Affandy Johan | July 24, 2023

5G in Asia Pacific: Deployment Momentum Continues

The Asia Pacific region has successfully implemented 5G technology despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, global economy, and geopolitical climate. South Korea, China, and Japan have led the way in 5G network deployment. With the continued rollout of 5G networks in other regional markets, Asia Pacific is on track to become the largest 5G market globally.

Key messages

Advanced Asia Pacific markets have taken the lead in the 5G rollout. Countries such as South Korea, Australia, and China, were among the first in the world to launch commercial 5G networks as more markets joined the ranks.
5G performance outranks Europe. Early adopters in the Asia Pacific region have outperformed major European markets in terms of 5G performance. This is mainly due to factors like early spectrum availability and supportive government policies.
5G Availability varies. The region experiences varying levels of 5G Availability and adoption due to factors like population density, device affordability, and tariffs.
Seoul and Kuala Lumpur are the top cities for 5G performance, boasting median download speeds of 533.95 Mbps and 523.44 Mbps, respectively.
5G helps to narrow the digital divide. 5G FWA is a viable alternative to traditional fixed broadband to narrow down the digital divide in the region

South Korea sets the pace as 5G networks expand across the region

Many of the more advanced markets in the Asia Pacific have been the frontrunners in terms of 5G rollout. South Korea was the first market in the world to deploy a nationwide 5G network in April 2019, followed by Australia, the Philippines, China, and New Zealand later that year. As predicted by GSMA Intelligence, the recent second wave of 5G rollouts in the region in countries such as Indonesia, India, and Malaysia will see Asia Pacific becoming one of the largest 5G markets in the world by 2025.

Allocation of spectrum resources is crucial

In our recent spectrum analysis, we discussed how important spectrum is for the performance and coverage of 5G. In general, regulators in the Asia Pacific region have been quick to allocate spectrum for 5G applications, and in many cases, operators have been able to secure substantial bandwidth in the key C-band.

The mid-band spectrum is the most frequently awarded spectrum band in the Asia Pacific region. It is the top choice for commercial 5G deployment because it balances 5G coverage and capacity. In some markets, 5G deployment uses low-band (sub 1 GHz) frequencies, allowing for wider outdoor 5G coverage and better penetration inside buildings in urban and suburban areas. However, this may come at the expense of the median download speed, which typically peaks at around 100 Mbps.

For some markets, 5G spectrum awards are subject to strict milestones and requirements. Operators in South Korea were required to have 22,500 base stations by the end of 2021, 45,000 by the end of 2023, and 150,000 base stations upon completion of their 3.5 GHz spectrum rollout. Additionally, within three years, there were required to install 15,000 base stations utilizing 28 GHz. However, a review by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) found that all mobile operators met the minimum requirements for the 3.5GHz spectrum but not the 28GHz spectrum. Consequently, the ministry has withdrawn all operators’ spectrum licenses in the 28GHz band. In our recent mmWave analysis, we thoroughly covered the performance and progress inherent in that spectrum band.

Asia Pacific outpaced major European markets in terms of 5G performance

While Europe and the Asia Pacific markets share similarities such as large cultural diversity, customers with varying demographics, and mixed regulations and policies, our recent analysis of European 5G performance revealed that early 5G adopters in the Asia Pacific region performed better than some major European markets.

According to Speedtest Intelligence® H1 2023 data, several markets in the Asia Pacific region had faster median download performance compared to the top five European economies. Malaysia and South Korea led the pack with speeds of over 500 Mbps, with Malaysia reporting a median download performance of 512.10 Mbps, and South Korea at 503.99 Mbps – an impressive accomplishment for Malaysia, which launched 5G 3.5 years after South Korea and has caught up to them in performance. Both countries have notable differences in terms of their telecommunications landscapes. The Malaysian government went with a nationwide single wholesale network (SWN) approach as its 5G deployment plan. Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) was established in 2021 to construct and operate the 5G network infrastructure and provide 5G services to mobile network operators at wholesale prices. South Korea has long been at the forefront of mobile technology and boasts one of the highest internet penetration rates globally. As a result of its early commitment to 5G development, South Korea became the first market in the world to launch a commercial 5G network.

During the same period, Singapore, India, New Zealand, China, and Australia achieved a median 5G download speed exceeding 200 Mbps. In comparison, only France recorded speeds above 200 Mbps among the European countries mentioned, while Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, and Spain, recorded median download speeds below 150 Mbps.

5G Availability and adoption vary across the region

5G Availability (the percentage of users on 5G-capable devices that spend most of the time with access to 5G networks) varied widely across the Asia Pacific region during H1 2023. Factors such as access to low-band spectrum and affordability and availability of 5G devices influence each market’s reported 5G Availability. Analysis based on data from Speedtest Intelligence shows that Hong Kong stands out as the only country analyzed to have surpassed 40% 5G Availability, reaching 42.3% in H1 2023. Part of the reason is the city’s high population density, 5G coverage that reaches over 90% of the population, and a high 5G smartphone penetration rate, which Counterpoint Research reported as 78% in Q1 of 2023.

Despite Australia being 78 times larger than South Korea, and being one of the least densely populated countries, both countries reported similar 5G Availability rates, at around 36.6%. Counterpoint Research reported a 5G smartphone penetration rate of more than 80% for both countries, with South Korea at 88% and Australia at 82%. Across the European markets, France, Spain, Germany, and the U.K. ranged between 20%-30%. Similarly, Thailand also falls within this range at 26.8%.

Based on Q2 2023 data from GSMA Intelligence, South Korea, China, and Japan led in 5G adoption, measured as the percentage of 5G connections compared to total connections, higher than the selected European markets looked at in this report. South Korea had a total of 31.3 million 5G connections, which accounted for more than 48% of all mobile connections in the country, while China boasts over 700 million 5G connections, equivalent to 41% of connections. Other early adopters of 5G in the region, such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia, have all seen a considerable rise in their total 5G connections from the previous year. Japan experienced a 76% increase of 5G connections between Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, to 60.8 million connections. Hong Kong increased by 65% to 4.8 million, and Australia had 8.8 million connections, up by almost 40% during the same period of time.

Seoul and Kuala Lumpur are the top cities in the Asia Pacific region for 5G speeds.

Given that both Malaysia and South Korea are ahead in 5G performance among their peers, it is unsurprising that their capital cities came first as well in the ranking of selected cities. In H1 2023, Seoul had a median download speed of 533.95 Mbps, while Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, reported a median download speed of 523.44 Mbps. Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), Malaysia’s designated 5G wholesale provider, reported 90% 5G coverage of populated areas (COPA) throughout Kuala Lumpur at the end of 2022.

Despite being one of the latest markets to launch 5G, the Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai performed well in the cities’ speeds ranking. Both cities reported median download speeds of over 300 Mbps in H1 2023, with Delhi at 357.43 Mbps and Mumbai at 319.45 Mbps. While Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, and Delhi have shown 5G performance comparable to or even exceeding those of well-established 5G markets in the region, their 5G networks are still relatively new. As a result, these cities have lower 5G Availability than others as anticipated.

Metro Manila, with one-third of the population of the Philippines, had the lowest median download speed among all the cities in this report for H1 2023, with a speed of 135.51 Mbps. During the same period, Metro Manila reported a 5G availability rate of 35.7%, slightly lower than Seoul (35.9%) and Sydney (39.2%).

Breaking the digital divide with 5G FWA

The benefits of 5G go beyond the faster speeds compared to 4G. It also plays a role in bringing connectivity to underserved areas. Although developed markets in the Asia Pacific are leading in ultra-fast, fixed fiber broadband, there is still a portion of the region where internet connectivity is expensive, unavailable, or insufficient. Many people in these underserved regions rely on mobile devices to access the internet. According to GSMA Intelligence, mobile broadband networks are accessible to more than 96% of the population, making it the primary option for internet access in many households.

In some markets, mobile operators see 5G, particularly 5G fixed-wireless access (FWA) services, as a viable alternative to traditional fixed broadband. While FWA is not a new concept, the use of 5G technology is expected to accelerate its growth, especially in areas where it is not economically feasible to deploy high-speed fixed broadband networks. According to GSMA Intelligence, nearly three in five users who either have upgraded or plan to upgrade to 5G find the idea of using 5G for home broadband appealing. FWA is becoming one of the operators’ primary 5G use cases, providing an opportunity to increase revenue and monetize network investments and wireless spectrum.

The Asia-Pacific region is seeing a rise in the adoption of 5G FWA, with Southeast Asia leading the way. In 2019, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, became the first country in the region to launch FWA. Other regional operators, such as Telkomsel in Indonesia and AIS in Thailand, have also begun offering FWA services. In New Zealand, operators plan to provide FWA coverage to 90% of the population by the end of 2023.

While 5G FWA shows promising growth potential, operators need to ensure that as 5G adoption in the network increases, they have the capacity to support their FWA services and the spectrum to guarantee quality. When the demand for 5G FWA service grows, operators may have to look at utilizing the mmWave spectrum to maintain the quality of their FWA services while keeping network capacity intact.

We will keep a close eye on the progress and effectiveness of 5G implementation throughout the Asia Pacific region. If you are interested in benchmarking your performance or if you’d like to learn more about internet speeds and performance in other markets around the world, visit 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.

About the Author

Affandy Johan

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Affandy Johan | October 12, 2023

Transforming Connectivity with 5G in The Greater Bay Area

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China refers to the integrated city cluster in the Pearl River Delta of South China. Sometimes considered China’s Silicon Valley, it has emerged as one of the most economically developed regions in China, and as such has been at the forefront of its 5G rollout plans.

In this report, we will examine the 5G performance across the Greater Bay Area. We benchmark the results among the eleven cities in the area, focusing in particular on the four major cities of Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen.

Key takeaways

The Greater Bay Area’s 5G growth is supported by policies and initiatives promoting 5G technology. The Greater Bay Area 5G Industry Alliance and network-sharing agreements are initiatives that foster collaboration among industry stakeholders, while also boosting deployment efficiency. Additionally, subsidy programs further encourage 5G expansion in the GBA.
It is still early days for Macau, but the city’s 5G network has the fastest median download speed in the Greater Bay Area at 383.59 Mbps, while early adopter Hong Kong lags behind with a median download speed of 136.65 Mbps.
Improved integration between cities in the Greater Bay Area. Efforts to improve 5G infrastructure and connectivity between cities in the Greater Bay Area result in better coverage in highly populated areas and increased coverage along major connecting roads. Coverage plots show significantly more SS-RSRP samples of better than -92 dBm in Q2 2023 as compared to the previous year.
Operators have made strides in expanding 5G coverage within indoor settings. In under a year, over half (51.8%) of Macau’s buildings have reported indoor 5G coverage. Shenzhen (81.5%), Guangzhou (68.2%), and Hong Kong (63.2%) have also seen an increase in the number of buildings with 5G coverage in Q2 2023 compared to the previous year.

Coordinated initiatives and policies driving 5G deployment

The Greater Bay Area encompasses nine cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing, as well as two Special Administrative Regions, Hong Kong, and Macau. With a population of 87 million, the region’s combined gross domestic product (GDP) was nearly US$2 trillion in 2022, accounting for almost 11% of China’s GDP.

5G technology is integral to China’s government vision and technology policies. The technology is a big part of the country’s development policy and goals for 2021 – 2025, as detailed in its 14th Five-Year Plan for National Plan. Benefiting from the central government policy, the Greater Bay Area has emerged as a thriving hub for established and emerging tech companies and startups.

Given this dynamic, federal, and local governments are actively promoting 5G technology within the Greater Bay Area. One example is the establishment of the Greater Bay Area 5G Industry Alliance in 2019 by China Mobile Hong Kong, China Mobile Guangdong, CTM, and the Guangdong Communication Industry Association. The alliance members consist of operators, leading companies in the industry, social organizations, academic researchers, and enterprises involved in 5G technology. Their primary goal is to enhance and encourage the development of 5G industries among stakeholders and operators in the GBA region.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in China also facilitated sharing of 5G networks and encouraged commercial partnerships among 5G operators. As a result, China Unicom and China Telecom have signed a cooperation agreement to share their 5G infrastructure. Providing subsidies is also a common tactic regulators and governments use to encourage 5G deployment. In Hong Kong, for example, from May 2020 till the end of December 2022, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) ran a subsidy scheme to encourage various sectors, through financial incentives, to deploy 5G technology.

As a result, the GBA has witnessed significant investments and a rapid rollout of 5G infrastructure. By 2021, all cities in the region have launched 5G networks, with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong leading the way.

Macau’s early 5G performance impresses

According to Speedtest Intelligence® Q2 2023 data, Macau outpaced all the other cities in the Greater Bay Area on median download speed, being the only city that topped 300 Mbps at 383.59 Mbps. Despite being the most recent city in GBA to launch its 5G network, operators in Macau began deploying as early as 2020, ahead of being granted their 5G licenses in November of 2022. CTM, one of the providers, stated that their 5G network has been fully operational since June 2021. Macau’s regulatory body, the Macau Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT), also mandated as part of the 5G license award that operators must cover 50% of the territory within the first year and provide full coverage within 18 months.

Within Guangdong Province, the nine cities have reported median download speeds ranging from 188 Mbps to 255 Mbps in Q2 2023. The cities of Zhaoqing and Zhongshan are the only cities in the province to report speeds of over 250 Mbps. Zhaoqing has a speed of 254.17 Mbps, while Zhongshan reports a speed of 251.13 Mbps.

Despite being an early adopter of 5G, Hong Kong’s median download speed of 136.65 Mbps in Q2 2023 falls behind the other cities in the GBA. One factor contributing to the lower median download speed is a preference for low bands to fulfill coverage obligations. CMHK, for example, has been deploying its 700 MHz 5G spectrum, enabling better indoor penetration and broader 5G coverage at the expense of median download speed.

Macau operators rank highest for 5G performance in the Greater Bay Area

In this section, we drill down into the operators’ 5G performance in the major cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau to understand which operators are driving 5G performance in these cities. Speedtest Intelligence data shows considerable variation in the median 5G download speeds across these four cities.

As with any new launches, it is not surprising that the operators in Macau rank higher in terms of performance than those in the other three cities. During Q2 2023, China Telecom in Macau reported a median download performance of 418.13 Mbps, while CTM Macau achieved 374.51 Mbps during the same period. While operators in Macau continue to invest in 5G solutions, it’s worth noting that users could see 5G speeds decline after more and more users join and congestion ticks up.

On the other end of the chart, SmarTone, csl, and Hutchinson in Hong Kong reported speeds of 153.62 Mbps, 122.15 Mbps, and 105.34 Mbps respectively. CMHK tops the 5G operators in Hong Kong with a recorded median download speed of 166.41 Mbps in Q2 2023. Although reporting comparatively slower speeds than its neighboring cities, the number of 5G users in Hong Kong exceeded four million in April 2023, representing over 60% of the population.

Low latency comes to the fore with 5G

China remains one of the biggest gaming markets globally, with three in ten (29%) Chinese consumers claiming to spend most of their time gaming each week. 5G technology is expected to revolutionize how gamers connect to the internet by providing a much more reliable connection as more casual and serious gamers adopt mobile gaming. This has created a demand for low-latency network connections so gamers can enjoy seamless and lag-free mobile gameplay. Latency, or the reaction time of a connection, is a crucial metric for achieving optimal performance in technologies like gaming, video conferencing, and AR/VR. Aiming for a latency of 59 ms or less is recommended for the best gaming experience.

During Q2 2023, gamers in Macau and Hong Kong experienced significantly lower median latency on 5G, with both cities registering latency below 30 ms. Macau emerged ahead with a median latency of 18.22 ms, whereas Hong Kong reported a median latency of 25.97 ms.

On the other hand, GBA cities in Guangdong Province reported a 5G median latency of over 60 ms during the same time frame. It’s worth noting that approximately 80% of tests conducted in Guangdong Province utilized servers based in Hong Kong and Macau, which influenced the higher latency results in these cities.

While gaming is usually top of mind when we talk about latency, having a low-latency network also plays a crucial role in driving digital transformation and achieving high levels of automation and responsiveness in key industries, such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hospital (CUHK) has partnered with Huawei Hong Kong to establish a 5G smart hospital. CUHKMC is utilizing the high throughput and low latency capabilities of 5G technology to facilitate innovative medical digital transformation. These include remote consultations and collaboration, telemedicine, and other applications to enhance patient treatment experience.

Boosting Cross-Border Connectivity

The Chinese government has implemented several measures to enhance the integration of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Macau, along with the seven other cities in Guangdong Province. To encourage greater mobility across the Greater Bay Area, operators in the region are enhancing infrastructure by building more 5G sites and creating data plans that can be used while roaming within the GBA, reducing cross-border roaming expenses.

Comparing the 5G signal strength using the SS-RSRP metric from Ookla® Cell Analytics™ between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023, shows improvements in terms of 5G coverage in heavily populated areas of the region. The plot indicates significantly more samples along arterial routes connecting the main cities in Q2 2023, with more recorded samples with SS-RSRP of more than -92 dBm.

Image of Ookla® Cell Analytics™, Greater Bay Area 5G Signal Strength (SS-RSRP) comparison between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023

Similar effort on expanding 5G indoor coverage

With 70 to 80 percent of data traffic projected to be generated indoors, improving indoor coverage and user experience has become a priority, especially in highly dense cities such as those within the Greater Bay Area. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a 5G spectrum license to China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Broadnet to share the 3.3–3.4 GHz band as part of an effort to prioritize 5G indoor coverage. There has also been a significant drive by mobile operators in the GBA to extend 5G coverage to be readily available in public transport infrastructures. In Hong Kong, csl provides 5G network coverage along the MTR lines, with dedicated 5G spectrum on some routes.

We analyzed data from Ookla® Cell Analytics™ to compare the percentage of buildings in Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou with reported 5G coverage in Q2 2022 and Q2 2023. Deployment of 5G primarily uses high-frequency spectrums, which poses challenges for indoor penetration. In this analysis, we have only considered buildings taller than 10 meters as they are more likely to be high-rise buildings with in-building solutions such as distributed antenna systems (DAS) or served by sites nearby.

Macau, which did not have any commercial 5G network a year prior, undeniably has the most significant increase in the percentage of buildings with 5G coverage over the past year. The operators in the city have managed to provide 5G coverage to more than 50% (51.8%) of the city’s buildings in less than a year.

Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong also saw increased buildings with reported 5G coverage. Shenzhen and Guangzhou had 81.5% and 68.2% of buildings with reported 5G coverage in Q2 2023, respectively, equating to an 18.2% and 17.4% increase from the previous year. Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, reported a total of 63.2 % of buildings with 5G indoor coverage in Q 2023, an increase from 55.5 % a year before. Operators’ use of sub-1 GHz frequencies in 5G deployment is one of the contributing factors to the reported increase in in-building 5G coverage.

The outlook for the Greater Bay Area

The Greater Bay Area has embraced 5G technology, unlocking its potential to revolutionize various industries and drive automation and digitalization, and will continue to be a key driver of China’s economic growth. The region’s 5G network infrastructure has brought transformative opportunities across diverse sectors. However, there are still improvements to be made in terms of in-building coverage and implementation of more advanced 5G use cases. We will closely monitor the progress and implementation of 5G technology within the Greater Bay Area. If you are interested in benchmarking your performance or want to learn more about internet speeds and performance in other markets worldwide, visit the Speedtest Intelligence®.

About the Author

Affandy Johan

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Ookla | April 18, 2022

Speedtest Global Index Market Analyses Now Available for 43 Countries

Speedtest Global Index™ Market Analyses from Ookla® identify key data about internet performance in countries across the world. This quarter we’ve provided updated analyses for 44 markets that include details on fastest mobile and fixed broadband providers, performance of most popular devices and chipsets and internet speeds in cities. Click a country on the list below to see highlights or scroll through the article to learn what Speedtest Intelligence® revealed in all 43 markets:

Africa and the Middle East

Asia and Oceania

Europe

North and South America

Africa and the Middle East

Côte d’Ivoire

Speedtest Intelligence revealed mobile provider MTN had the fastest median download speed (15.71 Mbps) and Consistency Score^™ (71.1%) in Côte d’Ivoire during Q1 2022.
There was no statistical winner for fastest fixed broadband provider in Côte d’Ivoire during Q1 2022, though Orange had a median download speed of 33.65 Mbps and CANALBOX had a median download speed of 33.35 Mbps.

Jordan

Speedtest Intelligence found Umniah was the fastest mobile operator in Jordan during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 30.42 Mbps.
Fixed broadband provider Orange held the fastest median download speed in Jordan at 78.08 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Kenya

Mobile operator Safaricom had the fastest median mobile download speed at 20.49 Mbps in Kenya during Q1 2022.
For fixed broadband, Faiba had the fastest median download speed (24.64 Mbps) and Consistency Score (49.8%) in Kenya during Q1 2022.

Libya

Speedtest Intelligence reveals that mobile operator Libyana had the fastest median mobile download speed in Libya at 12.54 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Among top fixed broadband providers, AWAL Telecom had the fastest median download speed in Libya at 20.02 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Nigeria

Fixed broadband provider ipNX had the fastest median download speed (21.34 Mbps) and highest Consistency Score (45.9%) in Nigeria during Q1 2022.
There was no statistical winner for fastest top mobile operator in Nigeria during Q1 2022, though Airtel and MTN led the way at 22.42 Mbps and 21.71 Mbps, respectively.

South Africa

Speedtest Intelligence shows Cool Ideas had the fastest fixed broadband median download speed (46.05 Mbps) and highest Consistency Score (73.2%) in South Africa during Q1 2022.
MTN had the fastest median 5G download speed in South Africa at 213.37 Mbps during Q1 2022, much faster than Vodacom (132.11 Mbps).
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra dominated for fastest popular device in South Africa during Q1 2022 and achieved a median download speed of 105.21 Mbps. The Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max followed at 82.23 Mbps.

Tanzania

Among top mobile operators in Tanzania, Halotel had the fastest median download speed (17.84 Mbps) and highest Consistency Score (80.1%) during Q1 2022.
Mwanza had the fastest median mobile download speed among Tanzania’s most populous cities at 13.76 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Turkey

Speedtest Intelligence reveals mobile provider Turkcell had the fastest median download speed and highest Consistency Score in Turkey at 53.77 Mbps and 92.7%, respectively, during Q1 2022.
For fixed broadband in Turkey, TurkNet had the highest median download speed (47.43 Mbps) and Consistency Score (76.8%) during Q1 2022.

Asia and Oceania

China

According to Speedtest Intelligence, China Telecom was the fastest fixed broadband provider in China with a median download speed of 146.70 Mbps during Q1 2022.
During Q1 2022, China Mobile achieved the fastest median 5G download speed at 300.96 Mbps, ahead of China Telecom (296.97 Mbps) and China Unicom (280.62 Mbps).
Among top device manufacturers, Huawei had the fastest median download speed in China at 108.94 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Hong Kong (SAR)

China Mobile Hong Kong was the fastest mobile operator in Hong Kong, achieving a median download speed of 66.11 Mbps during Q1 2022.
China Mobile Hong Kong also showed the fastest 5G download speed, achieving a median speed of 172.19 Mbps during Q1 2022. Mobile provider 3 followed at 155.81 Mbps.

New Zealand

Vodafone was the fastest mobile operator in New Zealand during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 59.65 Mbps.
2degrees blazed ahead with the fastest median 5G download speed in New Zealand at 479.71 Mbps during Q1 2022, beating out Vodafone (342.45 Mbps) and Spark (307.21 Mbps).
For fixed broadband, MyRepublic achieved the fastest median download speed in New Zealand at 217.66 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Philippines

During Q1 2022, Smart had the fastest median download speed (24.07 Mbps) among top mobile operators in the Philippines.
Smart also had the fastest median 5G download speed in the Philippines during Q1 2022 at 200.43 Mbps.
Caloocan took the top spot for fastest median mobile download speed among the Philippines’ most populous cities at 25.71 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Singapore

Speedtest Intelligence shows Singtel was the fastest top mobile operator in Singapore with a median download speed of 93.00 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Singtel blazed ahead of the competition for fastest median 5G download speed in Singapore at 360.31 Mbps during Q1 2022 — a strong rise over its median 5G download speed of 289.01 Mbps during Q4 2021.

Taiwan

During Q1 2022, Chunghwa Telecom had the fastest median 5G download speed in Taiwan at 415.45 Mbps. FarEasTone followed at 310.83 Mbps.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 had the fastest median download speed among popular chipsets in Taiwan at 162.51 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Thailand

Speedtest Intelligence revealed that AIS had the fastest median download speed on mobile in Thailand at 43.52 Mbps during Q1 2022, beating out TrueMove H and dtac.
AIS also had the fastest median 5G download speed in Thailand during Q1 2022 at 261.19 Mbps, followed by TrueMove H and dtac.

Vietnam

Vinaphone was Vietnam’s fastest mobile operator during Q1 2022, reaching a median mobile download speed of 42.43 Mbps, just faster than Viettel (40.61 Mbps).
Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro had the fastest median download speed among popular devices in Vietnam at 70.91 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Europe

Austria

Magenta took the top spot as Austria’s fastest fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 154.44 Mbps during Q1 2022. LIWEST was the closest competitor (88.75 Mbps).
A1 was the fastest mobile provider in Austria during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 69.80 Mbps. Operator 3 followed at 53.73 Mbps.

Belgium

Telenet decisively claimed its spot as Belgium’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 129.18 Mbps. VOO followed at 109.76 Mbps.
Among mobile operators, Telenet/BASE had the fastest median download speed at 66.92 Mbps.

Czechia

Speedtest Intelligence reveals T-Mobile was Czechia’s fastest mobile provider during Q1 2022, recording a median download speed of 55.63 Mbps.
Vodafone was Czechia’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 89.23 Mbps.

Denmark

Fastspeed was Denmark’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 284.28 Mbps. Hiper followed at 239.43 Mbps.
YouSee was Denmark’s fastest mobile operator, earning a median download speed of 115.87 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Estonia

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Elisa was the fastest fixed broadband provider in Estonia during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 74.48 Mbps.
Telia had the fastest mobile median download speed in Estonia at 73.20 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Finland

According to Speedtest Intelligence, DNA took the top spot as Finland’s fastest mobile operator in Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 70.76 Mbps. DNA also edged out Telia for the highest Consistency Score 93.1% to 91.7%.
In addition, DNA had the fastest 5G download speed in Finland, achieving a median download speed of 297.70 Mbps. Telia (259.68 Mbps) and Elisa (230.35 Mbps) followed.
Competition was tight for Finland’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022. DNA (87.87 Mbps) raced past Elisa (86.54 Mbps) and Telia (86.13 Mbps) to take the top spot.

France

Orange earned the top spot as France’s fastest and most consistent mobile operator with a median mobile download speed of 81.03 Mbps and a Consistency Score of 89.8% during Q1 2022.
During Q1 2022, Orange dominated the competition as France’s fastest 5G provider by achieving a median 5G download speed of 366.42 Mbps. SFR followed at 247.32 Mbps.

Germany

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Vodafone was Germany’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 108.67 Mbps.
Telekom achieved the fastest median mobile download speed (79.34 Mbps) and Consistency Score (90.9%) among German mobile operators during Q1 2022.
Telekom took the top spot for the fastest median 5G download speed in Germany at 193.09 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Hungary

Vodafone was Hungary’s fastest fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 159.59 Mbps during Q1 2022. Vodafone also had the highest Consistency Score at 87.9% during Q1 2022.
Yettel was Hungary’s fastest mobile operator during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 50.62 Mbps.

Latvia

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Balticom had the fastest median fixed broadband download speed in Latvia at 188.27 Mbps and highest Consistency Score (91.9%) during Q1 2022.
LMT had the fastest median mobile download speed in Latvia at 50.70 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Lithuania

Telia had the fastest median mobile download speed in Lithuania at 77.77 Mbps during Q1 2022. Tele2 followed at 41.75 Mbps, then BITE (29.81 Mbps).
Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Cgates had the fastest median fixed broadband speed in Lithuania at 99.50 Mbps during Q1 2022, edging out Penki (93.52 Mbps) and Telia (86.84 Mbps).

Luxembourg

Eltrona took the top spot as Luxembourg’s fastest fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022 by achieving a median download speed of 119.65 Mbps.
POST was the fastest mobile operator in Luxembourg, achieving a median download speed of 122.74 Mbps in Q1 2022.

Malta

Melita took the top spot as Malta’s fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 117.68 Mbps and Consistency Score of 85.2%.

Moldova

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Orange dominated as Moldova’s fastest fixed broadband provider, achieving a median download speed of 203.54 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Tiraspol showed the fastest median mobile download speed among Moldova’s most populous cities at 35.62 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Poland

Speedtest Intelligence revealed that UPC was the fastest fixed broadband provider in Poland, achieving a median download speed of 195.74 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Mobile operator Plus had the fastest median 5G download speed in Poland at 167.37 Mbps during Q1 2022, a slight gain over Q4 2021.

Slovakia

Orange took the top spot as Slovakia’s fastest mobile operator with a median download speed of 53.30 Mbps, edging out Telekom’s 45.90 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Orange also dominated as the fastest 5G operator in Slovakia with a median 5G download speed at 299.09 Mbps during Q1 2022. 4ka followed at 177.76 Mbps.
UPC took the top spot as Slovakia’s fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 146.65 Mbps and a Consistency Score of 87.5% during Q1 2022.

Spain

Movistar provided the fastest and most consistent mobile experience among Spanish mobile operators during Q1 2022 with a median download speed of 52.44 Mbps and Consistency Score of 89.4%.
Vodafone was Spain’s fastest 5G provider by a wide margin, achieving a median download speed of 192.40 Mbps during Q1 2022.

North and South America

Argentina

Speedtest Intelligence revealed Personal was Argentina’s fastest mobile operator with a median download speed of 25.57 Mbps during Q1 2022.
There was a tight race for the fastest median mobile download speed in Argentina’s most populous cities with no statistical winner during Q1 2022. However, Buenos Aires (25.26 Mbps) and La Plata (25.18 Mbps) led the way.

Brazil

Speedtest Intelligence reveals Claro was the fastest and most consistent mobile operator in Brazil during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 33.53 Mbps and Consistency Score of 84.6%.
Claro achieved the fastest median 5G download speed in Brazil at 72.35 Mbps during Q1 2022. TIM (62.80 Mbps) and Vivo (62.38 Mbps) followed.

Canada

Shaw was Canada’s fastest fixed broadband provider, earning a median download speed of 213.47 Mbps during Q1 2022.
TELUS took the top spot as the fastest mobile operator in Canada, achieving a median download speed of 94.48 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Competition for the fastest 5G in Canada was tight during Q1 2022 with TELUS edging out Bell 162.47 Mbps to 155.71 Mbps, respectively.

Chile

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Entel was the fastest mobile operator in Chile with a median download speed of 23.13 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Temuco had the fastest median mobile download speed in Chile at 24.86 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Colombia

Cali had the fastest median mobile download speed among Colombia’s most populous cities at 15.32 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Among major device manufacturers in Colombia, Apple devices had the fastest median download speed at 17.20 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Ecuador

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Netlife was Ecuador’s fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 45.53 Mbps and Consistency Score of 75.5%.
CNT was the fastest and most consistent mobile operator in Ecuador during Q1 2022, with a median download speed of 33.11 Mbps and Consistency Score of 87.4%.

Guatemala

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Claro was the fastest and most consistent mobile operator in Guatemala during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 21.40 Mbps and Consistency Score of 80.5%.
Tigo was the fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider in Guatemala with a median download speed of 26.56 Mbps and Consistency Score of 58.3% during Q1 2022.

Mexico

Speedtest Intelligence reveals Telcel was Mexico’s fastest mobile operator during Q1 2022, leading the market with a median download speed of 40.25 Mbps.
Totalplay was the fastest and most consistent fixed broadband provider in Mexico, achieving a median download speed of 49.33 Mbps and Consistency Score of 74.3% during Q1 2022.

Peru

According to Speedtest Intelligence, Winet Telecom was Peru’s fastest fixed broadband provider by a wide margin, achieving a median download speed of 102.83 Mbps during Q1 2022.
Claro was the fastest mobile operator in Peru during Q1 2022, earning a median download speed of 19.55 Mbps.

United States

Speedtest Intelligence reveals Verizon was the fastest fixed broadband provider in the United States during Q1 2022, edging out XFINITY with a median download speed of 184.36 Mbps to XFINITY’s 179.12 Mbps.
T-Mobile took the top spot as the fastest and most consistent mobile operator in the U.S. during Q1 2022, achieving a median download speed of 117.83 Mbps and a Consistency Score of 88.3% — both increases over Q4 2021.
Looking at tests taken only on 5G, T-Mobile achieved the fastest median 5G download speed at 191.12 Mbps during Q1 2022. Verizon also had a notable increase in 5G download speed during Q1 2022 over Q4 2021 , which was helped by turning on new C-Band spectrum in January.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra was the fastest popular device in the U.S. at 116.33 Mbps during Q1 2022.

Read the full market analyses and follow monthly ranking updates on the Speedtest Global Index.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on May 11, 2022.

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Ookla

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Isla McKetta | September 8, 2021

Despite All Odds, Global Internet Speeds Continue Impressive Increase

“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.

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^™.

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Isla McKetta

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Mark Giles | May 17, 2023

ISPs Need to Do More to Improve Wi-Fi Performance in the Home

Key messages

Wi-Fi woes continue. Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data shows Wi-Fi performance continues to lag behind ethernet performance within home networks in many advanced fixed broadband markets, with Wi-Fi speeds typically ranging from between 30-40% of ethernet speeds during Q1 2023.
Developed Asian and North American markets lead the charge to Wi-Fi 6/6E. Wi-Fi 4 and 5 remain the dominant Wi-Fi access technologies globally, accounting for a combined 89% of Speedtest® samples during Q1 2023. However, a number of advanced fixed broadband markets are rapidly migrating to Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, with China, Hong Kong (SAR), Singapore, Canada, and the U.S. leading the charge.
Growing Wi-Fi 6/6E adoption helps narrow the gap in Wi-Fi performance. In markets such as Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Sweden, and the U.S., where the transition to fiber is more advanced, and where ISPs are actively driving adoption of Wi-Fi 6/6E routers, we see Wi-Fi performance closing the gap to ethernet. However, more needs to be done in other markets, where migration to more advanced fixed access networks is exposing the limitations of the installed base of Wi-Fi routers.
Router vendors pushing the envelope with Wi-Fi 7 capable launches. ASUS leads the market for Wi-Fi 6/6E routers among Speedtest samples, and both ASUS and other leading router vendors have been quick to launch Wi-Fi 7 capable routers. Despite this, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E remain the growing component of their installed bases. ASUS leads the market according to Speedtest Intelligence with 39% of its routers we sampled supporting Wi-Fi 6/6E during Q1 2023, well ahead of second placed NETGEAR with 26%.
Smartphone device support indicates Wi-Fi 6/6E should remain the immediate focus for ISPs. With the two largest smartphone vendors globally, Samsung and Apple, currently shunning Wi-Fi 7, ISPs waiting to see if they can leapfrog Wi-Fi 6E to Wi-Fi 7 should stay their hands. The fact that China still needs to allocate the 6 GHz spectrum band — key for Wi-Fi 6E and 7 — for unlicensed use is also significant, and appears to have weighed on the Wi-Fi 6E adoption among China’s leading Android smartphone manufacturers.

Wi-Fi performance continues to lag ethernet within the home

ISPs in advanced fixed broadband markets are increasingly looking to offer more advanced Wi-Fi routers and solutions such as mesh networks, which are designed to improve Wi-Fi coverage and performance. However, Speedtest Intelligence data shows that more needs to be done to improve Wi-Fi performance, which typically ranged from between 30-40% of ethernet speeds. Median Wi-Fi performance as measured by Speedtest will tend to lag behind median ethernet performance, depending on distance of the end-user device from the router, including any obstacles and signal interference the Wi-Fi signal needs to traverse to reach the device.

Our analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data reveals that driving greater adoption of more advanced Wi-Fi routers can help ISPs narrow the gap between Wi-Fi and ethernet performance, with ISPs in Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Sweden, and the U.S. already successfully doing so over the past year.

Despite this, the results are not always positive, with the gap between Wi-Fi and ethernet performance widening, in particular in the U.K. and Taiwan. Where markets are rapidly migrating from more legacy fixed broadband technology to advanced cable and fiber connections, Wi-Fi performance can lag relative to ethernet, indicating a need to accelerate the adoption of more advanced Wi-Fi technologies.

Older generations of Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 remain dominant globally

While much of the focus of the device ecosystem is on spurring adoption of the latest Wi-Fi standards, there is a long way to go before even Wi-Fi 6 becomes a dominant standard globally. Based on Speedtest Intelligence data, the proportion of Wi-Fi tests by generation (a good proxy for adoption) shows that Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 remain the dominant router technology, with Wi-Fi 6 representing just under 10% as of February 2023, and Wi-Fi 7 showing very few samples. The share of samples from Wi-Fi 4 routers has fallen by 6 ppts year-over-year, while Wi-Fi 5’s share of samples has marginally increased.

Asian and North American ISPs lead the charge to Wi-Fi 6 and beyond

ISPs are the main driver behind the adoption of new Wi-Fi standards, as highlighted by a 2022 study by Parks Associates, which found that 52% of U.S. consumers acquired their router from their ISP. Rolling out more advanced routers to their customer bases enables them to take advantage of the increased performance of newer generations of Wi-Fi technology, and helps to ensure ISPs deliver faster speeds, particularly over fiber access networks.

Adoption of Wi-Fi 6 varies by market, even among the most developed fixed broadband markets globally. ISPs in a number of advanced fixed markets have already begun offering Wi-Fi 6E routers to their customer bases, with ISPs in North America in particular moving in this direction, including Bell Canada, Rogers, Telus, Verizon, XFINITY, Charter, and Frontier, as well as leading ISPs in advanced Asian and European markets.

Markets in Asia led the way on Wi-Fi 6 adoption, with China and Hong Kong both recording 42% adoption, followed by Singapore with 37%. Outside of Asia, North America showed the next highest level of adoption, with the U.S. and Canada recording 32% and 30%, respectively. European fixed markets lagged behind, with adoption ranging from 13% in the U.K., to 24% in Sweden. For markets such as Chile, which placed towards the top of the Ookla Speedtest Global Index™ for median fixed broadband speeds, a relatively low-level of Wi-Fi 6 adoption (8% in Q4 2022) signals further opportunity for ISPs in the market to boost performance.

The fastest growing markets, in terms of increasing share of Wi-Fi 6 of Speedtest samples year-over-year in Q1 2023, were Canada and Malaysia (+15 ppts), Singapore (+14 ppts), and Hong Kong (+12 ppts). While there was considerable variance between ISPs within each market, leading ISPs such as SmarTone (Hong Kong), DiGi (Malaysia), and ViewQwest (Singapore), are prompting a competitive response so that even ISPs with lower levels of Wi-Fi 6 adoption are prioritizing the technology and seeing adoption grow steadily.

Country	ISP	Wi-Fi 6 %, Q1 2023
Hong Kong (SAR)	SmarTone	62.4%
Canada	Bell pure fibre	57.3%
Singapore	ViewQwest	53.7%
Singapore	MyRepublic	50.3%
Malaysia	Digi	50.2%
Malaysia	Maxis	49.0%
Hong Kong (SAR)	NETVIGATOR	44.2%
Canada	Rogers	43.4%
Singapore	M1	41.7%
Singapore	SingTel	41.4%
Canada	Telus PureFibre	41.0%
Hong Kong (SAR)	HKBN	41.0%
Canada	Shaw	39.0%
Singapore	StarHub	35.6%
Hong Kong (SAR)	HGC	30.0%
Malaysia	TIME	28.8%
Malaysia	TM	21.5%

In addition to providing newer routers, ISPs are increasingly positioned to help consumers solve Wi-Fi performance issues in the home, such as offering mesh Wi-Fi solutions. For some ISPs, this has even taken precedence over offering newer Wi-Fi 6E routers, as they look to improved coverage within the home as a faster route to improving Wi-Fi performance.

In the U.K., BT has prioritized whole-home coverage over Wi-Fi 6E with its BT Complete Wi-Fi (mesh) offer, despite the U.K. regulator Ofcom having released the lower portion of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use in 2020. In Canada, Telus, while having recently released a Wi-Fi 6E router for its broadband users, also offers its WiFi Plus package, which includes professional installation and “wall-to-wall coverage” throughout the home. Rogers also offers guaranteed Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home, as well as Wi-Fi 6E routers. Plume offers a subscription-based service, HomePass, across a number of markets, which allows users to add additional access points to help eradicate not-spots or poor Wi-Fi signal within the home and also offers solutions for ISPs looking to improve their Wi-Fi offerings. In Hong Kong, China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) was the first ISP in the market to offer a fiber-to-the-room service, while it and other ISPs such as NETVIGATOR offer consumers the option to subscribe to multiple channels over fiber with separate IP addresses, allowing them to divide their activities across channels and thereby help avoid congestion.

To capture the full performance benefits of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, countries must allocate 6 GHz spectrum for unlicensed use, therefore allowing Wi-Fi devices to access this higher frequency, higher capacity spectrum, and utilize wider channels. At present, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, allocation of the lower portion of the 6 GHz spectrum band (5,925 MHz to 6,425 MHz) is common among developed economies, with some notable exceptions in some developed markets in Asia and Asia Pacific, in particular China, while allocation of the full 6 GHz band is more limited, available across North America and some Latin American markets, as well as Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Wi-Fi 7 on the horizon as router vendors continue to push the envelope on performance

Wi-Fi performance continues to scale, and with Wi-Fi 7 routers and smartphones having launched in the second half of 2022, that trend is set to continue. In addition to higher throughput, successive Wi-Fi generations also support lower latency, helping to better support higher quality video streaming, cloud gaming, and future use cases linked to concepts such as the Metaverse and other uses of extended reality (XR).

The major silicon vendors, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Mediatek, were quick to update their solutions to support the emerging Wi-Fi 7 standard, and hardware vendors have followed suit. Chinese vendor H3C was the first to launch with its H3C Magic BE18000 Wi-Fi 7 router in July 2022, and it has since been followed by other major vendors including tp-link, ASUS, and more recently NETGEAR. However, the prices of early Wi-Fi 7 routers that take advantage of Wi-Fi 7’s range of enhanced performance capabilities will be a barrier to entry for many, with tp-link’s flagship Archer BE900 currently retailing at a cost of $699.99.

Speedtest Intelligence data shows minimal Wi-Fi 7 adoption as of March 2023, however we are likely to see the same vendors drive Wi-Fi 7 adoption that are currently leading on Wi-Fi 6. Based on global Speedtest Intelligence samples, we see ASUS leading the market in Wi-Fi 6 penetration, with 39% of samples recorded using Wi-Fi 6 compatible routers. NETGEAR and Belkin followed, but for the remaining major router vendors, Wi-Fi 6 penetration currently stands at close to 10% or below. Wi-Fi 6E remains a small but growing subset of Wi-Fi 6 certified devices, currently standing at 7.7% of products based on the latest Wi-Fi Alliance data. Of these, a majority are either routers or smartphones, with an almost even split between the two.

Smartphone support indicates ISPs should focus on Wi-Fi 6E for now

With Samsung releasing its Galaxy S23 range in February 2023 without Wi-Fi 7 support, and Apple’s latest iPhone 14 smartphones limited to Wi-Fi 6, it’s clear that, for now, ISPs should prioritize the rollout of Wi-Fi 6/6E among their customer bases rather than consider leapfrogging to Wi-Fi 7. The Xiaomi Mi13 Pro was the first Wi-Fi 7 capable smartphone to hit the market, launching in December 2022, although it was limited to Wi-Fi 6E initially, requiring a software update to enable Wi-Fi 7. The availability of Wi-Fi 7 supporting Android smartphones will grow through 2023, enabled by SoCs from leading vendor Qualcomm with its flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and MediaTek with its Dimensity 9200. Apple, on the other hand, lags on the latest Wi-Fi standard support, with the iPhone 14 series featuring Wi-Fi 6, and with its fall 2023 models rumored to be adding Wi-Fi 6E to their feature list.

Samsung, as the leading Android smartphone vendor globally, has the largest installed base of smartphones supporting Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, and has stolen a march on its main rivals Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo. While the major Chinese smartphone vendors have launched Wi-Fi 7 compatible devices, the lack of assignment of 6 GHz spectrum for unlicensed use in China does appear to have held them back relative to brands such as Samsung and ASUS.

The outlook for Wi-Fi in the home

It’s clear from the gap between Wi-Fi and ethernet performance that ISPs need to do more to improve the customer experience for Wi-Fi users within the home. Part of the solution lies in rolling out more advanced generations of Wi-Fi technology, given Wi-Fi 4 and 5 remain the dominant technologies deployed globally. However, evidence linking increased adoption of Wi-Fi 6 to overall Wi-Fi closing the gap to ethernet performance is mixed, and validates the approach of ISPs looking to also offer mesh networking Wi-Fi solutions. Contact us to find out more about how Ookla Research can help you monitor the performance of your networks, and stay ahead of the competition.

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Mark Giles

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Isla McKetta | March 14, 2019

Ditch the Lag: Cities with Great Gaming Culture and Low Ping

Yes, you can game from anywhere with an internet connection. But if you’re at all competitive, it’s nice to play from somewhere with low ping and fast internet speeds. Plus when you need to leave the house, it’s extra nice to know you’re also surrounded by gamer culture. We’ve examined February 2019 Speedtest results in 35 cities that are known for their esports events, gaming conferences, game companies and more to find out who has the advantage and ranked them based on their ping.

The top contenders

Eleven_Gaming_Cities_0219

First place Bucharest, Romania is home to super-low ping, a lightning fast download speed and a thriving gaming culture. From Bucharest Gaming Week (which includes the CS:GO Southeast Europe Championship and the FIFA National Tournament) to their numerous local game studios, Bucharest is a great place to be a gamer whether you’re online or out and about.

The next five gaming cities with the lowest pings are all in Asia. Hangzhou, China comes in second overall with a fast ping and world-class download speeds. This city is so devoted to its gamers that it opened a $280 million gaming “city” in 2018 and plans 14 new esports arenas before 2022. Coming in third, Chengdu, China has an equally low ping to our first two contenders and serves as one of two host locations in China for the Global Mobile Game Confederation (GMGC). Both Hangzhou and Chengdu are also franchise holders in the Overwatch League, giving local gaming fans something to cheer about. Fourth place Singapore, host of the 5th Annual GameStart Convention in October 2018, had only a slightly slower ping than the first four cities and the fastest download speed of any of the cities we considered.

South Korea is home to the fifth and sixth best cities for gamers. A satellite city of Seoul, Seongnam-si boasts the Pangyo Techno Valley (a.k.a. the Silicon Valley of Korea) and numerous game development companies. Perfect for a city with a 9 ms ping. Though Incheon’s ping was a little slower at 12 ms, gamers there can console themselves with the city’s gamer cred — the 2018 League of Legends World Championship was held in Incheon’s Munhak Stadium.

Coming in at number seven, Budapest, Hungary is an emerging game city, having hosted its first big esports event (the V4 Future Sports Festival) in 2018, but a 12 ms ping makes them a strong contender. More established Malmö, Sweden is number eight with a slightly slower average download speed but the city is headquarters to Massive Entertainment, creators of Tom Clancy’s The Division series, Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and many more.

Vancouver, Canada, North America’s only qualifier for the top gaming cities list, comes in at number nine with a 12 ms ping and many gaming companies including the Canadian arms of Nintendo of Canada and EA (Electronic Arts). We included both Shanghai, China and Moscow, Russia on the top gamer cities list as both had a 12 ms ping as well, though the internet speeds in Shanghai are superior. Shanghai will also host the International Dota 2 in 2019 while Moscow is known for Epicenter.

The rest of the pack

Notably absent from the list above is most of the western hemisphere. Cities in North America were held back by their high pings. Cities in South America suffered from high pings and also slow internet speeds — something that esports leagues have complained is a barrier to investment.

Our full list of gaming cities provides wider geographical representation, even if the internet performance is not always as stellar. You’ll find Los Angeles in 27th place, behind Seattle, Boston and Las Vegas. And São Paulo, Brazil has the best showing in Latin America at 23rd.

**Internet Performance in 35 Cities with a Gaming Culture**
Speedtest Results | February 2019
City	Ping (ms)	Mean Download (Mbps)	Mean Upload (Mbps)
Bucharest, Romania	8	172.13	126.57
Hangzhou, China	8	125.93	29.54
Chengdu, China	8	101.92	33.80
Singapore	9	196.43	200.08
Seongnam-si, South Korea	9	155.25	114.83
Incheon, South Korea	12	139.84	102.91
Budapest, Hungary	12	132.72	54.46
Malmö, Sweden	12	126.28	105.67
Vancouver, Canada	12	117.55	50.23
Shanghai, China	12	75.14	30.06
Moscow, Russia	12	64.56	63.59
Oslo, Norway	13	115.46	69.03
Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR)	14	167.59	161.14
Zürich, Switzerland	14	144.36	109.39
Seattle, United States	15	138.50	79.88
Stockholm, Sweden	15	134.16	93.83
Auckland, New Zealand	15	92.05	53.30
Toronto, Canada	16	134.75	67.42
Boston, United States	17	152.42	60.87
Las Vegas, United States	17	141.69	41.22
Chennai, India	17	48.40	42.93
Cologne, Germany	18	63.77	18.36
São Paulo, Brazil	18	46.43	21.57
Jakarta, Indonesia	18	17.88	10.21
Mumbai, India	19	23.40	19.26
Paris, France	20	161.04	93.68
Los Angeles, United States	20	121.00	23.57
London, United Kingdom	20	63.58	23.18
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	20	36.50	13.33
Buenos Aires, Argentina	21	34.31	6.40
Katowice, Poland	22	83.99	20.91
Mexico City, Mexico	25	37.66	15.39
Sydney, Australia	25	34.20	9.61
Santiago, Chile	26	56.13	18.49
Tokyo, Japan	28	99.24	101.90

Of course, die-hard gamers will know that a low ping in your city won’t necessarily save you if you’re playing on a distant server.

What’s the ping like in your city? Take a Speedtest and see if your connection is hurting your gameplay.

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Isla McKetta

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Isla McKetta | June 27, 2017

Which Airport Has the Fastest Internet in Asia?

Travelers jetting off to Asia this summer will probably want to know whether you can connect to the internet upon landing and whether that internet is fast enough to help you nail down any final travel details before hitting the hotel and sleeping off the jet lag.

Using Speedtest data for March-May 2017, we analyzed the speeds of free airport Wi-Fi and local cellular signals at the busiest airports in Asia to see what your best options are and where you’re flat out of luck.

Fastest airport Wi-Fi

Dubai reigns when it comes to free airport Wi-Fi. In fact, this airport has the fastest Wi-Fi we’ve seen at any airport in Asia, Europe or Africa. And their average upload speed is even faster than their download. Travelers to second-place Seoul are also in excellent shape if they need to connect to the internet while in transit.

Tokyo, Delhi and Singapore have decently fast download speeds over airport Wi-Fi while Bangkok’s and Hong Kong’s are merely okay. Sadly, the rest of the airports offer painfully slow free Wi-Fi.

You might think airport Wi-Fi is similar to the average mobile Wi-Fi speeds of the country, but instead some of the fastest countries — Singapore (111.59 Mbps), Hong Kong (63.70 Mbps) and China (47.64 Mbps) — have poor to average airport Wi-Fi speeds. Though sitting near the top of the airport Wi-Fi pack, South Korea’s 66.67 Mbps, Japan’s 42.00 Mbps and Thailand’s 30.48 Mbps country averages show the Wi-Fi at their premier airports could be a lot faster. India’s average download speed (12.39 Mbps) is right in line with the Wi-Fi at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

On the other end of the spectrum, the United Arab Emirates has clearly prioritized airport Wi-Fi because the Wi-Fi download speed at Dubai International is nearly double the country average of 22.12 Mbps.

Fastest airport cell

In countries including China and India, you can’t connect to the free airport Wi-Fi without an in-country mobile number, so we checked Speedtest results for users on cell networks as well.

The average mobile download speed at Singapore’s Changi Airport is nearly as fast as the country’s average of 46.12 Mbps. Considering Singapore ranks second fastest in the world for mobile downloads, that’s a hard speed to beat. Dubai also has wonderfully fast speeds, and they beat the country average of 29.81 Mbps.

East Asia’s airports form a strong middle of the pack with cellular download speeds ranging from 18.18 Mbps in Bangkok to 27.12 in Guangzhou. These are comparable to the country average mobile download speeds of 33.63 Mbps for China, 19.70 Mbps for Hong Kong, 18.48 for Japan, and 14.58 for Thailand. Flyers at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport, though, will be sorely disappointed with the 5.85 Mbps on offer. But that’s only slightly slower than India’s 7.62 Mbps mobile download average.

Wi-Fi or cell?

If you’ve already nailed down your international SIM card options, you’re going to have a lot better luck in many parts of Asia on a cellular signal than you would using the free airport Wi-Fi.

Of course you’re in good shape either way in Dubai, Seoul’s Wi-Fi download speed is slightly faster than that on cell, and in India you’ll definitely want to use the airport Wi-Fi if you can access it. Everywhere else the local cell performance puts airport Wi-Fi to shame.

Regional trends

Southeast Asia

If you’re jet-setting through Southeast Asia, count on any time spent in the Singapore Airport for your internet needs and plan to enjoy a more disconnected experience in India and Thailand, especially if you don’t have an Indian phone number and have to rely on cell service at the Delhi airport.

East Asia

As mentioned above, all the airports we analyzed in China, Japan and Korea had strong cellular speeds. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Seoul’s Incheon Airport also had good download speeds over their free airport Wi-Fi networks. China’s free airport Wi-Fi, on the other hand, is varying degrees of slow.

China

Within China, Hong Kong has the fastest free airport Wi-Fi, but you will be much better off with cellular networks at any of the airports we surveyed in China. Guangzhou has the fastest average download on cell while Hong Kong is the slowest, but with averages between 22 Mbps and 28 Mbps, you should be just fine.

Watch this space for upcoming articles comparing Wi-Fi and cellular speeds at airports across the globe. Until then, if you think your local airport is over- (or under-) rated, take a Speedtest on Android or iOS and show us what you’re experiencing.

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Isla McKetta

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Isla McKetta | December 10, 2018

The World’s Internet in 2018: Faster, Modernizing and Always On

When it comes to the internet, the news is mostly good for 2018. Download and upload speeds are increasing across the globe on both mobile and fixed broadband. 5G is on the horizon and gigabit service is expanding.

We looked at data from Speedtest Intelligence^TM, Ookla’s flagship data platform, from December 2017 through November 2018, to analyze everything from global internet speeds to the world’s fastest countries to when people are online. We also investigated which parts of the world are seeing the most benefit from high speed LTE on mobile and gigabit speeds on fixed broadband.

Mobile speeds increased more than 15% in 2018

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_mobile-average-speed-3

The world’s average mobile download speed of 22.82 Mbps increased 15.2% over the past year, while mobile upload speed increased 11.6% to reach 9.19 Mbps.

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_android-vs-ios-1

With a mean download speed of 27.84 Mbps and a mean upload of 10.61 Mbps, worldwide speeds on iOS devices were faster than those on Android (21.35 Mbps download, 8.73 Mbps upload) in 2018. This is likely due to market factors as Android devices are more popular in emerging markets where internet speeds tend to be slower.

However, download speed on Android devices increased 19.0% and upload speed increased 15.1%, more than those on iOS (18.0% increase for download and 11.1% increase for upload), which is good news for those emerging markets.

Fixed broadband speeds increased more than 26% in 2018

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_fixed-average

On a global level, fixed broadband speeds were nearly twice as fast as those on mobile in 2018. The world’s average download speed on fixed broadband was 46.12 Mbps, 26.4% faster than last year. Upload speed increased 26.5% to 22.44 Mbps.

All said, though, both mobile and fixed broadband speeds increased at a slower rate in 2018 than they did in 2017.

Countries with the fastest internet in 2018

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_top-5-mobile

The countries with the fastest mean download speeds over mobile in the past 12 months were: Norway (63.19 Mbps), Iceland (58.68 Mbps), Qatar (55.17 Mbps), Singapore (54.71 Mbps) and the Netherlands (53.42 Mbps).

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_top-5-fixed

Singapore showed the world’s fastest mean download speeds over fixed broadband during the past twelve months at 175.13 Mbps. Next fastest were Iceland (153.03 Mbps), Hong Kong (138.31 Mbps), South Korea (114.67 Mbps) and Romania (109.90 Mbps).

To keep up with month-to-month internet speeds at a global level, visit the Speedtest Global Index.

Most improved countries for 2018 internet speeds

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_most-improved-mobile

Costa Rica saw the largest increase in mobile download speed over the past year at 194.6%. Myanmar was second with 121.8%, Saudi Arabia third (113.2%), Iraq fourth (92.3%) and the Ukraine fifth (82.1%).

The countries with the largest improvements in upload speeds were Bangladesh (179.2%), the Ukraine (172.5%), Costa Rica (163.4%), Myanmar (146.9%) and Iraq (126.7%).

Graphic-Tables-Final-v2_most-improved-fixed

Paraguay saw the biggest increase in mean download speed over fixed broadband in the world over the past year at 268.6%. Guyana was second with 113.5%, Libya third (108.0%), Malaysia fourth (89.5%) and Laos fifth (76.2%).

Libya showed the most improvement in mean upload speed over fixed broadband during the past twelve months at 176.4%. Guyana was second with 116.1%, Malaysia third (95.2%), Belize fourth (88.9%) and Iraq fifth (76.8%).

4G is increasing mobile speeds

2017-2018-LTE-growth

When we looked specifically at Speedtest results on 4G, we saw that mean download speeds increased in most countries. Costa Rica was most improved for 4G download speed as was the case with overall download speed on mobile increasing 184.3% year over year. Saudi Arabia was second at 110.2% and Myanmar third at 78.0%.

Most encouragingly, we saw the number of Speedtest results over 4G increase in all but 15 countries. This could indicate that 4G availability is expanding. Tanzania saw the greatest increase with 355.0% more tests over 4G in 2018 than in 2017. Malta was second at 267.2% and Algeria third at 143.7%. We can see this expansion on the map above as 4G results fill in areas of the globe that were previously blank.

Gigabit coverage is expanding globally

gigabit-fade-1

Gigabit is in the news as ISPs across the globe expand their high-speed networks. We looked at Speedtest results on fixed broadband in excess of 750 Mbps to see which cities are benefitting most. Comparing locations with 100 or more gigabit-speed results in 2017 with those in 2018, that expansion becomes obvious. In 2017, 60 countries met our gigabit test threshold. In 2018, 16 additional countries joined our gigabit list. We’re also seeing that more cities around the world now have access to gigabit speeds.

Also exciting is that cities which already had gigabit in 2017 saw increases in the number of gigabit-speed results in 2018 as ISPs continue to build out infrastructure across cities. Many cities saw their first real gigabit expansion in 2018. For example, we saw the number of gigabit tests in New Delhi increase from 119 gigabit speed results in 2017 to 20,239 in 2018, that’s a mind-boggling 16,908% increase. Chennai, India saw a 7,481% increase (from 763 to 57,840) and Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France jumped 6,480%. Huge leaps in the number of gigabit-speed results were also seen in Gdańsk, Poland (6,338%); Rome, Italy (4,909%); Lancashire, United Kingdom (3,962%); Ota, Japan (3,240%); São Paulo, Brazil (2,947%); Hangzhou, China (2,669%) and Turda, Romania (2,636%).

When people are online

point-3-sec-final-1

The internet is always on, but we were surprised to see how consistently and steeply usage fell off on both mobile and fixed broadband after 9 pm local time. Normalizing the time of day for Speedtest results from around the globe, we found that usage bottoms out at 4 am and then climbs steeply again until 10 am. From there, the internet gets gradually busier until that night time drop off.

Internet in the world’s largest countries

The world’s five most populous countries are notably absent from the lists of fastest and most improved countries on mobile and fixed broadband. China, India, the U.S., Indonesia and Brazil represent about 46% of the world’s population, which makes their internet speeds worth noting nonetheless.

**Internet Speeds in the World’s Largest Countries**
Speedtest Data | December 2017-November 2018
Country	Mean Mobile Download Speed (Mbps)	% Improvement in Mobile Speed	Mean Fixed Download Speed (Mbps)	% Improvement in Fixed Speed
China	30.96	-5.8%	76.03	42.5%
India	9.11	15.2%	23.00	50.4%
United States	28.50	22.3%	92.77	37.3%
Indonesia	10.39	5.3%	14.89	18.3%
Brazil	18.65	29.3%	22.95	39.4%

Mobile internet speeds in the world’s largest countries

China had the fastest average mobile download speed among the world’s most populous countries in the past twelve months. However, China’s mobile download speed decreased during that time. The United States is fast catching up with China on mobile download speed.

Brazil occupied a middle ground for mobile download speed among the world’s most populous countries and showed the fastest rate of increase. India and Indonesia were at the bottom of this list. While the two nations show similar mobile download speeds to each other, India’s mobile download speed is improving much more quickly than Indonesia’s.

Fixed broadband speeds in the largest countries in the world

The United States showed the fastest fixed broadband download speed among the world’s most populous countries over the past year. China was second, India and Brazil nearly tie for third and Indonesia follows.

India showed the largest improvement in mean download speed over fixed broadband of the world’s five largest countries. China was second, Brazil third, the U.S. fourth and Indonesia fifth.

We’ll be back throughout 2019 to report on the state of the world’s internet as it evolves. Until then, take a Speedtest to find out how your network compares.

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Isla McKetta

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Isla McKetta | September 4, 2019

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

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 Index^TM. 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.

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Isla McKetta

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Ookla | March 13, 2020

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

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 Index^TM 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^®.

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Ookla

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How Boingo Leverages Ookla's Comprehensive Network Intelligence

Ookla Joins Ericsson's Leading Telecommunications Open RApp System

5G in Asia Pacific: Deployment Momentum Continues

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Key messages

South Korea sets the pace as 5G networks expand across the region

Allocation of spectrum resources is crucial

Asia Pacific outpaced major European markets in terms of 5G performance

5G Availability and adoption vary across the region

Seoul and Kuala Lumpur are the top cities in the Asia Pacific region for 5G speeds.

Breaking the digital divide with 5G FWA

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Affandy Johan

Transforming Connectivity with 5G in The Greater Bay Area

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Key takeaways

Coordinated initiatives and policies driving 5G deployment

Macau’s early 5G performance impresses

Macau operators rank highest for 5G performance in the Greater Bay Area

Low latency comes to the fore with 5G

Boosting Cross-Border Connectivity

Similar effort on expanding 5G indoor coverage

The outlook for the Greater Bay Area

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Affandy Johan

Speedtest Global Index Market Analyses Now Available for 43 Countries

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Ookla

Despite All Odds, Global Internet Speeds Continue Impressive Increase

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

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

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

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Isla McKetta

ISPs Need to Do More to Improve Wi-Fi Performance in the Home

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Key messages

Wi-Fi performance continues to lag ethernet within the home

Older generations of Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 remain dominant globally

Asian and North American ISPs lead the charge to Wi-Fi 6 and beyond

Wi-Fi 7 on the horizon as router vendors continue to push the envelope on performance

Smartphone support indicates ISPs should focus on Wi-Fi 6E for now

The outlook for Wi-Fi in the home

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Mark Giles

Ditch the Lag: Cities with Great Gaming Culture and Low Ping

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The top contenders

The rest of the pack

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Isla McKetta

Which Airport Has the Fastest Internet in Asia?

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Fastest airport Wi-Fi

Fastest airport cell

Wi-Fi or cell?

Regional trends

Southeast Asia

East Asia

China

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Isla McKetta

The World’s Internet in 2018: Faster, Modernizing and Always On

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Mobile speeds increased more than 15% in 2018

Fixed broadband speeds increased more than 26% in 2018

Countries with the fastest internet in 2018

Most improved countries for 2018 internet speeds

4G is increasing mobile speeds

Gigabit coverage is expanding globally