Tag: Cyprus

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 20, 2022

Starlink Slowed in Q2, Competitors Mounting Challenges

Network Evolution

Ookla® has covered SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet for over a year now with our ongoing series on satellite internet performance. We’ve seen Starlink launch in new locations across the world, and while some speeds have shown signs of slowing down from their initial launches, the newly announced T-Mobile partnership with Starlink could extend the benefit of satellite connections to the mobile market.

Today, we have fresh data on satellite performance during Q2 2022 in Europe, Oceania, North America, and South America. This analysis includes results from eight additional countries, two new providers, and expanded data for Starlink, HughesNet, and Viasat. We also examine how Starlink’s internet performance has changed over the past year in Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Starlink speeds decreased in every country we surveyed over the past year as more users sign up for service

Chart of Starlink performances in select countries

Speedtest Intelligence® reveals that median download speeds for Starlink fell across Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K, and the U.S., dropping between 9% and 54% from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022 as more users signed up for the service. However, Starlink still reached a median download speed of at least 60 Mbps in North America during Q2 2022, which is more than enough for at least one connected device to do most everything on the internet including streaming video, downloading games, and chatting on video with friends and family.

Upload speeds also slowed on Starlink, with speeds decreasing across all of the countries we’ve tracked over the past year. Latency fared a little better with latency remaining relatively flat (though high when compared to fixed broadband) in most countries. New Zealand was the outlier, with latency dropping 23 ms. For most users, we still suspect these dips are still worthwhile for areas that have no service, slow service, or few affordable options for fast internet.

Starlink in Puerto Rico was the fastest satellite provider in North America

Chart of Satellite performance versus fixed broadband internet in North America

Starlink in Puerto Rico had the fastest satellite internet in North America during Q2 2022 with a median download speed of 112.22 Mbps, followed by Starlink in Mexico (80.17 Mbps), Canada (75.73 Mbps), and the U.S. (62.53 Mbps). Starlink in Puerto Rico and Mexico was faster than their countries’ fixed broadband providers combined (74.80 Mbps and 45.50 Mbps, respectively), while fixed broadband in the U.S. (150.12 Mbps) and Canada (106.41 Mbps) was faster than each country’s satellite providers.

In every country except Mexico, fixed broadband upload speeds were faster than satellite speeds. Starlink in Mexico edged out fixed broadband providers 14.48 Mbps to 12.20 Mbps. Latency was higher for every satellite provider compared to fixed broadband. Starlink in the U.S. had the lowest median latency among satellite providers at 48 ms.

Starlink outperformed fixed broadband average in 16 European countries

Chart of Satellite performance versus fixed broadband internet in Europe

Speedtest Intelligence shows Starlink was fast in Europe during Q2 2022, outperforming fixed broadband median download speed in 16 countries and reached download speeds over 100 Mbps in 10 countries. In contrast, fixed broadband only achieved median download speeds over 100 Mbps in six countries: Romania, Spain, Portugal, France, Hungary, and the Netherlands during Q2 2022. Starlink was fastest for median download speed in Portugal at 123.01 Mbps, the Netherlands (122.43 Mbps), Austria (112.01 Mbps), France (110.98 Mbps), and Belgium (110.40 Mbps). Romania and Spain were the only countries to have fixed broadband beat Starlink for fastest median download speed, achieving 131.41 Mbps and 127.19 Mbps, respectively.

For upload, Starlink in Greece and Austria was the only satellite provider to achieve faster upload speeds than all fixed broadband providers combined at 19.34 Mbps to 5.14 Mbps, and to 17.14 Mbps to 15.90 Mbps, respectively. Fixed broadband providers in Spain (99.21 Mbps), Romania (94.23 Mbps), Sweden (92.77 Mbps), France (88.22 Mbps), Lithuania (83.54 Mbps), and Portugal (73.13 Mbps) all recorded median upload speeds greater than 70 Mbps, with the closest satellite provider being Starlink in Portugal at 28.52 Mbps.

All satellite providers fell far behind fixed broadband providers in the whole of Europe for latency during Q2 2022. Starlink in Spain and the United Kingdom recorded the lowest satellite latencies at 37 ms and 39 ms, respectively — still a far cry from the closest fixed broadband latency, which was 14 ms in Germany, Greece, and Italy.

Starlink in Brazil was the fastest satellite provider in South America

Chart of Satellite performance versus fixed broadband internet in South America

Our analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data found Starlink in Brazil was the fastest satellite provider in South America with a median download speed of 128.38 Mbps during Q2 2022, followed by Starlink in Chile at 94.79 Mbps. Chilean fixed broadband internet was still much faster for those who could get access to it. The Speedtest Global Index™ found Chile had the second fastest fixed broadband internet in the world with a median download speed of 211.43 Mbps during August 2022. Starlink in Brazil was the only satellite provider to be faster than its country’s fixed broadband providers combined.

Like last quarter, South American fixed broadband providers surpassed satellite providers in each respective upload speeds during Q2 2022. All satellite providers had a higher median latency than fixed broadband, though Starlink in Brazil and Chile had latencies of 38 ms.

Starlink in New Zealand was the fastest satellite provider in Oceania 

Chart of Satellite performance versus fixed broadband internet in Oceania

Starlink’s fastest median download speed in Oceania was in New Zealand at 105.99 Mbps, though this still fell short of fixed broadband providers in the country. Starlink in Australia was faster than fixed broadband providers by a wide margin at 102.76 Mbps to 51.46 Mbps during Q2 2022. Starlink outperformed fixed broadband providers in new-to-our-list Tonga 45.25 Mbps to 22.32 Mbps. 

New Zealand’s fixed broadband dominated for the fastest median upload speed in Oceania at 87.29 Mbps during Q2 2022, while Australia’s fixed broadband fell far behind with an upload speed of 17.86 Mbps. Both speeds were still faster than Starlink’s median upload speeds in New Zealand and Australia (12.31 Mbps and 10.45 Mbps, respectively). Tonga didn’t have a statistical winner for fastest upload speed, but Starlink reached 19.26 Mbps and fixed broadband 18.11 Mbps. Fixed broadband also had a lower median latency than Starlink during Q1 2022, which clocked in at 49 ms in Australia, 78 ms in New Zealand, and 98 ms in Tonga.

Biggest questions lie ahead, but competition will be good for consumers

Satellite connectivity is coming to mobile, with Starlink’s new partnership with T-Mobile and new mobile devices becoming satellite enabled. This will cause ripples across North America, which is a net positive for consumers who live in areas with low mobile and fixed broadband connectivity. Connecting with the world won’t be a question of how anymore, it will be a question of how good your experience is. That’s hopefully a win-win for consumers, especially as more providers vie for the fastest and best satellite experience — a true global space race.

Starlink isn’t stopping there — they’re trying to get into airplanes, cruise ships, and cars. But they’re not the only satellite provider making moves; Viasat is launching its Viasat-3 fleet, OneWeb is combining business with Eutelsat, and Amazon is sending 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites into orbit. We’ll be here monitoring the skies in our ongoing satellite series. Take a Speedtest® to help us provide an accurate and more complete picture of real-world performance. And if we’re missing data on your satellite network, send us a screenshot of your speed on Twitter or Facebook.

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 Evolution
Satellite

About the Author

Josh Fomon

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 12, 2020

How Roaming Affects Mobile Speeds in Europe

Global Speeds

Last year, we conducted an expansive analysis of mobile roaming in the European Union. We’re updating our data to see which countries have the best roaming speeds and how roaming affects time spent on Wi-Fi. This analysis is based on Speedtest data from Android devices in Europe during Q3-Q4 2019. Despite Brexit, we’ve included data from the United Kingdom to keep parity year-over-year, as the roaming agreement remains in place for 2020 and this data involves travel within a specific set of countries.

Roaming in Europe typically means slower download speeds

Mobile roaming speeds are affected by the deals struck between individual mobile operators on a country-by-country basis. This means roaming speeds can depend on the plan a subscriber has selected in their home country and on what is offered in the country of destination.

Out of the 28 countries we examined, residents of 22 countries experienced slower speeds when roaming elsewhere in Europe than they do in their home countries. Travelers from the Netherlands experience the most significant loss in speed, with a roaming download speed that is 54.7% slower than at home. However, users in Slovakia barely notice a change in download speed with a roaming download speed only 2.6% slower than the mean download speed in Slovakia during this period.

Roaming vs. Local Mobile Download Speeds in Europe
Speedtest® Data | Q3-Q4 2019
Country Local Speeds (Mbps) Roaming Speed Upload (Mbps) % Change
Austria 46.30 35.93 -22.4%
Belgium 50.95 33.38 -34.5%
Bulgaria 55.32 30.95 -44.1%
Croatia 52.40 43.73 -16.6%
Cyprus 43.50 21.04 -51.6%
Czech Republic 47.00 36.37 -22.6%
Denmark 48.38 32.28 -33.3%
Estonia 42.61 43.90 3.0%
Finland 43.38 41.46 -4.4%
France 44.34 34.00 -23.3%
Germany 34.07 30.48 -10.5%
Greece 39.90 45.03 12.9%
Hungary 45.53 29.55 -35.1%
Ireland 26.73 32.05 19.9%
Italy 33.64 40.98 21.8%
Latvia 33.20 38.54 16.1%
Lithuania 46.72 39.73 -15.0%
Luxembourg 52.55 34.61 -34.1%
Malta 48.88 32.30 -33.9%
Netherlands 62.52 28.31 -54.7%
Poland 33.07 25.57 -22.7%
Portugal 34.49 36.34 5.4%
Romania 37.84 33.69 -11.0%
Slovakia 34.74 33.83 -2.6%
Slovenia 39.34 32.67 -16.9%
Spain 34.28 27.56 -19.6%
Sweden 48.52 36.55 -24.7%
United Kingdom 36.36 34.96 -3.8%

Upload speeds locally are also mostly faster than those experienced while roaming. Cyprus, Denmark, and the Netherlands all had relatively high mean upload speeds locally, but they also had the largest loss in roaming upload speeds ranging from 31.3% to 36.7% slower upload speeds on mobile roaming.

Residents of some European countries do benefit from faster speeds when roaming on mobile. Users from Estonia, Portugal, Greece, Latvia, Ireland, and Italy all experienced faster download speeds when roaming elsewhere in Europe than they did in their home countries during Q3-Q4 2019. Italian and Irish travelers gained the most when roaming with download speeds that were 21.8% and 19.9% faster than their local speeds, respectively.

A total of 12 countries had higher mean upload speeds while roaming than they experienced locally during this period. France, Latvia, and Ireland benefitted the most with an increase in upload speeds that ranged from 26.5% to 21.4% while roaming.

Latency increases dramatically while roaming in Europe

Unlike mean download and upload speeds, latency is almost always dramatically different while roaming. This is because roaming signals are routed through a user’s home network, making latency a significant issue for Europeans when traveling.

Local vs. Roaming Latency in Europe
Speedtest® Data | Q3-Q4 2019
Country Local Latency (ms) Roaming Latency (ms) % Change
Austria 26 84 220.4%
Belgium 27 83 205.7%
Bulgaria 27 127 368.3%
Croatia 33 89 166.0%
Cyprus 23 213 825.5%
Czech Republic 26 74 187.6%
Denmark 26 100 287.9%
Estonia 25 76 201.5%
Finland 27 97 254.6%
France 41 82 98.8%
Germany 38 87 128.1%
Greece 29 129 349.8%
Hungary 25 93 272.6%
Ireland 35 100 185.0%
Italy 50 91 81.2%
Latvia 26 95 268.2%
Lithuania 27 107 302.2%
Luxembourg 23 83 262.6%
Malta 19 136 611.6%
Netherlands 28 87 208.3%
Poland 35 109 209.2%
Portugal 30 109 258.8%
Romania 30 113 275.3%
Slovakia 31 76 105.5%
Slovenia 24 74 208.2%
Spain 45 107 137.4%
Sweden 29 118 304.3%
United Kingdom 38 103 173.1%

In their home country, residents of Malta (19 ms), Luxembourg (22 ms) and Cyprus (23 ms) enjoyed the lowest latencies in Europe. Residents of France, Spain and Italy experienced the highest latencies in their home countries at 41 ms, 45 ms and 50 ms, respectively.

European residents experienced an increase of at least 81.2% in their latency when visiting other countries within Europe. Residents from Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria experience the biggest increase in latency when visiting other countries in Europe, ranging from Cyprus’ 825.5% to Bulgaria’s 368.3%. The countries that experienced the smallest increase in latency were Italy (81.2%), France (98.8%) and Germany (128.1%).

Locals spend more time on Wi-Fi than visitors in Europe

While there are no roaming changes within the E.U., users often opt to connect to Wi-Fi to avoid additional data overages at home and abroad. The following table compares the percentage of time spent on Wi-Fi by a resident of a country with that of a visitor to the same country during Q3-Q4 2019.

Percentage of Time Spent on Wi-Fi in Europe
Speedtest® Data | Q3-Q4 2019
Country Local Customers Visitors % Change
Austria 75.5% 40.5% -46.3%
Belgium 77.9% 35.8% -54.1%
Bulgaria 74.0% 60.3% -18.5%
Croatia 74.3% 53.8% -27.5%
Cyprus 79.3% 70.2% -11.5%
Czech Republic 80.1% 46.6% -41.8%
Denmark 78.7% 60.3% -23.4%
Estonia 70.3% 51.9% -26.2%
Finland 63.0% 60.3% -4.4%
France 69.3% 48.7% -29.7%
Germany 80.0% 47.1% -41.1%
Greece 79.3% 64.3% -19.0%
Hungary 76.8% 47.8% -37.8%
Ireland 75.6% 58.9% -22.0%
Italy 70.9% 55.1% -22.2%
Latvia 68.8% 49.2% -28.4%
Lithuania 73.8% 52.2% -29.2%
Luxembourg 72.4% 30.8% -57.4%
Malta 79.4% 65.9% -17.1%
Netherlands 81.8% 49.1% -40.1%
Poland 70.2% 58.2% -17.1%
Portugal 76.5% 61.9% -19.0%
Romania 69.6% 64.1% -7.9%
Slovakia 76.2% 40.1% -47.4%
Slovenia 70.7% 24.7% -65.2%
Spain 78.3% 62.8% -19.7%
Sweden 81.8% 53.8% -34.3%
United Kingdom 79.3% 60.9% -23.1%

As we saw last year, Finnish residents spent the least amount of time on Wi-Fi at 63.0%. Latvia showed the second lowest time spent on Wi-Fi (68.8%), followed by France (69.3%). Residents from the Netherlands, Sweden and the Czech Republic spent the most time on Wi-Fi at 81.8%, 81.8%, and 80.1%, respectively.

Visitors to Cyprus, Malta and Greece spent the most amount of time on Wi-Fi during this period. Time spent on Wi-Fi by visitors ranged from 64.3% in Greece to 70.2% in Cyprus. Visitors to Slovenia, Luxembourg and Belgium as a destination country spent the least amount of time on Wi-Fi at 25.7%, 30.8% and 35.8%, respectively.

Are you interested in more data on roaming performance? Read more here!

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

Maria Gómez

Ookla Research™ Articles
| November 18, 2020

ICYMI: Ookla Data and Research from October 2020

Global Speeds

Highlights from the Speedtest Global IndexTM

Global-Index-Tweet-Image-Oct-2020
These are the top stories from October 2020:

  • Australia is back in the top 5 for mobile for the first time since November 2019.
  • Luxembourg had a substantial rank change on mobile, moving up 11 places. This is likely due to two thirds of Luxembourg’s top providers now providing 5G.
  • The U.S. has finally broken the top thirty on mobile for the first time, coming in at 27th. Again, this is likely due to new 5G developments.
  • With Andorra’s largest fixed broadband provider offering 300 Mbps and 700 Mbps service plans, the country has seen a steady increase in monthly performance since February of this year.
  • Cyprus has seen steady increases in fixed broadband speed over the last few months, with one of the country’s top providers now offering fixed broadband plans up to 300 Mbps. The country now ranks 68th.

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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

Maria Gómez

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 17, 2021

ICYMI: Ookla Data and Research from February 2021

Global Speeds

Highlights from the Speedtest Global IndexTM

Global-Index-Tweet-Image-Feb-2021
These are the top stories from February 2021:

  • There was not a lot of movement in the top 10 for mobile. Canada (11th) was replaced by Bulgaria (10th).
  • For fixed broadband, Cyprus rose 10 ranks to 16th — their highest standing in the last 13 months.
  • Spain and Hungary both rose three spots on fixed broadband, to sixth and seventh, respectively. Both countries have shown steady improvement in fixed download speed over the last 13 months.
  • For the first time in 13 months, Switzerland fell out of the top 10 for fixed broadband (to 11th).

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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

Caitie Phillips

Ookla Research™ Articles
| January 4, 2023

The Speedtest Global Index Shows These Countries Sped Forward for Internet Experience in 2022

Network Performance

Internet connectivity continues to speed ahead for people around the world, especially as countries prioritize and improve mobile and fixed broadband networks. That’s nowhere more apparent than on the Speedtest Global Index™, which tracks countries’ internet speeds and the overall global median internet speeds. Last year, we took a look at the state of the internet speeds over the years, and today we’re back to see how most of 2022 fared from November 2021 to November 2022, and what countries made our top 10 fastest mobile and fixed broadband lists.

Mobile download speed jumped nearly 17% over the last year globally, fixed broadband up at least 28%

Chart of increase in world download speeds from November 2021 through 2022

The improvement of global median download speeds has been somewhat asymmetrical over the past year on the Speedtest Global Index. Fixed broadband speeds made greater strides over the past year than mobile download speeds, with fixed broadband speeds becoming at least 28% faster and mobile becoming nearly 17% faster from November 2021 to November 2022. Gains in upload speed were even more pronounced with mobile becoming at least 9% faster and fixed broadband becoming at least 30% faster. Latency, which is becoming an increasingly important metric, decreased on mobile over the course of the year from 29 ms in 2021 to 28 ms in 2022, while fixed broadband latency remained the same at 10 ms.

Top 10 rankings remain relatively constant over the past year, U.A.E. joins fixed broadband list and Denmark, Macau (SAR), and Brunei race ahead for mobile during 2022

Chile raced ahead on fixed broadband

List of fastest countries for fixed braodband internet from November 2021 through 2022

The competition for the fastest fixed broadband was neck-and-neck on the Speedtest Global Index during 2022, with Chile (216.23 Mbps) taking top honors and China (214.23 Mbps) and Singapore (214.23 Mbps) a hair behind. Over the course of the year, the top 10 countries for fastest fixed broadband remained relatively the same while each country jostled up and down the list for fixed broadband superiority. Only Spain was replaced from the top 10 with the U.A.E. taking its place. Notably, China jumped four places from sixth to second, improving its median download speed from 146.62 Mbps in 2021 to 214.58 Mbps in 2022. Romania’s tenth place finish in 2022 would have earned fourth place in 2021, showing how fast these countries are all prioritizing improved fixed broadband speeds.

Qatar soars to first for fastest mobile country

List of fastest countries for mobile internet from November 2021 through 2022

Ahead of hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022®, Qatar rocketed to first place on the Speedtest Global Index with a median download speed of 176.18 Mbps in November 2022 from 98.10 Mbps in November 2022. Next on the list was the U.A.E. at 139.41 Mbps, which had the fastest median download speed in November 2021. Notably, all 10 countries on our November 2022 list had median mobile download speeds greater than 100 Mbps. New to our 2022 list Denmark (113.44 Mbps), Macau (SAR) (106.38 Mbps), and Brunei (102.36 Mbps) replaced Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, and Kuwait from our 2021 list.

Most of the top 10 countries perform well for fixed and mobile

Chart of 2022 perfromance against global median for leading countries

Out of the 17 countries appearing on either the fastest fixed broadband or mobile Speedtest Global Index top 10s during November 2021 — with China, Denmark, and the U.A.E. appearing on both lists — all but Monaco met the statistical threshold to be included to look at overall fixed and mobile performance. Looking at the remaining 16 countries, most every country on both lists performed relatively well against the global median for both fixed and mobile, which appear as gray lines in the image above. Three countries underperformed a global median: Brunei and Bulgaria for fixed, and Chile for mobile. Thailand performed at about roughly the global median for mobile, as did Romania.

We’re excited to see how global speeds and rankings change over the next year as individual countries and their providers choose to invest and expand different technologies, particularly in 5G and fiber. Be sure to track your country’s and check in on our monthly updates on the Speedtest Global Index. If you want more in-depth analyses and updates, subscribe to Ookla Research™.

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 Performance

About the Author

Josh Fomon

Ookla Research™ Articles
| June 6, 2023

Live Fast, Work Abroad: Countries with Remote Work Visas and Great Internet

Consumer

Taking advantage of remote work in another country is the dream for many. Who hasn’t imagined themselves sipping fresh squeezed juice on a gorgeous tropical beach during a team call, cozying up next to a crackling fire in a European castle while pouring over a spreadsheet, or even just working anywhere that isn’t the office or our home couch? COVID-19 made working remotely more readily an option for some, and 51 countries have even gone so far as to create remote work or “digital nomad” visas. Today, Ookla® brings you fresh data on how these countries’ internet compares so you can start planning a long-term escape from your current reality. 

Using Speedtest Intelligence®, we looked for remote work countries with the fastest internet, tropical countries with remote work visas and fast internet, fastest European countries for remote work, countries where you won’t lose your connection, and seven affordable remote work countries with good internet. Read on to start planning your next life adventure.

Digital nomad countries with seriously fast internet

Chart of Fastest Countries for Remote Work

Getting the fast download speeds you need to do your daily tasks should be the least of your worries when you work abroad. Thailand had the fastest fixed broadband speeds among countries that have remote work visas with a median download speed of 196.20 Mbps and a median upload speed of 164.85 Mbps during Q1 2023. With speeds like those, you’ll be able to eat your Guay Teow while gaming, streaming multiple 4K videos, and uploading videos of your adventures with no issues (and you should be able to work, too). 

Spain (172.04 Mbps) and Romania (171.15 Mbps) were next on our list of fastest remote work destinations, followed by Hungary (134.43 Mbps), Portugal (128.50 Mbps), Taiwan (127.85 Mbps), Norway (111.44 Mbps), Panama (108.84 Mbps), and Brazil (100.38 Mbps), which all had median download speeds over 100 Mbps during Q1 2023. Rounding out our list of fastest remote work countries are Malta (97.55 Mbps) and Bermuda (97.20 Mbps). If speed is of the utmost importance to you while you work and live in another country, rest assured that these countries can handle the bandwidth you need.

Soak up the sun with fast internet in these beachy countries with remote work visas

Chart of Tropical Remote Work Countries with Fast Internet

If you dream of a remote work escape and prefer tropical, sunny beaches where you can sip piña coladas, we’ve got you covered (though don’t forget your sunblock when you venture outside!) Twenty-seven countries have digital nomad visas, average temperatures above 65° F (roughly 18° C), and beach access. Unsurprisingly, Thailand, again takes the top spot with a median download speed of 196.20 Mbps, followed by Taiwan (127.85 Mbps), Panama (108.84 Mbps), Brazil (100.38 Mbps), Malta (97.55 Mbps), Bermuda (97.20 Mbps), Malaysia (92.53 Mbps), Dominica (80.00 Mbps), Barbados (74.21 Mbps), and St. Lucia (71.40 Mbps). Grenada (65.25 Mbps), Costa Rica (65.07 Mbps), and Montserrat (63.22 Mbps) followed closely behind the top 10. 

If you choose to work remotely from one of these countries, we’ll be jealously awaiting you sharing your Speedtest® results on Twitter as you work from the beach, take a dip in the ocean during your break, and relax with a cool ocean breeze as your biggest worry in the world. 

These European countries with remote work visas had the fastest internet speeds

Chart of Internet Speeds in European Countries with Remote Work Visas

Maybe you’ve been watching all the Eurovision or have been dreaming of jetting off to European locations every weekend. Luckily for you, 16 European countries offer some version of a remote work visa. Speedtest Intelligence data reveals that Spain had the fastest median download speed at 172.04 Mbps during Q1 2023. Romania, Hungary, Portugal, and Norway followed with median download speeds above 100 Mbps. Malta (97.55 Mbps), Germany (82.05 Mbps), Latvia (77.76 Mbps), Estonia (64.80 Mbps), and Czechia (55.97 Mbps) rounded out the top 10, with Cyprus (53.71 Mbps) coming up just behind. Regardless of which European country you choose, you’ll be a few hours away from multiple countries with plenty to do and eat! 

10 remote work countries where you won’t lose your connection

Chart of 10 Remote Work Countries with the Most Consistent Internet

You shouldn’t have to stress about your internet connection while you’re working abroad — especially if you have to video chat often. So we used Speedtest Intelligence data to examine the Consistency — calculated by the percentage of results showing at least a 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed over fixed broadband — in countries with remote work visas during Q1 2023. While there was no statistically highest Consistency, Thailand had a Consistency of 89.8%, Romania 89.7%, and Taiwan 89.5%. Norway followed at 87.3%, then Malaysia, Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, Spain, and Bermuda rounding out the top 10. Rest assured if you choose one of these countries, you should be able to stream and video chat while you work. Just remember to mute that movie during your team call.

Seven affordable places with good internet for digital nomads on a budget

Chart of 7 Affordable Remote Work Countries with Good Internet

Internet speed and consistency are important for remote work — but they’re not everything when you’re deciding where you want to spend your next adventure. If you’re looking for an affordable location to spend your time, save some money, and get good internet, we’ve got you covered.

We used thresholds of 50 Mbps download, 10 Mbps upload, and under 100 ms latency to designate a country of having “good” internet — these speed thresholds are minimums to what should allow you to stream in 4K, video chat, and do most work-related tasks. The latency threshold number is high, but cheap, fast internet with super low latency is not common enough. We compared that list against World Bank data for GDP per capita (PPP) from 2021 which adjusts for cost of living, and narrowed down countries that have less than the world average of $18,607. Seven countries qualified for inclusion on our list based on those criteria: Barbados, Brazil, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Montserrat, and St. Lucia. 

Brazil had the fastest download speed at 100.38 Mbps on our affordable countries for remote work list, followed by Dominica (80.00 Mbps), Barbados (74.21 Mbps), St. Lucia (71.40 Mbps), Grenada (65.25 Mbps), Montserrat (63.22 Mbps), and Ecuador, which eked out a place on this list at 50.55 Mbps. Every country on this list had a median upload speed above 20 Mbps. All of the countries had a Consistency higher than 70%, except St. Lucia, which was just under at 68.3%. If latency, which causes the kind of lag that can make video calls frustrating, is a major concern, only Ecuador (14 ms) and Brazil (18 ms) had latencies under 20 ms. 

Regardless of where you choose to work remotely among these seven countries, you should have access to internet that can keep you on top of what you need to do at work, while you save some cash, live well, and hit the beach, since all of these countries have average temperatures above 70° F (21°C). You might just have to brush up on your Spanish, Creole, Patois, or Portuguese to really get an immersive experience, but you should sleep easy knowing that you can live well and continue to work online.

What do you need to know before applying for a remote work visa?

Currently, there are 51 countries that offer some form of a remote work visa. The requirements for these visas vary widely across each country, but generally there are a few key things you’ll need to know before you choose a country to apply to.

First, you need to decide where you are going! Besides checking internet performance, you’ll want to research how long a remote visa can last, how much money you are going to have to earn to qualify, what costs you’ll be looking at, options to renew the visa, and what kind of fees you’ll need to pay along the way. At a minimum, you’ll need a passport.

You often can’t just show up and start working remotely; for a long-term stay, you’ll need to apply for a visa (along with any family members you might want to bring along). Approval isn’t straightforward — you may need to prove your income, translate documents, get documents notarized, and even make a minimum amount of money each month. Once approved, you’ll typically pay a fee for each family member you are bringing, and you should make certain if you have any additional fees or taxes you’ll be liable to pay throughout your stay.

Once you have your visa in order, you’ll need to figure out your living situation — whether that is something longer term, or moving around a country, you’ll want to keep any requirements of your visa up to date. Do your due diligence while you apply so you don’t find yourself in an unpredictable situation you could have avoided.

Ookla has the resources you need to plan your remote work trip

We hope this short guide will help you choose the right remote work experience to help you feel fulfilled. If you want to learn more about the internet experience in any of the countries we mentioned, or even find city data or internet provider data for your remote work journey, check out the Speedtest Performance Directory™. If you’re struggling to find a decent internet provider in your area, check out our satellite internet series to see if there is a fast satellite internet connection available. And don’t forget to download the Speedtest app for Mac, Windows, or Linux to make sure you’re getting the speeds you need to continue working remotely!

Interested in what Ookla is doing? We offer fully remote positions around the world, so check out if there is an open role for you!

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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Bermuda
Montserrat

About the Author

Josh Fomon

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 8, 2021

Despite All Odds, Global Internet Speeds Continue Impressive Increase

Global Speeds


“A lot has changed” we wrote in our 2019 global roundup of internet speeds based on the Speedtest Global Index™. Little did we know how much was about to change. But two things remain the same: the internet is getting faster and the Speedtest Global Index is still a fantastic resource for tracking improvements on a global and country level (if we do say so ourselves). Today we’re taking a look back at how much internet speeds have increased over the past four years and which countries have seen some of the largest gains.

Mobile download speed jumped 59.5% over the last year globally, fixed broadband up 31.9%

The global mean of download speeds improved over the last 12 months on both mobile and fixed broadband to 55.07 Mbps and 107.50 Mbps, respectively, in July 2021. Mobile saw an increase of 59.5% when comparing July 2020 to July 2021 and fixed broadband saw an increase of 31.9%, according to the Speedtest Global Index.

ookla_global-index_world-speeds_0921-1

Looking further back, mean download speed over mobile was 98.9% faster in July 2021 than in July 2019, 141.4% faster when comparing July 2021 to July 2018, and 194.0% faster when comparing July 2021 to June 2017, the month we began tracking speeds on the Speedtest Global Index. Over the last two years there were only two months when the global average for mobile download speed did not show an upward slope: February and March 2020. Speeds began increasing again in April 2020, but did not recover to pre-February levels until May 2020. This coincides with initial lockdowns due to COVID-19 in many countries.

On fixed broadband, mean download speed was 68.2% faster in July 2021 than in July 2019, 131.3% faster in July 2021 than in July 2018, and 196.1% faster in July 2021 than in June 2017. There was a similar dip in download speed over fixed broadband in March of 2020 as we saw on mobile. The speed increased again in April 2020 but did not recover to a pre-March level until April 2020.

Top 10 rankings are somewhat constant over three years, U.S. and Canada slip off in 2021

There has been surprising parity of which countries continue to occupy the top 10 spots on the Speedtest Global Index in July of each year. However, the lists for mobile and fixed broadband are radically different, with only one country (South Korea) showing up on both lists in 2021.

ookla_fastest-countries_mobile_0921

The United Arab Emirates and South Korea maintain their first and second place rankings for mobile in both 2020 and 2021 and China and Qatar merely flip-flop for third and fourth place. It’s interesting to see Australia and Canada decline in the rankings although their speeds have increased dramatically during the past three years. 5G is shifting mobile rankings where even countries with 5G (which few countries had in 2019) need a strong 5G focus to maintain their presence at the top of the list lest they be outpaced by other countries with larger investments in 5G.

ookla_fastest-countries_fixed_0921

The fixed broadband rankings are more dynamic than those on mobile. Monaco traveled up and down the top 10 from sixth place in 2019 to 10th in 2020 to first place in 2021. Singapore ranked first or second in all three years and Hong Kong (SAR) was in the top four. Romania was solidly in fifth place while South Korea dropped lower in the ranking every year. Chile and Denmark both debuted in the top 10 in 2021 and the United States dropped off the list.

Most of the top 10 countries perform well for fixed and mobile

We were curious to see if countries that made the top 10 in July 2021 for either mobile or fixed broadband were also performing well on the other medium, so we plotted the percentage difference from the global average for mobile download speed against download speed on fixed broadband. Note that the global average increased between 2020 and 2021 and that Liechtenstein and Monaco are not included in this comparison as they did not have sufficient samples to be listed on both axes.

2020/2021 chart of leading country performance again global averages

Most countries that made the top 10 in July 2021 for either mobile or fixed broadband were performing well over the global average for both at that point in time. South Korea and the U.A.E. stood out with mean mobile download speeds that were more than 240% faster than the global average and fixed broadband downloads that were more than 70% faster than the global average. China’s mobile download speed was more than 180% faster than the global average and the country was more than 70% faster than the global average for fixed broadband. Switzerland’s mobile and fixed broadband download speeds were close to 100% faster than the global average.

Chile and Thailand are in a quadrant that shows both had faster than average fixed broadband download speeds, but their mobile download speeds were slower than the global average in July 2021. Australia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Saudi Arabia were in the opposite quadrant with faster than average mobile speeds and below average fixed broadband speeds.

Comparing the chart for July 2021 to that of July 2020, we saw a wide variety of outcomes. Countries with increases compared to the global average on mobile and fixed broadband included Australia, Cyprus, Denmark, Hong Kong, Romania and the U.A.E. Chile and Norway showed dramatic increases compared to the global average on fixed broadband and declines on mobile. Bulgaria, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland increased on mobile but showed little change on fixed. South Korea and Qatar increased on mobile compared to the global average and declined on fixed. Singapore and Thailand declined on both mobile and fixed broadband compared to the global average.

We’re interested to see how global speeds and rankings change over time as individual countries and their providers choose to invest in different technologies. Track your country’s performance using monthly updates on the Speedtest Global Index. Check the Ookla 5G Map™ for up-to-date information on 5G deployments where you live, and if you want more in-depth analyses, subscribe to Ookla Research™.

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
| April 17, 2018

EU Roaming is Free! But is it Fast?

Global Speeds

When the European Commission put an end to roaming charges within the European Union (EU) last summer, they gave residents of member countries the freedom to take their mobile phones with them on vacation without fearing the bill when they got home. But how well are those phones performing when faced with foreign cell towers?

To find out, we took a look at Speedtest data from the first quarter of 2018 to see which countries’ residents are having the best (and worst) internet speed experiences abroad.

How much download speeds drop when you cross a border

The mean download speed in the EU when customers are at home is 30.57 Mbps, but that slows 16.6% to 25.50 Mbps when Europeans roam across a border.

Because your experience of speeds abroad is going to be based on what you’re used to, we compared countries based on the amount download speeds decreased rather than the actual speed abroad. Italians enjoyed a 15.4% increase in download speed when traveling. Estonians, Latvians and the Portuguese also saw faster downloads abroad.

Mobile Download Speeds
EU Countries | Q1 2018
Country Local (Mbps) Roaming (Mbps) % Change
Austria 31.62 28.66 -9.4%
Belgium 44.56 26.00 -41.7%
Bulgaria 35.71 22.31 -37.5%
Croatia 34.75 31.36 -9.8%
Cyprus 25.34 23.40 -7.7%
Czech Republic 38.30 25.78 -32.7%
Denmark 42.55 22.40 -47.4%
Estonia 31.98 34.24 7.1%
Finland 32.68 29.99 -8.2%
France 32.35 24.47 -24.4%
Germany 26.03 26.00 -0.1%
Greece 34.48 28.40 -17.6%
Hungary 46.10 26.01 -43.6%
Ireland 19.98 19.00 -4.9%
Italy 30.32 34.98 15.4%
Latvia 27.37 28.97 5.8%
Lithuania 36.80 28.28 -23.2%
Luxembourg 42.43 22.46 -47.1%
Malta 42.14 25.05 -40.6%
Netherlands 53.07 25.46 -52.0%
Poland 22.05 20.29 -8.0%
Portugal 26.45 27.44 3.7%
Romania 28.74 21.95 -23.6%
Slovakia 28.79 23.73 -17.6%
Slovenia 28.42 27.15 -4.5%
Spain 31.94 24.32 -23.9%
Sweden 38.23 26.13 -31.7%
United Kingdom 26.16 21.08 -19.4%

On the other end of the spectrum, Dutch travelers experienced a 52% decrease in download speed when using mobile phones elsewhere in the EU. Residents of Denmark, Luxembourg, Hungary, Belgium and Malta all saw decreases of more than 40% when roaming.

In some cases, the decrease in download speed is due to the country’s relative speed. For example, the Netherlands has recently had the third fastest mobile speeds in the world according to the Speedtest Global Index so its residents are likely to see much slower speeds when traveling anywhere but Norway and Iceland. Other differences are probably better explained by how carriers prioritize out of country traffic, a decision that’s made between each individual carrier in each individual country.

Slow or not, at least roaming no longer comes with extra fees for EU residents. Unless you’re British, of course. With Brexit looming, not only could citizens of the UK have to return to paying roaming fees, the download speed they’ll be paying for abroad will be 19.4% slower than it is at home.

Again, a lot of factors go into what speeds you experience while roaming the continent. We hope this data will help you make an informed choice about your carrier depending on what your roaming data needs are. Share your experience by taking a Speedtest on Android or iOS. 

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 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.

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