_number(suffix = " ms"), n.breaks = 4, guide = guide_colorsteps(title = "")) +
  theme(
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major = element_blank(),
    axis.title.x = element_text(hjust = 1),
    legend.text = element_text(color = "black"),
    axis.text = element_blank()
  ) +
  labs(
    title = "Average Download Latency Across Brazil",
    subtitle = "Ookla® Open Data Fixed Tiles | Q2 2023"
  )
Map of Average Download Latency Across Brazil Q2 2023

This example offers one way to filter with the added centroid coordinates, but it is by no means the only approach. If you are interested in exploring more ways to interact with our data, additional tutorials are available on our GitHub page.

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.

Ookla for Good

About the Author

Bridget Erb

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 18, 2019

A Global Look at Mobile Modem Market Share and Device Performance

Devices

Analysts discuss the latest devices all the time, but rarely is enough attention paid to the phone’s real powerhouse — the modem. We were interested to see how market share for modem manufacturers divides up on a global level, so we investigated device data from Speedtest IntelligenceTM during Q3 2019. We also looked at how popular phones performed in different markets, including a look at 5G phones in 5G countries.

Global modem market share

Ookla_Global-Modem-Market-Share_1219-2

Speedtest data showed Qualcomm was the most common modem manufacturer in 133 countries during Q3 2019 — the highest market share was in Hong Kong with 73.6% of the devices analyzed showing Qualcomm modems. Qualcomm’s slimmest majority was in Botswana with 25.6% of devices analyzed showing Qualcomm modems.

This is not surprising as Qualcomm chipsets power many flagship devices sold around the world. In the U.S., virtually all Android OEMs use Qualcomm-powered chipsets. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ mobile platform with Snapdragon X24 integrated LTE modem (up to 2Gbps) powers popular devices from Samsung, LG and OnePlus. It’s worth noting that Qualcomm has multi-year licensing deals with multiple OEMs based in China, namely Vivo, OPPO, Lenovo, Xiaomi and OnePlus, providing their complete modem-to-antenna solutions for optimal RF performance. This includes valuable RF Front End (RFFE) components such as power amplifiers, envelope trackers, RF switches, filters and antenna tuners.

These OEMs also have access to Qualcomm’s first and second generation 5G modems. As of right now, Qualcomm is also the only chipset manufacturer providing modem-to-antenna solutions for 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) deployments, providing all-in-one mmWave antenna modules that contain radio transceiver, RFFE and phased array antenna.

Intel was the most common modem manufacturer in 32 counties during Q3 2019. The highest percentage of devices with Intel modems was seen in Greenland at 55.6%. Intel’s slimmest majority was in South Africa with 28.6% of devices analyzed showing Intel modems. Intel’s main customer in the smartphone space is Apple. Starting in 2016, Apple began powering some iPhone devices with Intel’s flagship LTE chipsets, and since 2018, all iPhones have Intel’s cellular chipsets.

Samsung was the most common modem manufacturer in 16 countries during Q3 2019. South Korea had the highest percentage of devices with Samsung modems at 53.8%. Samsung’s slimmest majority was in Mozambique with 29.1% of devices analyzed powered by Samsung modems. Samsung’s Exynos LTE modem is seen in variants of Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note devices. Except in the Americas and China, most of Samsung’s flagship S10 and Note 10 devices around the world are powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 982x SoC (system on a chip), with an integrated LTE Category 20 modem capable of download speeds of up to 2 Gbps.

Speedtest data showed HiSilicon as the most common modem manufacturer in two countries during Q3 2019. In Costa Rica, 32.4% of devices analyzed showed HiSilicon modems, and in Namibia that number was 27.6%. HiSilicon is a semiconductor company based in Shenzhen and fully owned by Huawei. Huawei integrates its own flagship modem into its flagship P and Mate series devices. These devices have a large user base in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Device performance is affected by market factors

A phone’s performance is always going to depend on the conditions within its specific market. Factors affecting network performance can include: geography, cell site and population density, the amount of wireless spectrum deployed and the overall capabilities of user equipment seeded to market. Multiple factors can impact the performance of a device, including: varying degrees of RF transparency in the materials used for device chassis, variations in RF front-end and antenna design complexity and whether the baseband processor is more or less capable of handling network tasks. We used Speedtest data to analyze how three popular phones — the Apple iPhone Xs, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10 — performed in specific markets around the world during Q3 2019. We excluded data from devices with fewer than 100 samples in a market during the period.

Mean-DL-Speeds-on-Flagship-Phones

The Samsung Galaxy S10 was the fastest of these three devices in all but five markets during Q3 2019. However, the mean download speed on the Galaxy S10 varied between 18.06 Mbps in India and 95.91 Mbps in Canada. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro showed the fastest mean download speed of these three devices in France and the U.K. during Q3 2019 and often placed second in the remaining markets on the list. Mean download speed on the Mate 20 Pro during Q3 2019 ranged from 14.57 Mbps in India to 93.66 Mbps in Canada.

Apple’s iPhone Xs was at a slight disadvantage in this comparison, as it came out in 2018 where the other devices debuted in 2019. Because the iPhone 11 was not fully seeded to markets in Q3 2019, we considered its predecessor, the iPhone Xs, in this analysis. The iPhone Xs showed the fastest mean download speed in Germany, Japan and Nigeria during Q3 2019. Mean download speeds on the iPhone Xs varied from 15.92 Mbps in India to 71.72 Mbps in Canada.

Device performance in 5G markets

5G currently offers the pinnacle of mobile performance. We looked at 5G-capable devices in markets where 5G exists to see how download speeds compare. These results include Speedtest results on all technologies, not just 5G, which means averages also reflect consumers using 5G phones with a 4G connection.

Mean-DL-Speeds-on-5G-Phones

Both the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G showed mean download speeds in excess of 200 Mbps in some markets during Q3 2019. However, there’s clearly some difference in which devices are supported by which operators, as not all operators in 5G markets are offering 5G equally (if at all). Related, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G models sold in the U.S. and China are powered by Qualcomm’s first-generation Snapdragon X50 5G modem, while other 5G markets receive the variant powered by Samsung’s in-house Exynos 5100 5G modem.

Mobile operators continue to incentivize consumers to upgrade to newer and more capable devices to ensure a more efficient use of spectrum assets for network operators. This leads to an improved utilization of shared resources, faster overall speeds and better quality of experience.

We’re looking forward to updating these analyses as more markets adopt 5G and as newer and even faster phones are released. For more information about how our device data can help you, 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.

Devices

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 12, 2017

The World’s Internet Speeds Increased More than 30% in 2017. Are You Keeping Up?

Global Speeds

In a world where business and life are increasingly fast and global, you want to know if your country’s internet is up to speed. In August, we launched Speedtest Global IndexTM to provide you that objective look at internet performance around the world. Knowing what your speeds are and how they compare to your neighbors’ makes for a good story, but what was missing was a benchmark. To provide you that worldwide context, we’re introducing Global Speed, the average internet speed of the world, to the top of the Speedtest Global Index.

You can still use the Speedtest Global Index to see download and upload speeds by country and rank who’s fastest and slowest. Here we’ve paired data about those individual country speeds over the past year with the new global averages call out which countries have improved most over the past year, who’s shown the least improvement and what speeds are like in the world’s most populous countries. Read on to see who’s winning the internet speed race and who has a lot of catching up to do.

The comparisons here are based on Speedtest data from November 2016-November 2017. We used the same monthly threshold for this article that we do for inclusion in the Speedtest Global Index: to be ranked in each category, countries must have at least 670 Speedtest results from unique users on mobile and at least 3,333 for fixed broadband. Although we use the word “country” throughout, you will notice some regions like Hong Kong and Puerto Rico that are large or autonomous enough to call out as separate entities, even though they are not separate countries. Global speeds are a weighted average of all samples from around the world.

Global download speeds are up more than 30% across the board

With a mean global speed of 20.28 Mbps, mobile downloads increased 30.1% over the last 12 months and mobile uploads increased 38.9%. A global average of 40.11 Mbps makes fixed broadband downloads 97.8% faster than mobile and this speed increased 31.6% during the same period. Uploads over fixed broadband showed the smallest increase of 25.9%.

Global Internet Speeds
November 2016 – November 2017
Download: November 2017 Average (Mbps) Download: Year Over Year Increase Upload: November 2017 Average (Mbps) Upload: Year Over Year Increase
Mobile 20.28 30.1% 8.65 38.9%
Fixed 40.11 31.6% 19.96 25.9%

In November 2017, 119 countries boasted a faster mobile download speed than the global average while 134 were slower. On the fixed broadband side, 71 countries and regions beat the global average download speed and 185 were slower. As we reported last week, gigabit Speedtest results are rolling in from across the planet, but their distribution across continents is wildly uneven.

Most improved countries

It was a good year for Laotian mobile speeds. With a 249.5% jump in mobile download speeds, Laos showed the largest improvement in the world. Vietnam came in second with an increase of 188.7% and Trinidad and Tobago was third at 133.1%. All of the countries listed on the table below are to be commended for making mobile internet faster.

Countries with the Largest Improvement
Mobile Download Speed
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Increase November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
Laos 249.5% 13.77
Vietnam 188.7% 19.54
Trinidad and Tobago 133.1% 11.68
Hong Kong (SAR) 102.6% 35.64
Lebanon 92.3% 24.50
Cyprus 90.2% 26.14
Republic of the Union of Myanmar 81.0% 11.72
Costa Rica 80.9% 7.89
Cambodia 70.5% 14.97
Sudan 68.9% 9.85

The tiny island of Reunion, a region of France off the coast of Africa, saw the largest improvement in download speed over fixed broadband in the world with a gain of 141.5%. Guatemala was second at 116.7% and Ghana third at 82.1%.

Countries with the Largest Improvement
Fixed Broadband Download Speed
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Increase November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
Reunion 141.5% 62.64
Guatemala 116.7% 12.04
Ghana 82.1% 18.96
Peru 80.1% 16.48
India 76.9% 18.82
Panama 76.6% 28.62
Italy 72.1% 31.58
Libya 67.6% 3.84
Argentina 62.2% 15.49
Kenya 60.9% 15.59

In some countries, notably Libya, a small gain in megabits per second (Mbps) can result in a large percentage increase. Although the actual performance improvement is small, we’re glad to see speeds moving in the right direction.

Speeds in some countries declined

On the flip side, there were far too many countries and regions where internet speeds decreased. The devastation of Puerto Rico’s mobile infrastructure by Hurricane Maria surely contributed to the island’s 39.8% drop in mobile download speed during the past twelve months. Uzbekistan saw a decline of 31.8% and Côte d’Ivoire 26.1%.

Countries with the Smallest Improvement
Mobile Download Speed
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Change November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
Puerto Rico -39.8% 8.53
Uzbekistan -31.8% 6.47
Côte d’Ivoire -26.1% 10.95
Brunei -23.4% 9.83
Thailand -19.7% 13.38
Iraq -16.8% 3.12
Algeria -10.8% 7.19
Nigeria -8.4% 9.90
Bangladesh -7.4% 4.97
Morocco -6.3% 15.03

Algeria saw the largest decrease in download speed over fixed broadband speed in the world at 23.9%. Dips of 9.1% in Ecuador and 6.5% in Latvia were less troubling but still moving in the wrong direction.

Countries with the Smallest Improvement
Fixed Broadband Download Speed
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Change November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
Algeria -23.9% 3.76
Ecuador -9.1% 10.40
Latvia -6.5% 47.25
Tunisia -3.2% 6.90
Iraq -1.1% 7.87
Syria -0.3% 7.12
Taiwan 0.5% 42.32
Maldives 1.0% 12.04
Namibia 1.2% 9.74
Jamaica 1.5% 19.11

Performance in the world’s most populous countries

With 57% of the world’s population, any internet performance improvements seen in the world’s ten most populous countries have a wide reach. Pakistan came out on top of the world’s largest countries with a 56.2% jump in mobile download speed during the past 12 months. India came in second in this category at 42.4% and Brazil third at 27.6% .

World’s Most Populous Countries
Improvement in Mobile Downloads
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Change November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
Pakistan 56.2% 13.08
India 42.4% 8.80
Brazil 27.6% 16.25
Japan 23.5% 21.67
United States 22.0% 26.32
Russia 19.2% 15.80
Indonesia 18.1% 9.73
China 3.3% 31.22
Bangladesh -7.4% 4.97
Nigeria -8.4% 9.90

At the other end of the spectrum, Nigeria’s mobile download speed actually dropped 8.4% and Bangladesh’s dipped 7.4%. China showed only a modest 3.3% increase in mobile download speed in 2017.

On the fixed broadband side, India came out on top of the world’s most populous countries for improvements to download speed during the past 12 months with an increase of 76.9%, beating China’s second place 42.3% increase and a 37.3% gain in the U.S.

World’s Most Populous Countries
Improvement in Fixed Broadband Downloads
November 2016 – November 2017
Year Over Year Change November 2017 Speed (Mbps)
India 76.9% 18.82
China 42.3% 61.24
United States 37.3% 75.94
Japan 20.7% 73.51
Indonesia 18.9% 13.38
Brazil 18.5% 17.80
Pakistan 15.5% 6.13
Russia 14.6% 36.90
Bangladesh 13.7% 16.14
Nigeria 3.8% 9.53

Nigeria again came out at the bottom of the world’s largest countries, this time with a 3.8% increase in download speed over fixed broadband.

We’ll revisit global internet speeds periodically here on our blog, but you can keep up to date on the latest trends in worldwide internet speeds by visiting the Speedtest Global Index. It’s updated every month with individual country data and, now, global averages. Keep track of your country’s performance and see how you rank against the world.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 10, 2020

Massive Expansions and Huge Improvements in Speed: The Worldwide Growth of 5G in 2020

Global Speeds

The rapid expansion of 5G in countries across the globe was a bright spot in a year that needed one. But just how great is the news? We examined Speedtest Intelligence® data from over 60.5 million Speedtest® results during Q3 2020 to see how much speeds have improved, where download speeds are the fastest at the country and capital level, where 5G deployments have increased and what worldwide 5G coverage looks like now. We also looked at countries where 5G doesn’t yet reach to understand where good news might be on the horizon.

We have only included countries with commercially available 5G on these lists in order to provide a more accurate view of the performance consumers can reasonably expect. While our data shows results for many countries where 5G is not yet commercially available, these tests are likely results from engineers testing their own networks. In addition, we’re only providing analysis for countries with more than 200 samples during Q3 2020. The bars shown in our charts are 95% confidence intervals, which represent the range of values in which the true value is likely to be. Countries marked in tables with an asterisk first launched 5G commercially in 2020.

5G downloads were 954% faster than 4G at the global level

The worldwide median download speed over 5G was 954% faster than that over 4G during Q3 2020. Median upload speed over 5G was 311% faster than that over 4G. Consumers are eagerly adopting the new technology and many have wanted to measure the full throughput capacity of their network connection. In Q3 2020 alone, there were 4,324,788 Speedtest results over 5G.
Median-Speeds-Worldwide_1220-1

United Arab Emirates had the fastest 5G

United Arab Emirates topped the list of countries with the fastest top 10% 5G download speed in Q3 2020. Top 10% (or 90th percentile) measures the speeds seen by the fastest 10% of users and is a way to gauge what each country’s networks are capable of. Saudi Arabia was second for top 10% 5G download speed, Norway third, Spain fourth and Japan fifth.
Fastest-Countries-Top-5G-Download-Speed_1220-2

Another way to measure 5G performance is to look at median 5G download speed, which is a better predictor of the kind of performance most 5G customers can expect. Norway was the country with the fastest median download speed over 5G during Q3 2020. U.A.E. was second in this category, South Africa third, Saudi Arabia fourth and Spain fifth.
Fastest-Countries-Median-5G-Download-Speed_1220-2

It’s notable that Japan was on the list of 10 countries with the fastest top 10% 5G download speed but not on the list of 10 countries with the fastest median download speed over 5G. No matter how fast a country’s mobile infrastructure is, many other factors go into median 5G speeds, including device adoption and spectrum allocation.

Abu Dhabi tops list of 5G speeds in world capitals

Our examination of 5G performance for 18 world capital cities with 5G during Q3 2020 found that Abu Dhabi had the fastest median download speed over 5G at 546.81 Mbps. Riyadh was second, Madrid third, Seoul fourth and Kuwait City fifth. As we saw at the country level, median upload speed was much lower than download speed.
Median-5G-Performance-Capitals_1220-2

How 5G performance and time spent compare within regions

We looked more closely at 5G performance across several intergovernmental organizations and trade blocs to get a better sense of how countries are performing in comparison to their neighbors and trade partners. We also calculated Time Spent on 5G, the proportion of time that users with 5G-capable devices spent on 5G, for each country.

Italy had the fastest 5G among G7 countries, U.S. the slowest

Italy had the fastest median download speed over 5G of all the G7 countries. Japan was second, Canada third, the U.K. fourth and Germany fifth. The U.S. had the highest Time Spent on 5G, followed by Canada. For a deeper analysis of 5G in the U.K., read our previous coverage. Because France launched commercially available 5G only within the last couple of weeks, we have not included it on this table.
5G-Performance-G7-Countries_1220

South Africa was the only country in the African Union with sufficient 5G to rate

As we saw above, South Africa’s impressive median download speed over 5G ranked the country third in the world during Q3 2020. South Africa was only one of two countries in the African Union to have commercially available 5G during Q3 2020. The other, Madagascar, did not have sufficient samples to properly analyze. Time Spent on 5G in South Africa was very low, an indication that 5G is not yet widely available there.
5G-Performance-Africa_1220

South Korea had the fastest 5G in APEC countries, U.S. the slowest

A median download speed over 5G of 411.11 Mbps put South Korea comfortably at the top of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries with the fastest 5G during Q3 2020. Thailand was second, Australia third, China fourth and Taiwan fifth. 5G speeds represented the largest improvement over 4G in the Philippines where the median download speed over 4G during Q3 2020 (9.36 Mbps) was substantially lower than that of other countries on this list.

South Korea and the U.S. tied for highest Time Spent on 5G among APEC countries during Q3 2020, followed by Hong Kong and Taiwan.
5G-Performance-APEC_1220

Spain had the fastest 5G in the E.U., Poland the slowest

Spain showed the fastest median download speed over 5G among the 11 European Union (E.U.) countries with sufficient 5G samples to rank during Q3 2020. Hungary was second, Finland third, Romania fourth and Ireland fifth. Spain’s median download speed over 5G also represented the largest gain over 4G among all of these countries, partially because Spain had the second slowest median download speed over 4G. France is not included on this list because 5G did not become commercially available in the country until after Q3 2020.

The Netherlands had the highest Time Spent on 5G among E.U. countries during Q3 2020, indicating that customers with 5G phones are able to spend far more time on 5G there than in other E.U. countries. Denmark was second for Time Spent on 5G among EU countries in Q3 2020 and Finland third.
5G-Performance-EU_1220

U.A.E had the fastest 5G in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

With the second fastest median download speed over 5G in the world, U.A.E. was also the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country with the fastest 5G during Q3 2020. Saudi Arabia was second and Qatar third. While Oman does have commercially available 5G, there were insufficient samples in the country during Q3 2020 to properly analyze performance.

5G represented the largest improvement over 4G in Kuwait and Bahrain, countries that had slower median download speeds over 4G than their neighbors.

Time Spent on 5G was relatively high in all the GCC countries on this list, except Bahrain, when compared to other countries in the world during Q3 2020. Qatar showed the highest Time Spent on 5G among GCC countries in Q3 2020 at 16.0%. U.A.E. was second and Saudi Arabia third.
5G-Performance-GCC_1220

Brazil was the only MERCOSUR country with sufficient 5G to rate

Brazil’s median download speed over 5G of 84.60 Mbps during Q3 2020 may not seem fast for 5G, but it still puts Brazil well ahead of other countries in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), most of which do not yet have 5G at all. We did see 5G results in Colombia, but there were insufficient samples to properly compare.

Time Spent on 5G in Brazil during Q3 2020 was not quite one percent, indicating that customers do not have much access to 5G yet.
5G-Performance-MERCOSUR_1220

The U.S., Europe and Asia see widespread 5G coverage

Data from Cell Analytics™ shows a global view of 5G coverage in Q3 2020. This map, based on 5G connectivity data for opted-in Speedtest users, shows that 5G is spreading rapidly across the U.S., Europe, the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. In other regions, 5G is primarily available in larger cities, if at all.
Global-5G-Coverage_1220

99 countries worldwide had 5G, in 14,643 total cities

The number of countries with 5G deployments increased 62.3% between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020, with 99 countries having 5G deployments at the end of Q3 2020, according to the Ookla 5G Map™. There were 14,643 cities worldwide with 5G deployments at the end of Q3 2020, a 1,671% increase over Q3 2019. The total number of deployments worldwide was 17,046. The counts here and throughout this section include commercially available 5G as well as 5G networks with limited availability and those in pre-release.

Countries with the Most 5G Cities
Ookla 5G Map™ | Q3 2020
Country Numbers of Cities with 5G
United States 7,583
Germany 2,312
Austria 1,104
Netherlands* 1,009
Switzerland 554
Thailand* 325
Ireland 214
Puerto Rico 187
United Kingdom 169
Kuwait 97

The U.S. had the most cities with 5G deployments at the end of Q3 2020 with 7,583. Germany was second, Austria third, the Netherlands fourth and Switzerland fifth. A deployment is when a provider has some level of 5G presence in a city. A city can have multiple deployments when more than one provider is present.

Countries with the Largest Growth in Number of Deployments
Ookla 5G Map™ | Q3 2020
Country 5G Deployments as of Q3 2020 % Change Q3 2020 vs Q3 2019
Netherlands* 1,071 50,350%
Thailand* 451 32,401%
United States 7,808 21,566%
Germany 2,417 11,460%
Canada* 93 7,600%
Austria 1,173 4,918%
Ireland 236 4,180%
Poland 81 3,150%
Japan* 75 2,050%
Oman 50 2,000%

The Netherlands showed the largest percentage change in the number of 5G deployments between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020 with a 50,350% jump from two deployments in Q3 2019 to 1,071 in Q3 2020. Thailand saw the second largest percentage increase, the U.S. third, Germany fourth and Canada fifth.

Most early trials and commercial deployments of 5G spectrum allocations around the world have been centered around fallow swaths of the mid-band (3.3 GHz – 4.2 GHz) spectrum. With the recent commercialization of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) across all major 5G infrastructure vendors, there is now increasing demand for 5G support on many existing 4G frequencies, ranging from 600 MHz to 2.5 GHz. In unique 5G markets like Japan, there is an additional need for the 4.5 GHz band as well as the millimeter wave (FR2).

In the United States, early deployments leveraged millimeter wave frequency bands in the 28 GHz and the 39 GHz, which delivered impressive speeds in a very constrained footprint. The rapid 5G deployment in the 600 MHz band has added a substantial nationwide 5G footprint — and with that, much wider 5G availability for many more Americans. With the recent merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, the deployment of 2.5 GHz spectrum has been significantly accelerated, which should improve both network efficiency and user experience on T-Mobile’s network. Additionally, next year’s availability of 5G Carrier Aggregation will allow T-Mobile to combine 600 MHz with 2.5 GHz to deliver improved 5G speeds on top of the existing nationwide footprint. In addition, DSS has recently been deployed by AT&T and Verizon, which allows operators to choose from existing low-band spectrum assets (850 MHz) and deliver both LTE and 5G at the same time. This feature alone doesn’t add a significant boost in perceived user experience, but will certainly improve the 5G footprint.

China showed the highest percentage of 5G test samples

Another way to measure 5G adoption is to look at the proportion of samples taken over 5G relative to the total number of samples on all technologies. Speedtest Intelligence is uniquely positioned to measure global growth in 5G because of the worldwide adoption of Speedtest apps. China had the highest percentage of 5G Speedtest results compared to other mobile technology types in Q3 2020 at 18.9%. South Korea was second, Hong Kong third, Puerto Rico fourth and Qatar fifth.

Countries with the Most 5G
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2020
Country 5G Samples as a % of Total
China 18.9%
South Korea 15.8%
Hong Kong (S.A.R.)* 7.9%
Puerto Rico 6.7%
Qatar 5.7%
United States 5.5%
Netherlands* 4.9%
United Arab Emirates 4.6%
Kuwait 4.6%
Australia 4.2%

What 5G will look like in 2021

With recently announced device chipset advancements expected in 2021, including 5G Carrier Aggregation, operators will be able to combine two 5G frequency bands in the sub-6GHz (FR1) range, allowing not only faster speeds, but also greater coverage. More importantly, the ability to combine Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD) FR1 channels will enable operators to leverage low-band frequencies (sub-1GHz) for uplink transmissions (user device to cell site), while combining the low-band with the mid-band (2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz) on the downlink. This should significantly expand the availability of fast 5G download speeds across larger geographies.

Similarly, DSS — which is a stepping stone to standalone 5G and allows for the simultaneous delivery of 4G and 5G technology on the same spectrum slice — will enable operators to combine already-deployed FDD spectrum with dedicated mid-band spectrum for an enhanced standalone 5G experience. This will unlock the full potential of 5G networks, such as ultra low latency and network slicing, while delivering an improved mobile experience to users.

Where 5G fails to reach

During Q3 2020 Speedtest Intelligence showed 55 countries in the world (with more than 200 samples) where more than 20% of samples were from 2G and 3G connections (combined). These are countries where, in many cases, 5G is still aspirational. As excited as we are about the expansion of 5G, we do not want to see these countries left behind.

Countries That Still Rely Heavily on 2G and 3G Connections
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2020
Country 2G & 3G Samples 4G Samples
Turkmenistan 74.9% 25.1%
Rwanda 52.3% 47.7%
Iraq 49.4% 50.6%
Belarus 46.5% 53.5%
Afghanistan 46.0% 54.0%
Antigua and Barbuda 40.2% 59.8%
Tajikistan 40.2% 59.8%
Suriname 39.7% 60.3%
Haiti 37.7% 62.3%
Syria 37.5% 62.5%
Ghana 36.0% 64.0%
Ethiopia 35.0% 65.0%
Mozambique 34.7% 65.3%
Benin 34.3% 65.7%
Angola 34.1% 65.9%
El Salvador 32.5% 67.5%
Moldova 31.8% 68.2%
Venezuela 30.3% 69.7%
Tanzania 30.0% 70.0%
Papua New Guinea 29.5% 70.5%
Jamaica 29.4% 70.6%
Sudan 29.2% 70.8%
Algeria 29.0% 71.0%
Namibia 28.5% 71.5%
Zimbabwe 28.5% 71.5%
Somalia 28.4% 71.6%
Nicaragua 28.1% 71.9%
Armenia 28.1% 71.9%
Bosnia and Herzegovina 28.1% 71.9%
Uzbekistan 27.8% 72.2%
Cameroon 27.5% 72.5%
Zambia 27.4% 72.6%
Uganda 26.6% 73.4%
Trinidad and Tobago 26.6% 73.4%
Honduras 26.5% 73.5%
Bangladesh 26.3% 73.7%
Burkina Faso 26.0% 74.0%
Ukraine 25.8% 74.2%
Nigeria 25.7% 74.3%
DR Congo 24.6% 75.4%
Costa Rica 24.3% 75.7%
Botswana 24.1% 75.9%
Libya 22.9% 77.1%
Azerbaijan 22.9% 77.1%
Ecuador 22.8% 77.2%
Mali 22.4% 77.6%
Mongolia 21.8% 78.2%
Maldives 21.6% 78.4%
Mauritius 21.3% 78.7%
Tunisia 21.0% 79.0%
Belize 20.7% 79.3%
Laos 20.5% 79.5%
Kenya 20.3% 79.7%
Paraguay 20.1% 79.9%
Côte d’Ivoire 20.0% 80.0%

In markets where 4G layers haven’t been deployed or substantially covered, end users fall back to the circuit-switched network (2G, 3G). These decades-old network technologies should be sufficient for basic voice and texting, social media, and navigation apps, but cannot deliver rich media experiences or video calling. Unfortunately, many countries on this list are places where consumers rely primarily on mobile phones for their internet connectivity.

5G is radically changing the speeds and capabilities of mobile networks around the world. If the current growth rate continues, it won’t be long before most nations have access to 5G. But there are nations and subsets of subscribers who may not see the benefits of 5G for years to come. We will continue reporting on 5G achievements across the globe and watching speeds in general on the Speedtest Global Index™.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 17, 2019

What Happens to the Internet When Mobile Providers Go Down

Global Speeds

You may have experienced the panic that happens when you realize you can’t get a connection on your phone. Most of us in these moments will try several ways of getting online before rushing to Downdetector® to see if our mobile operator is out of service or if it’s just us. Having access to data from both Downdetector and Speedtest® gives us unique insight into how network outages impact the internet as a whole, and in this article we’re exploring that impact in several key markets around the world.

The outages we explored

We looked specifically for recent outages that affected mobile networks in a variety of countries around the globe. The outages we explored were in Brazil (Vivo — 12,994 reports on August 22), Canada (Rogers and Freedom Mobile — 35,685 reports July 7-8), Italy (Iliad — 3,018 reports on June 21), India (Vodafone-Idea — 1,386 reports on July 17), the Netherlands (KPN Mobile, T-Mobile and Vodafone — 92,391 reports on June 24), Sweden (Tele2 — 7,275 reports June 17-19) and the United States (T-Mobile — 95,267 reports on September 6).

Working hypotheses

We had three hypotheses when we set out to do this analysis based on what we would expect to happen in a prolonged, near-total mobile outage:

  1. Mobile speeds would increase during an outage (for those who could connect) because there would be significantly less network congestion.
  2. Fixed broadband speeds would not change during an outage.
  3. The number of mobile Speedtest results would increase on the day of the outage as users tried to troubleshoot their connections.
  4. The number of fixed broadband Speedtest results would also increase on the day of the outage as people switched from mobile to fixed broadband to try and connect.

As with any real-world experiment there are many variables that can affect the results but for which we cannot control. Each of these outages varied in duration, cause and totality — factors which affect potential outcomes.

Mobile Outages Affect Download Speed in Different Ways

We compared each operator’s mean download speed over mobile on the day of the outage with their mean speed during that month to see if our hypothesis held. Results were mixed.

How Mobile Outages Affect Mobile Speed

In India and the U.S., mobile download speeds did increase very slightly for each provider on the day of the outage when compared with the monthly average. Both of these outages were localized within the country with the Indian outage centering around Ahmedabad and the U.S. outage falling on the East Coast.

On the other hand, mobile download speeds in Brazil and Italy were lower on the day of the outage than the monthly average. Significantly so in Italy. In both of these instances the mobile operator was experiencing a geographically widespread outage.

The outage in Canada revealed two different stories as download speed decreased slightly during the outage for Rogers customers and increased for customers of Freedom Mobile. Results were also mixed in the Netherlands with Vodafone customers seeing a significantly higher download speed, KPN Mobile customers seeing a slightly higher speed and T-Mobile customers seeing a decrease in download speed.

The outage in Sweden occurred in three waves over three separate days:

Downdetector view of June 2019 Tele2 Outage Peaks

We looked at each separately and found that mobile download speed on Tele2 increased during the smaller first and last waves. Meanwhile, mean download speed decreased during the largest middle outage.

Fixed broadband speeds show only slight variations

We measured download speed over fixed broadband at the country level both on the day(s) of the outages and compared that number with the average download speed for the appropriate month.

How Mobile Outages Affect Fixed Broadband Speed

Our hypothesis about fixed speeds not changing during mobile outages proved mostly true. Although download speed over fixed broadband did decrease in Italy and the Netherlands during their country-wide outages, the decrease was very small. In Canada there was virtually no difference in speed between the day of the outage and the monthly average.

Download speed over fixed broadband was faster during the outages in all other countries we examined. However, the differences were not large enough to rule out day-to-day fluctuations in speed.

Speedtest results usually increase during outages

We also compared the number of Speedtest results over both mobile and fixed broadband during the outages with the daily averages in each country for the appropriate month.

Effect of Mobile Outages on Number of Speedtest Results

Our hypothesis that the number of mobile Speedtest results would increase on the day of an outage held mostly true. Exceptions were Canada and two days of the Swedish outage. Fixed broadband Speedtest results also mostly increased, except in Canada and the Netherlands, but for the most part only very minimally.

Contact us to learn how data from Downdetector and Speedtest can help you before, during and after an outage.

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
Downdetector

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| October 14, 2019

Exploring Recent Trends in the Latin American Telecom Market

Global Speeds


Leer en español | Leia em Português

The Latin American telecommunications market continues to be fascinating to watch as fixed broadband speeds increase and mobile operators ready their networks for 5G. In anticipation of Futurecom, we analyzed internet speeds and 4G Availability for Q2-Q3 2019 in Latin America’s major markets to see who’s leading the charge to the future.

Mobile and fixed speeds are increasing at the country level

LatAm-Mobile-Fixed-Speeds-in-Largest-Markets

Fixed broadband speeds are on the rise in Latin America’s largest markets. Colombia’s mean download speed increased 30.6% during Q2-Q3 2019 while Mexico’s increased 15.6%. Chile had the fastest mean download speed over fixed broadband by far and showed a 26.7% increase in speed during the period. Brazil was the second fastest throughout the period. Peru, Mexico and Argentina were closely vying for third, but in the end Peru won out. Colombia had the slowest download speed over fixed broadband.

Mobile speeds were much more competitive in Latin America’s largest markets. Increases in mean download speeds were not nearly as impressive as they were with fixed broadband, though. Mexico saw the greatest increase during Q2-Q3 2019 at 12.0%. Argentina’s mobile download speed increased 11.0%, followed by Brazil (7.9%), Chile (5.1%) and Colombia (4.6%). Peru’s mean download speed over mobile decreased 2.2% during the period. Mexico had the fastest mobile speed, followed by Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and, finally, Colombia.

4G Availability varies widely by country

LatAm-4G-Availability-Q2-Q3

We looked at the percentage of surveyed locations where devices could access 4G LTE service in Latin America’s major markets during Q2-Q3 2019 and found that Peru was on top with 77.8% 4G Availability during the period. Chile came in second with 75.5% and Argentina third at 71.4%. Brazil had the lowest 4G Availability at 47.3% and Colombia had the second lowest at 50.6%.

City speeds vary by technology

Ookla_Internet-Speeds-in-Latin-America-Largetst-Cities_1019_EN
Fixed broadband speeds have increased dramatically in Latin America’s largest cities since we last examined them and these speeds have shifted the rankings significantly. Santiago, Chile had the fastest download speed over fixed broadband in Q2-Q3 2019, beating second-place Brasília, Brazil by 66.6%. São Paulo, Brazil came in a close third. Bogotá, Colombia had the slowest download speed over fixed broadband of the cities on our list. Lima, Peru was the second slowest city and Mexico City, Mexico third slowest.

Because of the political situation in Venezuela, we did not include Caracas in our analysis.

Mobile rankings have changed significantly since we last considered speeds in Latin America’s largest cities. Salvador, Brazil had the fastest mobile download speed on our list during this period. Brasília, Brazil was a close second and Mexico City, Mexico third fastest. Bogotá, Colombia also had the slowest mobile download speed on our list. Santiago, Chile was the second slowest city for mobile and Fortaleza, Brazil the third slowest.

OoklaⓇ will be at Futurecom! If you’d like to connect to learn more about the Latin American telecom market and how our data can help you, contact us.

Análisis de las tendencias recientes en el mercado de las telecomunicaciones de América Latina

El mercado de las telecomunicaciones de América Latina continúa siendo fascinante de analizar a medida que las velocidades de la banda ancha fija aumentan y los operadores de telefonía móvil preparan sus redes para la tecnología 5G. Mientras esperamos Futurecom, examinamos las velocidades de Internet y la disponibilidad de 4G en el segundo y tercer trimestre de 2019 en los principales mercados de América Latina para ver quién está a la vanguardia del cambio de cara al futuro.

Las velocidades fijas y móviles están aumentando en cada país

LatAm-Mobile-Fixed-Speeds-in-Largest-Markets_ES

Las velocidades de la banda ancha fija están en aumento en los mercados más importantes de América Latina. La velocidad media de descarga de Colombia aumentó un 30,6 % durante el segundo y tercer trimestre de 2019, mientras que la de México se incrementó en un 15,6 %. Chile tuvo la velocidad media de descarga por banda ancha más rápida por lejos y demostró un aumento del 26,7 % en la velocidad durante el período. Brasil fue el segundo más rápido en todo el período. Perú, México y Argentina le siguieron de cerca compitiendo por el tercer puesto, pero al final, ganó Perú. Colombia tuvo la velocidad de descarga por banda ancha fija más lenta.

Las velocidades móviles fueron mucho más competitivas en los mercados más importantes de América Latina. Sin embargo, los aumentos en las velocidades medias de descarga no fueron tan impresionantes como lo fueron los de la banda ancha fija. México tuvo el mayor aumento durante el segundo y tercer trimestre de 2019 con un 12 %. La velocidad de descarga móvil de Argentina aumentó un 11 %, seguida por Brasil (7,9 %), Chile (5,1 %) y Colombia (4,6 %). La velocidad media de descarga móvil de Perú disminuyó un 2,2 % durante el período. México tuvo la velocidad móvil más rápida, seguido por Perú, Brasil, Argentina, Chile y, por último, Colombia.

La disponibilidad de 4G varía ampliamente por país

LatAm-4G-Availability-Q2-Q3_ES

Examinamos el porcentaje de lugares encuestados en donde los dispositivos pudieran acceder al servicio 4G LTE en los principales mercados de América Latina durante el segundo y tercer trimestre de 2019 y concluimos que Perú quedó en la cima con un 77,8 % de disponibilidad de 4G durante el período. Chile quedó segundo con el 75,5 % y Argentina quedó en el tercer lugar con el 71,4 %. Brasil tuvo la menor disponibilidad de 4G con el 47,3 % y Colombia tuvo el segundo nivel más bajo, con el 50,6 %.

Las velocidades de las ciudades varían según la tecnología

Ookla_Internet-Speeds-in-Latin-America-Largetst-Cities_1019_ES

Las velocidades de la banda ancha fija han aumentado drásticamente en las ciudades más importantes de América Latina desde la última vez que las analizamos y estas velocidades han cambiado las clasificaciones de manera significativa. Santiago, Chile, tuvo la mayor velocidad de descarga en banda ancha fija en el segundo y tercer trimestre de 2019, y venció a Brasilia, Brasil, que se quedó con el segundo lugar por el 66.6%. San Pablo, Brasil, quedó en tercer lugar, cerca. Bogotá, Colombia tuvo la velocidad de descarga por banda ancha fija más lenta de las ciudades en nuestra lista. Lima, Perú, fue la segunda ciudad más lenta, y la Ciudad de México, México, la tercera.

Debido a la situación política de Venezuela, no incluimos a Caracas en nuestro análisis.

Las clasificaciones móviles ha cambiado de manera significativa desde la última vez que analizamos las velocidades en las ciudades más importantes de América Latina. Salvador, Brasil, tuvo la velocidad de descarga móvil más rápida en nuestra lista durante este período. Brasilia, Brasil, quedó en segundo lugar por poco, y la Ciudad de México, México, fue la tercera más rápida. Bogotá, Colombia, también tuvo la velocidad de descarga móvil más lenta en nuestra lista. Santiago, Chile, fue la segunda ciudad más lenta en velocidad móvil, y Fortaleza, Brasil, la tercera más lenta.

OoklaⓇ estará en Futurecom. Si desean ponerse en contacto para obtener más información sobre el mercado de las telecomunicaciones en América Latina y cómo nuestros datos pueden ayudarlos, comuníquense con nosotros.

Tendências recentes no mercado de telecomunicações da América Latina

O mercado de telecomunicações da América Latina continua fascinante graças ao aumento das velocidades de banda larga e a preparação das redes de operadoras de celular para o 5G. Nas vésperas da Futurecom, analisamos as velocidades da internet e a disponibilidade de redes 4G entre o segundo e o terceiro trimestres de 2019 nos principais mercados da América Latina, para ver quem está liderando essa empreitada em direção ao futuro.

As velocidades de redes fixas e móveis dos países estão aumentando

LatAm-Mobile-Fixed-Speeds-in-Largest-Markets_PT

A velocidade da banda larga está aumentando nos maiores mercados da América Latina. A velocidade média de download da Colômbia aumentou 30,6% entre o segundo e o terceiro trimestres de 2019, enquanto no México ela aumentou 15,6%. O Chile teve, de longe, a maior velocidade média de download em banda larga fixa, com um aumento de 26,7% na velocidade durante o período. O Brasil foi o segundo mais rápido durante o período. Peru, México e Argentina disputaram acirradamente o terceiro lugar, mas o Peru acabou vencendo. A Colômbia teve a menor velocidade de download em banda larga fixa.

Houve um aumento na concorrência no setor de velocidades móveis nos maiores mercados da América Latina. No entanto, o aumento na velocidade média de download não foi tão impressionante quanto na banda larga fixa. O México teve o maior aumento entre o segundo e o terceiro trimestres de 2019, com 12%. A velocidade de download móvel da Argentina aumentou 11%, seguida pelo Brasil (7,9%), Chile (5,1%) e Colômbia (4,6%). A velocidade média de download do Peru em rede móvel diminuiu 2,2% durante o período. O México teve a maior velocidade móvel, seguido de Peru, Brasil, Argentina, Chile e, por fim, Colômbia.

Disponibilidade do 4G varia muito conforme o país

LatAm-4G-Availability-Q2-Q3_PT

Analisamos a porcentagem de dispositivos com acesso ao serviço 4G LTE nos maiores mercados da América Latina entre o segundo e o terceiro trimestres de 2019 e descobrimos que o Peru teve a maior disponibilidade do 4G no período, com 77,8%. O Chile ficou em segundo, com 75,5%, enquanto a Argentina ficou em terceiro com 71,4%. O Brasil teve a menor disponibilidade do 4G, com 47,3%, enquanto a Colômbia teve a segunda menor, com 50,6%.

Velocidades no meio urbano variam de acordo com a tecnologia

Ookla_Internet-Speeds-in-Latin-America-Largetst-Cities_1019_PT

A velocidade de banda larga fixa aumentou dramaticamente nas maiores cidades da América Latina desde a nossa última análise, o que alterou os rankings de maneira significativa. Santiago, no Chile, teve a maior velocidade de download em banda larga fixa entre o segundo e terceiro trimestres de 2019, acima do segundo lugar, Brasília, com 66,6%. São Paulo ficou em terceiro lugar, com uma porcentagem próxima. Bogotá, na Colômbia, teve a menor velocidade de download em banda larga fixa nas cidades da lista. Lima, no Peru, teve a segunda menor velocidade, com a Cidade do México, no México, em terceiro.

Devido à situação política da Venezuela, Caracas não foi incluída na análise.

Os rankings de rede móvel mudaram significativamente desde nossa última análise da velocidade nas maiores cidades da América Latina. Salvador teve a maior velocidade de download em rede móvel durante o período. Brasília ficou em segundo lugar por pouco, enquanto a Cidade do México, no México, ficou em terceiro. Bogotá, na Colômbia, também teve a menor velocidade de download em rede móvel na nossa lista. Santiago, no Chile, teve a segunda menor velocidade para redes móveis, seguida por Fortaleza, que teve a terceira menor velocidade.

A OoklaⓇ estará na Futurecom! Entre em contato conosco para saber mais sobre o mercado de telecomunicações da América Latina e como nossos dados podem ajudá-lo.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta