Eurasia’s mobile telecommunications landscape reflects a transition region, balancing urban-focused growth with efforts to extend connectivity into rural areas. While urban centers in these countries see high 4G coverage and improving data speeds, rural areas often need to catch up, a gap that mirrors challenges in other developing regions of Asia and Central Europe.
This report benchmarks the performance of top mobile providers—those with a sample share of 3% or more—in seven neighboring markets. It compares the median download and upload speeds and latency across all technologies, focusing on national-level performance and results in the two major cities within each selected country.
Video start time measures the seconds a user waits for a video to begin during the adaptive bitrate stage. Adaptive start failure rate shows the percentage of video samples that fail to start playback due to timeouts or other issues in this stage. Together, these metrics provide insights into the video streaming experience for users across different operators in each market.
With video content making up a large portion of global network traffic, it’s essential to understand the actual experience of customers when they watch videos over mobile connections. This report assesses video performance using Speedtest Intelligence video metrics, focusing on two key indicators: video start time and adaptive start failure rate.
Markets in Eurasia showing continued performance improvements
Speedtest Intelligence® quarterly data shows that the mobile median download and upload speeds for all technologies across all the selected markets, apart from Mongolia, have gradually improved between the period of Q4 2022 and Q3 2024.
Markets that have introduced 5G saw or are in the early stages of 5G deployment saw overall improvements in both median download and upload speeds. Azerbaijan tops median download speed in Q3 2024, increasing from 34.82 Mbps in Q4 2022 to 55.62 Mbps in Q3 2024, driven by consistent network upgrades. Kazakhstan also demonstrates strong improvement, rising from 22.44 Mbps to 46.63 Mbps during the same period, maintaining steady growth in urban and rural connectivity, and the expansion of 5G services. Kazakhstan became one of the first countries in Central Asia to commercially launch 5G, with Kcell and Tele2 leading the deployment of 5G base stations. After securing 100 MHz blocks in the 3.6–3.7 GHz and 3.7–3.8 GHz spectrum bands, both operators have actively expanded their networks across the country’s major cities. By June 2024, they had installed 1,144 base stations across 20 cities, with ongoing efforts to extend 5G coverage further.
Uzbekistan also showed notable progress, starting at 14.67 Mbps in Q4 2022 and reaching 38.96 Mbps by Q3 2024, reflecting increased investments in mobile infrastructure and early-stage 5G deployment by the operators. In Uzbekistan, the government and operators have made significant strides in enhancing mobile network performance. The Republican Telecommunications Management Center of Uzbekistan (RTMC), through its “Digital Uzbekistan 2030” initiative, has focused on improving digital connectivity nationwide. Alongside these efforts, operators have begun rolling out 5G networks, collectively driving progress in the country’s telecom sector and boosting overall network performance.
In contrast, Mongolia showed limited improvement in network performance, with median download speeds remaining around 17 Mbps over the same period. Despite a steady rise in 4G connections, increasing from 35.4% in Q4 2022 to 54.1% in Q3 2024 (GSMA Intelligence), the market continues to face challenges. As the least densely populated country in the world, with a significant portion of the population living a nomadic lifestyle, challenges include limited infrastructure investment and high network congestion in the main cities, which have hindered its growth compared to other countries in the region.
Overall, the improvement in performance across the region reflects ongoing investments in mobile networks, driven by rising consumer demand for faster internet and government efforts to expand connectivity. As operators deploy advanced technologies, including 5G rollouts in some markets, mobile performance is expected to continue improving, narrowing the performance gap with more developed regions.
In Armenia, the primary mobile operators are Viva-MTS, Beeline, and Ucom. All three operators offer 4G coverage across major cities, with efforts underway through Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to expand 4G coverage of the three existing operators in 80% of the settlements within the next two years. Viva-MTS, the market leader, has made investments in network upgrades, focusing on increasing capacity in urban regions to address data traffic demand. Ucom has prioritized the modernization of its network to improve end-user performance and service availability, while at the same time introducing 5G services in selected cities.
Based on data from Speedtest Intelligence® during the first half of 2024, Viva-MTS and Ucom both recorded median download speeds that are nearly identical, each just above 34 Mbps. Viva-MTS also outpaced its rivals in upload speeds, achieving 14.77 Mbps, followed by Ucom at 12.14 Mbps and Telecom Armenia at 11.95 Mbps.
All Technologies Network Performance, Armenia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
When it comes to video quality of experience, Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Ucom had the fastest median adaptive start time for all mobile technologies combined in Armenia, at 1.38 seconds during 1H 2024, followed by Telecom Armenia CJSC at 1.55 seconds. Furthermore, Ucom reported a video start failure rate of just 2.9%, while Telecom Armenia CJSC and Viva-MTS experienced higher failure rates of 5.8% and 7.7%, respectively.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Armenia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In Armenia’s main cities, Yerevan and Gyumri, Ucom leads in download speed, achieving the highest median download speed of 52.13 Mbps in Gyumri and 38.18 Mbps in the capital, Yerevan. Viva-MTS follows closely with 44.87 Mbps in Gyumri and 35.5 Mbps in Yerevan, while Telecom Armenia CJSC significantly lags behind in both cities, recording 25.74 Mbps in Gyumri and 21.11 Mbps in Yerevan.
For upload speeds, Viva-MTS leads in both cities, reaching 15.87 Mbps in Gyumri and 15.82 Mbps in Yerevan. Ucom performs slightly lower, with 12.63 Mbps in Gyumri and 14.65 Mbps in Yerevan, while Telecom.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Armenia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Azerbaijan’s mobile market is primarily served by three operators: Azercell, Bakcell, and Nar. Azercell, the largest operator, has actively expanded its 4G network, achieving a population coverage of 98.35% in urban and suburban areas. All three operators have initiated 5G services, with Azercell launching a 5G pilot zone in Baku’s Fountain Square, Bakcell introducing 5G trials in select locations, and Nar deploying 5G technology in Sumgait, marking the first 5G launch outside the capital.
Bakcell leads in both median download and upload speeds during the first half of 2024, achieving 55.36 Mbps for downloads and 18.68 Mbps for uploads. Azercell follows with a download speed of 50.65 Mbps and an upload speed of 11.46 Mbps, while Nar lagged behind at 42.23 Mbps for downloads but performs comparatively better in uploads with 13.96 Mbps.
All Technologies Network Performance, Azerbaijan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
When it comes to video quality of experience, Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Bakcell provided the most reliable and fastest video streaming experience among the three operators. In terms of video adaptive start performance, Bakcell and Azercell show relatively similar adaptive start times, with 1.26 and 1.27 seconds, respectively, while Nar has a slightly slower start time at 1.35 seconds.
Bakcell had the lowest video adaptive start failure rate at 3.7%, followed by Nar at 4.0%. Azercell showed the highest failure rate at 7.0%, suggesting that videos failed to start more often for its users compared to its competitors.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Azerbaijan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In the capital city of Baku, Bakcell leads with a median download speed of 66.62 Mbps, outperforming Azercell’s download speed of 59.51 Mbps. In Ganja, Azercell slightly outperforms Bakcell in download speed at 53.24 Mbps compared to Bakcell’s 50.16 Mbps.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Azerbaijan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In Georgia, Magti, Geocell (Silknet), and Cellfie (formerly Beeline) are the primary mobile network operators, driving competition in the telecom market. The market has been shaped by ongoing investments in network upgrades and a push towards next-generation connectivity. Data from Speedtest Intelligence® for the first half of 2024 highlights Geocell as the leader in median download speed, achieving a download speed of 50.20 Mbps. Magti followed with a median download speed of 40.50 Mbps and upload speed of 15.12 Mbps, maintaining a competitive position. Geocell also outperformed other operators in latency, recording the lowest median multi-server latency of 38 milliseconds, compared to Magti’s 40 ms.
Cellfie, formerly Beeline, lagged in both speed and latency metrics. However, its focus on network modernization and the targeted 5G rollouts may provide opportunities for improvement. The company has emphasized plans to enhance its infrastructure and leverage the benefits of 5G, which could help bridge the gap with its competitors.
All Technologies Network Performance, Georgia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Magti reported the fastest video adaptive start time at 1.50 seconds, followed by Geocell at 1.75 seconds and Cellfie (formerly Beeline) at 2.02 seconds. Geocell achieved better reliability with the lowest video start failure rate of 3.1%, while Magti and Cellfie experienced higher failure rates of 5.1% and 6.1%, respectively.
With 5G rollouts advancing in 2024, operators will look at leveraging higher bandwidth and lower latency to enhance user experiences and support the increasing use of video services in Georgia.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Georgia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In the capital city of Tbilisi, Geocell achieved a median download speed of 57.5 Mbps, surpassing Magti’s 37.92 Mbps and Cellfie’s 25.11 Mbps. Both Geocell and Magti recorded almost similar upload speeds in the capital, at around 19 Mbps. In Batumi, Magti led with a median download speed of 33.08 Mbps, while Geocell followed at 23.31 Mbps.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Georgia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Kazakhstan’s mobile market is highly competitive, with the three main operators, Beeline, Kcell, and Tele2, driving much of the country’s telecommunications development, providing widespread mobile network coverage and achieving high penetration rates. The country was one of the first in Central Asia to commercially launch 5G, with Kcell and Tele2-Altel having been the primary drivers in the rollout of 5G technology within the market.
Tele2 was the fastest mobile provider in Kazakhstan, based on Speedtest Intelligence® data for all technologies combined during 1H2024, with a median download speed of 55.12 Mbps. Kcell followed with 48.70 Mbps, while Beeline lagged at 27.94 Mbps. Tele2 recorded a median upload speed of 17.16 Mbps and a latency of 39 ms.
All Technologies Network Performance, Kazakhstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
When it comes to video quality of experience, Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Tele2 had the fastest median adaptive start time for all mobile technologies combined in Kazakhstan, at 2.03 seconds during 1H 2024. Kcell was close behind at 2.09 seconds.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Kazakhstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In Astana, Tele2 demonstrated strong overall performance, leading in all three key metrics: a median download speed of 78.55 Mbps, upload speed of 24.89 Mbps, and multi-server latency of 31 ms. In Almaty, KCell had a slight edge in median download speed at 104.38 Mbps, closely followed by Tele2 at 102.99 Mbps, highlighting competitive performance between the two operators in the city. Beeline, which currently lacks 5G services, reported lower download speeds of 26.57 Mbps in Astana and 38.26 Mbps in Almaty.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Kazakhstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Kyrgyzstan’s mobile telecommunications market is served by three main operators: MEGA, O!, and Beeline. The country’s mobile landscape reflects its geographic challenges, with mountainous terrain making rural connectivity a significant hurdle. Despite this, government support has enabled gradual progress. The State Communications Agency, which regulates the telecom sector, has actively worked on policies to encourage network investment and bridging the urban-rural connectivity gap. The National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic 2018-2040 is one initiative that facilitates digital transformation to hasten the country’s economic development. Overall, Kyrgyzstan’s mobile network landscape shows steady growth, with operators competing on both speed and coverage.
Beeline edged the other operators in median download speed in Kyrgyzstan during the first half of 2024, achieving a median download speed of 34.99 Mbps, slightly ahead of O!33.18 Mbps, and MEGA at 30.29 Mbps.
All Technologies Network Performance, Kyrgyzstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
O! provided the best video experience in 1H 2024 among all the operators in the market, with median adaptive start time for all mobile technologies combined at 2.17 seconds and lowest adaptive start failure rate of 2.5%. O! was followed by Beeline with an adaptive start time of 2.48 seconds and MEGA with 2.64 seconds.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Kyrgyzstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In Kyrgyzstan’s main cities of Bishkek and Osh, Beeline reported a median download speed of 44.44 Mbps in Bishkek and 31.49 Mbps in Osh, a slight edge over both MEGA and O!. MEGA, however, led in upload speeds in Osh, with a speed of 18.3 Mbps.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Kyrgyzstan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
There are five top operators in Mongolia; MobiCom, GMobile, Supernet, Unitel and Skytel, each aiming to expand 4G LTE coverage to meet the growing demand for mobile internet. The country’s challenging geography and low population density create barriers for network expansion, especially in rural areas, making urban-focused network performance crucial for operators.
Based on Speedtest Intelligence® data for all technologies combined during 1H2024, MobiCom leads with a median download speed at 17.92 Mbps, followed by GMobile at 15.33 Mbps, and SuperNet closely behind at 15.07 Mbps. MobiCom also led upload speeds, with 11.81 Mbps, ahead of Unitel and GMobile. When it comes to latency, GMobile and Skytel provide the lowest median latency at 42 ms and 43 ms.
All Technologies Network Performance, Mongolia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
MobiCom reported the fastest video adaptive start time at 1.74 seconds, followed by Unitel at 1.87 seconds and SuperNet) at 2.28 seconds. gmobile achieved better reliability with the lowest video start failure rate of 2.2%, followed by Unitel and Skytel, with failure rates of 4.5% and 7.7%, respectively.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Mongolia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In the city of Erdenet, SuperNet leads with a substantial margin, achieving a median download speed of 35.69 Mbps. MobiCom follows with 16.24 Mbps, while other operators like GMobile (10.99 Mbps), Unitel (10.86 Mbps), and Skytel (13.26 Mbps) lag behind, indicating a considerable disparity in download performance across providers in this city.
In Ulaanbaatar, the capital and most populous city, MobiCom shows the highest median download speed at 18.78 Mbps, followed by Unitel at 15.03 Mbps and GMobile at 13.87 Mbps. Skytel records the lowest performance in Ulaanbaatar with just 8.12 Mbps.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Mongolia
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Uzbekistan has increased investments in mobile network infrastructure, supported by government incentives and growing competition among operators. In 2020, the country introduced the “Digital Uzbekistan 2030” strategy to accelerate digital transformation across industries. The Republican Telecommunications Management Center (RTMC), which oversees this initiative, has worked closely with operators to expand telecommunications infrastructure, improve service quality, and reduce the urban-rural connectivity gap.
Uzbekistan’s mobile market is served by four major operators; Ucell, Uztelecom, Beeline Uzbekistan, and Mobiuz, with Ucell being the largest operator. Based on data from Speedtest Intelligence® during the first half of 2024, Ucell achieved the fastest median mobile download speed across all of the operators with a speed of 43.91 Mbps, followed by Uztelecom at 27.30 Mbps. Mobiuz followed closely with a reported speed of 26.79 Mbps.
All Technologies Network Performance, Uzbekistan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
When it comes to video quality of experience, Speedtest Intelligence reveals that Beeline had the fastest median adaptive start time for all mobile technologies combined in Uzbekistan, at 1.8 seconds during 1H 2024, followed by Uztelecom at 1.99 seconds, and UCell at 2.12 seconds. Furthermore, Beeline reported a video start failure rate of 3.5%, while Uztelecom and Mobiuz experienced higher failure rates of 4.6% and 4.8%, respectively.
Video Experience By Mobile Operator, Uzbekistan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In Uzbekistan’s two main cities, Samarkand and Tashkent, UCell led in median download speeds, achieving 83.12 Mbps in Samarkand and 83.36 Mbps in Tashkent. Uztelecom leads upload speed in Samarkand at 20.14 Mbps, while UCell ranks highest in Tashkent at 19.61 Mbps. UCell has the lowest latency in both cities, with 36 ms in Samarkand and 22 ms in Tashkent.
All Technologies Mobile Operator's Performance In Major Cities, Uzbekistan
Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
The mobile telecommunications landscape across Eurasia, particularly in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan, reveals varied network performance driven by differing levels of infrastructure investment, urban density, and regulatory initiatives.
Many operators in these countries face challenges, especially in rural and high-density urban areas where network congestion and limited infrastructure investment impact user experience. To address these gaps, several Eurasian governments are introducing policies to support 5G deployment, rural network expansion, and spectrum allocation, aiming to bridge connectivity disparities and support a growing digital economy. As these markets move towards 5G, continued regulatory support and investment in network infrastructure will be crucial to elevate service quality across the region, meeting the rising demand for fast and reliable mobile connectivity.
As operators in this region continue to modernize their networks, we are keeping a close eye on how the network deployments are progressing and the network performance end users experience. For more information about Speedtest Intelligence data and insights, please contact us.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
Mobile operators in Kazakhstan have made significant progress in enhancing mobile network coverage and quality. Major operators are now focusing on expanding 5G services across the country. This article reviews the mobile performance and quality of experience of Beeline, KCell, and Tele2 at a national level in the first half of 2024. It also showcases their notable achievements in the key cities of Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent.
Key Takeaways
5G networks in Kazakhstan delivered median download speeds -more than ten times faster than 4G. In the first half of 2024, 5G networks in Kazakhstan delivered median download speeds -more than ten times faster than 4G, with 5G achieving 332.11 Mbps compared to 4G’s 32.59 Mbps. Similarly, 5G median upload speeds were 2.6 times faster.
Tele2 topped performance in all technologies combined and 4G in the first half of 2024, while Kcell led in 5G download speed. Tele2 reported the highest median download speed across all technologies combined, at 55.12 Mbps, compared to Kcell’s 48.70 Mbps and Beeline’s 27.94 Mbps. Tele2’s 4G speed was 38.44 Mbps, surpassing Kcell’s 26.96 Mbps and Beeline’s 28.68 Mbps. For 5G, Kcell had the fastest median download speed at 347.80 Mbps, slightly ahead of Tele2’s 323.26 Mbps.
Tele2 delivered the best mobile video experience in Kazakhstan. In the first half of 2024, Tele2 achieved the highest Video Score of 69.79, outperforming Kcell (67.51) and Beeline (63.30). In mobile gaming performance, Tele2 and Kcell were nearly tied, with Tele2 slightly ahead, recording a Game Score of 73.49 compared to Kcell’s 73.08.
5G download speed is 10 times faster than 4G during first half 2024 in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s mobile market is highly competitive, with the three main operators, Beeline, Kcell, and Tele2, driving much of the country’s telecommunications development, providing widespread mobile network coverage and achieving high penetration rates. The country was one of the first in Central Asia to commercially launch 5G, with Kcell and Tele2-Altel having been the primary drivers in the rollout of 5G technology within the market. Since early 2023, both operators have been actively deploying 5G base stations throughout the country’s major cities after being awarded the two 100 MHz blocks of spectrum in the 3.6 – 3.7 GHz and 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum bands. As of June 2024, 1,144 base stations had been installed in 20 cities, as both operators continue to expand their 5G coverage across the country.
While the current 4G network in Kazakhstan may serve the daily connectivity needs of most mobile users, 5G technology offers a considerable performance uplift that can improve the user experience. When we compare 5G and 4G performance in Kazakhstan for the first half of 2024, the 5G median download speed of 332.11 Mbps was more than 10 times higher than the 4G median download speed of 32.59 Mbps. Similarly, the 5G median upload speed (32.26 Mbps) was 2.53 times faster than 4G’s upload speed of 12.61 Mbps during the same period.
Tele2 topped performance in all technologies combined and 4G, while Kcell led in 5G download speed
Based on Speedtest Intelligence® data in the first half of 2024, Tele2 led Kazakhstan’s mobile network performance across multiple categories, particularly in 4G and all technologies combined. During that period, Tele2 achieved the highest median download speed across all technologies combined, reaching 55.12 Mbps, surpassing Kcell’s 48.70 Mbps and Beeline’s 27.94 Mbps. Tele2 also led in median upload speed among the operators, with a speed of 17.16 Mbps, and maintained a competitive multi-server latency of 39 ms, indicating a responsive network experience.
Mobile Operators All Technologies Combined Network Performance, Kazakhstan
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
For 4G, Tele2 recorded a median download speed of 38.44 Mbps in the first half of 2024, outperforming Kcell’s 26.96 Mbps and Beeline’s 28.68 Mbps. Additionally, Tele2 led in 4G median upload speeds with 13.93 Mbps and achieved the lowest latency at 41.2 ms.
Kazakhstan was one of the first countries in Central Asia to commercially launch 5G, with Kcell and Tele2-Altel being the primary drivers in the rollout of 5G technology within the market. Both operators were awarded the two 100 MHz spectrum blocks in the 3.6 – 3.7 GHz and 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum bands in a 5G spectrum auction in December 2022. Beeline did not participate in the auction. The competitive dynamics between Tele2 and Kcell are instrumental in driving the country’s mobile network evolution, offering enhanced services to its consumers.
The data shows that for 5G, Kcell reported the fastest 5G median download speed at 347.80 Mbps, slightly ahead of Tele2’s 323.26 Mbps. Tele2 exhibited a better median upload speed of 33.56 Mbps compared to Kcell’s 29.30 Mbps. Both operators demonstrated comparable 5G latency, with Tele2 at 30.1 ms and Kcell at 31.2 ms.
Almaty reported the fastest download speed for major cities
Mobile network performance varied across Kazakhstan’s three largest cities – Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent – with Almaty achieving the highest median download speed based on Speedtest Intelligence data from the first half of 2024. Almaty recorded a median download speed of 71.67 Mbps, significantly higher than Shymkent’s 56.25 Mbps and Astana’s 52.31 Mbps. Upload speeds in all three cities were relatively close, ranging from 17.28 Mbps in Shymkent to 17.90 Mbps in Astana. Latency was lowest in Almaty at 33 ms, followed by Astana at 34 ms, and Shymkent at 41 ms.
Mobile Network Performance In Kazakhstan's Major Cities
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Mobile performance differs among operators across the three major cities of Kazakhstan
Data from Speedtest Intelligence shows that the performance of mobile operators varied across the three major cities, with some providers performing better in specific locations. Overall, Kcell and Tele2 are strong competitors, while Beeline, which lacks a 5G network, fell behind in several key performance indicators.
Mobile Operators All Technologies Combined Network Performance, Major Cities in Kazakhstan
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Kcell topped median download speed In Shymkent, recording a speed of 133.57 Mbps, while Tele2 lagged behind with 83.94. In Almaty, both Kcell and Tele2 recorded almost similar performance levels, with Kcell reporting a median download speed of 104.38 Mbps, followed closely by Tele2 with 102.99 Mbps. Beeline’s download speeds were significantly lower in both cities, at 38.26 Mbps in Almaty and 25.62 Mbps in Shymkent.
For upload speeds, Tele2 led in both cities, reaching 20.04 Mbps in Almaty and 23.20 Mbps in Shymkent. Latency was low across both cities for Kcell and Tele2. In Almaty, both recorded 31 ms, compared to Beeline’s 35 ms. In Shymkent, Kcell reported 32 ms, Tele2 39 ms, and Beeline 47 ms.
In Astana, Tele2 outperformed its competitors, achieving a median download speed of 78.55 Mbps, while Kcell followed with 64.69 Mbps and Beeline recorded only 26.57 Mbps. Tele2 also led in upload speeds at 24.89 Mbps, ahead of Kcell’s 18.63 Mbps and Beeline’s 10.98 Mbps. Latency was lowest for Tele2 at 31 ms, with Kcell at 33 ms and Beeline at 37 ms.
Mobile Operators 4G Network Performance, Major Cities in Kazakhstan
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Tele2 delivered the highest 4G median download speeds in all three cities, with 46.59 Mbps in Almaty, 42.46 Mbps in Astana, and 44.57 Mbps in Shymkent. Beeline reported a download speed of 38.81 Mbps in Almaty, 26.69 Mbps in Astana and 25.92 Mbps in Shymkent.
In terms of 4G median upload speeds, Beeline led in Almaty with 17.54 Mbps, while Tele2 delivered higher upload speeds in Astana and Shymkent, at 17.47 Mbps and 16.85 Mbps, respectively. Latency performance was relatively close among the operators in Almaty and Astana, while Kcell achieved the best latency in Shymkent at 33 ms.
Mobile Operators 5G Network Performance, Major Cities in Kazakhstan
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
In the first half of 2024, Kazakhstan’s 5G mobile providers—Kcell and Tele2— showed competitive 5G network performance results across Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent. In Almaty, Kcell reported a median download speed at 374.92 Mbps, slightly outperforming Tele2, which recorded 355.83 Mbps. Both operators performed similarly in upload speeds, with Tele2 at 27.02 Mbps and Kcell at 27.00 Mbps. Latency was nearly identical, with Tele2 reporting 26 ms and Kcell 27 ms.
In Astana, Tele2 led in both download and upload speeds. It achieved a median download speed of 226.89 Mbps, ahead of Kcell’s 159.03 Mbps, and recorded an upload speed of 35.95 Mbps, outperforming Kcell’s 22.17 Mbps. Latency was comparable, with Tele2 at 26 ms and Kcell at 28 ms.
Shymkent saw Tele2 record the highest download and upload speeds. Tele2 reported a download speed of 479.43 Mbps, while Kcell followed with 438.84 Mbps. In upload speeds, Tele2 led with 43.91 Mbps, compared to Kcell’s 32.55 Mbps. However, Kcell achieved lower latency in Shymkent at 28 ms, compared to Tele2’s 36 ms.
The deployment of 5G networks in Kazakhstan is still currently ongoing, with Kcell and Tele2 working on expanding 5G coverage in major cities. Tele2 has been proactive in expanding its 5G infrastructure, deploying base stations in 18 cities and exceeding the license obligations by the end of 2023.  Similarly, Kcell has partnered with Ericsson in a seven-year agreement to accelerate 5G deployment across key regions, including Almaty and Shymkent, aiming to cover at least 50% of Kazakhstan’s territory by 2030. These improvements not only cater to the growing demand for faster and more reliable services but also support emerging use cases such as mobile gaming, video streaming, and other data-intensive applications.
Tele2 edges the competition on mobile video and gaming quality of experience
While fast speeds are essential, providing good customer experience are also key indicators of network quality, especially when it comes to key use cases such as video streaming and mobile gaming. Speedtest Intelligence Quality of experience (QoE) measurements provide valuable insights into consumers’ real-life connectivity and quality of experience across various services like video streaming and mobile gaming. Ookla’s Speedtest Video Score™ and Game Score™ are unique measures to assess consumer video and gaming experience across different networks.
Video and Game Score, Kazakhstan
Source: Speedtest Intelligence® | 1H 2024
Based on 1H 2024 data, Tele2 provided the best mobile video experience in Kazakhstan, recording a Video Score of 69.79, ahead of Kcell and Beeline, which reported a Video Score of 67.51 and 63.30 respectively. Tele2 reported a video adaptive start time, which measures the time spent waiting for the video to start playing in the adaptive bitrate stage of the test, of 0.98 seconds during the same period.
Kazakhstan’s mobile gaming market is experiencing significant growth, with projected revenues reaching $156 million in 2024, driven by the widespread adoption of smartphones, and Kazakhstan’s youthful and tech-savvy population facilitating greater access to mobile games. Tele2 and Kcell reported almost similar Game Score in the first half of 2024, with Tele2 having a small edge with a Game Score of 73.49, and followed closely by Kcell with a score of 73.08.
Kazakhstan’s mobile network landscape in the first half of 2024 highlights ongoing network improvements, particularly in the expansion of 5G networks by leading operators Kcell and Tele2. Additionally, regulatory support, such as the allocation of spectrum and national digitalization programs like “Digital Kazakhstan,” has created a favorable environment for the development of more advanced mobile networks. These efforts are expected to bridge the digital divide, boost economic productivity, and position Kazakhstan as a regional leader in digital transformation.
We will continue to monitor both 4G and 5G performance in Kazakhstan, see how operators scale networks, and assess real-world performance as more consumers connect with 5G devices. If you want to learn more, subscribe to Ookla Research™ to be the first to read our analyses.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
Ookla® Market Reports™ identify key data about internet performance in countries across the world. This quarter we’ve provided updated analyses for 52 markets using Speedtest Intelligence® and summarized the top takeaways below. Click through to the market report to see more details and charts about the countries you’re interested in, including the fastest fixed broadband providers and mobile operators, who had the most consistent service, as well as 5G and device performance in select countries during Q4 2023. Jump forward to a continent using these links:
Côte d’Ivoire: Orange recorded the fastest median mobile and fixed download speeds during Q4 2023, at 30.13 Mbps and 65.90 Mbps, respectively. Moov Africa recorded the lowest mobile median multi-server latency at 83 ms, while CANALBOX recorded the lowest latency over fixed broadband at 70 ms. Of Côte d’Ivoire most populous cities, Abidjan had the fastest median fixed download speed of 58.88 Mbps.
Mozambique: Tmcel recorded the fastest mobile median download speed of 27.80 Mbps in Q4 2023, and also the highest mobile Consistency at 91.6%. Of Mozambique’s most populous cities, Maputo had the fastest median mobile and fixed download speeds at 26.33 Mbps and 14.65 Mbps, respectively. SpaceX’s Starlink recorded the fastest fixed broadband median download speed in Q4 2023 at 36.13 Mbps, along with the highest Consistency at 49.7%. Meanwhile, TVCABO recorded the lowest latency over fixed broadband at 16 ms.
Senegal: There was no winner of fastest median mobile performance in Senegal during Q4 2023, with Free and Orange both tied. Orange led the market for median fixed broadband download performance, with 21.46 Mbps in Q4 2023. Orange also had the lowest latency at 90 ms and highest Consistency of 45.4%. Of Senegal’s most populous cities, Dakar had the fastest median fixed download speed of 27.11 Mbps.
Argentina: Personal had the fastest median download speed over mobile at 36.59 Mbps, while also registering the lowest latency of 39 ms during Q4 2023. In the fixed broadband market, there was no statistically fastest network, with Movistar and Telecentro delivering median download speeds of 106.41 Mbps and 105.98 Mbps, respectively. Movistar recorded the lowest latency of 9 ms. Among Argentina’s most populous cities, Mendoza recorded the fastest mobile median download speed of 37.75 Mbps, while Buenos Aires recorded the fastest fixed download speed of 109.79 Mbps.
Belize: Digi had the fastest median mobile download and upload speeds of 17.50 Mbps and 9.28 Mbps, respectively during Q4 2023. Digi also recorded the highest Consistency of 80.3%, while smart! recorded the lowest median latency of 56 ms. There was no statistically fastest fixed network in the market based on download speed, however NEXGEN recorded the fastest median upload speed at 47.47 Mbps.
Canada: Bell was the fastest mobile operator in Canada with a median download speed of 121.33 Mbps in Q4 2023. Bell also had the fastest median 5G download speed at 194.23 Mbps. Rogers had the fastest median mobile upload speed of 15.10 Mbps, and the highest Consistency of 88.2%. Bell pure fibre was fastest for fixed broadband, recording a median download speed of 307.77 Mbps and a median upload speed of 264.97 Mbps. Bell pure fibre also recorded the highest Video Score, of 87.90. Of Canada’s most populous cities, St. John’s recorded the fastest median mobile download speed at 171.76 Mbps, while Fredericton recorded the fastest median fixed broadband download speed of 247.89 Mbps.
Colombia: Movistar was fastest for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 210.46 Mbps in Q4 2023. ETB had the lowest latency over fixed broadband at 7 ms. Of Colombia’s most populous cities, Cartagena recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 146.74 Mbps.
Costa Rica: Claro had the fastest median download speed among mobile operators at 40.56 Mbps during Q4 2023. Liberty recorded the fastest median upload speed at 10.73 Mbps, the lowest mobile latency at 33 ms, and the highest Consistency at 78.6%. Metrocom was fastest for fixed broadband download and upload performance, at 225.94 Mbps and 179.66 Mbps, respectively. Metrocom also recorded the lowest latency, at 6 ms.
Dominican Republic: Claro had the fastest median download and upload speeds among mobile operators at 34.27 Mbps and 9.84 Mbps, respectively. Claro also recorded the highest Consistency, at 77.0%. Viva had the lowest mobile latency at 43 ms. SpaceX’s Starlink was fastest for fixed broadband download performance at 48.08 Mbps, while Claro recorded the fastest median upload speed at 25.38 Mbps, and the lowest latency at 41 ms. Altice recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency, at 66.6%.
Ecuador: CNT recorded the fastest median mobile download speed during Q4 2023, at 26.22 Mbps, while Movistar recorded the lowest mobile multi-server latency at 41 ms. Netlife was fastest for fixed broadband, with a median download speed of 91.56 Mbps. Netlife also recorded the lowest latency over fixed broadband at 8 ms. Xtrim recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency at 84.8%. Of Ecuador’s most populous cities, Santo Domingo recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 31.58 Mbps, while Guayaquil recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 88.59 Mbps.
El Salvador: Claro had the fastest median download speed among mobile operators in El Salvador, at 40.97 Mbps, along with the highest Consistency of 90.4%. Movistar registered the fastest median mobile upload speed of 13.35 Mbps and lowest latency at 73 ms. Cable Color recorded the fastest median fixed download speed at 55.57 Mbps, the top median upload speed at 57.04 Mbps, and the lowest median latency of 51 ms. Of El Salvador’s most populous cities, Santa Tecla showed the fastest median mobile and fixed download speeds during Q4 2023 at 39.27 Mbps and 54.98 Mbps respectively.
Guatemala: Claro was the fastest mobile operator in Guatemala during Q4 2023 with a median download speed of 41.63 Mbps and a median upload speed of 19.61 Mbps. Claro also had the highest Consistency at 87.9%, while also leading the market for 5G performance, with a median 5G download speed of 388.34 Mbps. Tigo recorded the lowest median mobile latency at 79 ms. SpaceX’s Starlink was fastest for median fixed download performance at 54.32 Mbps, while Cable Color was fastest for fixed upload performance at 33.45 Mbps. Cable Color also had the lowest median latency on fixed broadband at 27 ms. Claro recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency at 73.1%. Of Guatemala’s most populous cities, Escuintla showed the fastest median mobile download speed during Q4 2023 at 44.16 Mbps, while Villa Nueva recorded the fastest median fixed download speed, at 60.83 Mbps.
Guyana: There was no winner of fastest median mobile performance in Guyana during Q4 2023, with ENet and Digicel posting median download speeds of 24.64 Mbps and 23.53 Mbps, respectively. ENet recorded the fastest median mobile upload speed at 18.49 Mbps and offered the lowest median latency at 143 ms. In the fixed broadband market, ENet recorded the fastest median download and upload speeds, of 70.20 Mbps and 52.25 Mbps, respectively, while also recording the lowest median latency of 130 ms. GTT recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency during Q4 2023, at 69.2%.
Haiti: Digicel was the fastest mobile operator in Haiti with a median mobile download speed of 14.26 Mbps, a median upload speed of 10.52 Mbps, and Consistency of 67.2%. Natcom recorded the lowest mobile latency, of 62 ms. SpaceX Starlink had the fastest median fixed download speed at 41.73 Mbps. Natcom had the fastest median fixed upload speed at 31.89 Mbps, the lowest median fixed latency at 47 ms, and the highest fixed broadband Consistency of 64.0%.
Honduras: Claro recorded the fastest median mobile download and upload speeds during Q4 2023, of 53.06 Mbps and 16.22 Mbps, respectively, while also recording the highest Consistency at 87.2%. Tigo recorded the lowest median mobile latency at 93 ms. Claro had the fastest median fixed download speed at 47.26 Mbps during Q4 2023, and the highest fixed broadband Consistency at 80.2%. TEVISAT recorded the fastest median upload speed, of 22.36 Mbps, and the lowest median fixed latency at 20 ms. Of Honduras’ most populous cities, El Progreso recorded the fastest median mobile download speed during Q4 2023, of 41.69 Mbps, while Tegucigalpa showed the fastest median fixed download speed at 41.97 Mbps.
Jamaica:There was no winner of fastest median mobile download performance in Jamaica during Q4 2023, with Flow and Digicel tied. Digicel recorded the fastest median upload speed of 8.37 Mbps and highest Consistency of 81.9%. Flow had the lowest mobile median latency at 38 ms. SpaceX Starlink had the fastest median download speed over fixed broadband at 84.10 Mbps, and the highest fixed broadband Consistency at 77.8%. Digicel+ recorded the fastest median upload speed of 46.14 Mbps, while Flow recorded the lowest median fixed latency at 25 ms.
Mexico: Telcel had the fastest median download and upload speeds over mobile at 52.06 Mbps and 13.50 Mbps, respectively, and the operator also delivered the fastest median 5G download speed at 233.82 Mbps. Telcel also had the lowest mobile median latency at 62 ms and highest Consistency at 87.2%. Totalplay was fastest for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 88.87 Mbps and a median upload speed of 30.50 Mbps. Totalplay also had the lowest median fixed broadband latency at 28 ms and the highest Consistency at 84.0%. Among Mexico’s most populous cities, Monterrey recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 38.36 Mbps, while Guadalajara recorded the fastest median fixed broadband speed of 80.32 Mbps.
Panama: MasMovil was the fastest mobile operator with median download and upload speeds of 27.24 Mbps and 15.18 Mbps, respectively, as well as the highest Consistency of 79.3%. Digicel recorded the lowest median mobile latency, at 34 ms. There was no winner of the fastest median fixed download performance, with both Tigo and MasMovil tied. MasMovil recorded the fastest median upload speed of 33.38 Mbps and the lowest median latency at 16ms. Among Panama’s most populous cities, David recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 21.57 Mbps, while La Chorrera recorded the fastest median fixed broadband speed of 156.71 Mbps.
Peru: Claro was the fastest mobile operator in Peru with a median download speed of 23.30 Mbps during Q4 2023, and also had the highest mobile Consistency in the market with 80.6%.
Trinidad and Tobago: Digicel had the fastest median download speed over mobile at 33.29 Mbps and the highest Video Score in the market at 74.86. bmobile recorded the fastest median mobile upload speed of 12.17 Mbps, and the lowest median latency at 32 ms. Digicel+ had the fastest median fixed broadband download and upload speeds at 118.53 Mbps and 107.24 Mbps, respectively. Digicel+ also had the lowest median latency at 7 ms.
United States: T-Mobile was the fastest mobile operator with median download and upload speeds of 188.96 Mbps and 12.19 Mbps, respectively. T-Mobile also recorded the highest mobile Consistency at 87.3%, and the lowest median mobile latency of 50 ms. T-Mobile also led the market with the fastest median 5G download speed at 238.87 Mbps, as well as the lowest 5G latency of 48 ms. T-Mobile secured the highest Video Score across all technologies with 78.21, and for 5G, with a Video Score of 81.54. Cox led the market as the fastest fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 261.27 Mbps, while AT&T Internet recorded the fastest median fixed upload speed of 195.64 Mbps, and Verizon had the lowest median latency over fixed broadband at 15 ms.
Uruguay: Antel was the fastest mobile operator in Uruguay during Q4 2023 with a median download speed of 117.79 Mbps, and recorded the lowest median latency of 44 ms.
Venezuela: Digitel was the fastest mobile operator with a median download speed of 14.37 Mbps and a median upload speed of 6.97 Mbps during Q4 2023. Digitel also recorded the highest Consistency in the market, with 68.0%, and the lowest median latency of 97 ms. Airtek Solutions had the fastest median fixed download and upload speeds of 94.76 Mbps and 94.89 Mbps, respectively. Airtek Solutions also recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency of 86.0%, and the lowest median latency at 7 ms. Among Venezuela’s most populous cities, Maracaibo recorded the fastest median mobile and fixed download speeds of 17.17 Mbps and 82.35 Mbps, respectively.
Afghanistan: The fastest mobile operator in Afghanistan was Afghan Wireless with a median download speed of 6.68 Mbps in Q4 2023. The operator also had the lowest median latency at 77 ms and the highest Consistency of 51.0%.
Bangladesh: Banglalink was the fastest mobile operator in Bangladesh with a median download speed of 26.74 Mbps in Q4 2023. Banglalink also recorded the highest Consistency of 89.0% and the lowest median latency of 33 ms. DOT Internet was the fastest fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 91.35 Mbps, while also recording the highest Consistency at 87.5% and the lowest median latency at 5 ms.
Bhutan: There was no statistical winner for fastest mobile download performance during Q4 2023 in Bhutan, with TashiCell and BT both tied with speeds of 31.52 Mbps and 28.15 Mbps, respectively. TashiCell recorded the lowest median mobile latency of 52 ms.
Brunei: There was no statistical winner for fastest mobile download performance during Q4 2023 in Brunei, with DST and Imagine both tied with speeds of 97.34 Mbps and 91.53 Mbps, respectively.
Cambodia: Cellcard recorded the fastest median mobile download speed at 33.74 Mbps during Q4 2023, while Metfone recorded the highest Consistency at 80.8% and the lowest median latency at 38 ms. MekongNet was the fastest fixed broadband provider, with a median fixed download speed of 48.29 Mbps. MekongNet also recorded the highest Consistency at 71.1%. OpenNet recorded the lowest median latency over fixed broadband, at 7ms.
China: China Broadnet was the fastest mobile operator in China during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 248.77 Mbps, and median 5G download speed of 305.61 Mbps. China Mobile recorded the lowest median mobile latency, at 42 ms. There was no statistical winner for fastest fixed download performance, with China Unicom and China Mobile both tied with speeds of 246.93 Mbps and 245.59 Mbps, respectively. China Mobile recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency, of 93.4%, while China Telecom recorded the lowest median fixed broadband latency at 22 ms. Among China’s most populous cities, Beijing recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 232.41 Mbps, while Tianjin recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 326.07 Mbps.
Georgia:Geocell recorded the fastest mobile download performance during Q4 2023 in Georgia, at 50.52 Mbps, and the lowest mobile latency at 37 ms. MagtiCom had the fastest median fixed download speed at 27.81 Mbps and the highest Consistency of 66.5%. Among Georgia’s most populous cities, Tbilisi recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 36.17 Mbps, while Rustavi recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 27.38 Mbps.
Hong Kong (SAR): China Mobile Hong Kong was the fastest mobile operator in Hong Kong (SAR) during Q4 2023, with a median download speed across all technologies of 98.94 Mbps, and a median download speed over 5G of 177.96 Mbps. csl recorded the fastest median mobile upload speed, at 16.89 Mbps.
Indonesia: Telkomsel was the fastest Indonesian mobile operator with a median download speed of 31.14 Mbps. Telkomsel also had the lowest median mobile latency at 45 ms.
Japan: Rakuten Mobile recorded the fastest mobile download and upload speeds during Q4 2023 in Japan, at 51.16 Mbps and 20.21 Mbps, respectively. Rakuten Mobile also recorded the highest Consistency in the market at 90.6%, while SoftBank recorded the lowest median latency at 43 ms. So-net had the fastest fixed download and upload speeds, at 296.29 Mbps and 219.53 Mbps, respectively, as well as the lowest median latency over fixed broadband at 9 ms. SpaceX Starlink recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency in the market at 96.4%.
Kazakhstan: Tele2 recorded the highest mobile Consistency in Kazakhstan during Q4 2023 with 85.3% and the lowest median mobile latency at 39 ms.
Malaysia: TM was the fastest fixed broadband provider in Malaysia with a median download speed of 112.00 Mbps in Q4 2023. TIME recorded the lowest fixed broadband latency at 9 ms.
Pakistan: Jazz delivered the fastest median mobile download speed in Pakistan at 21.38 Mbps in Q4 2023. Zong recorded the highest mobile Consistency, at 83.2%, and the lowest median mobile latency of 45 ms. Transworld recorded the fastest median fixed broadband download speed at 22.08 Mbps and the highest Consistency at 46.1%, while Connect Communications recorded the lowest median fixed broadband latency at 12 ms.
Philippines: Smart delivered the fastest median mobile download speed in the Philippines at 37.64 Mbps in Q4 2023.
South Korea: SK Telecom recorded the fastest median mobile download speed at 192.67 Mbps, while also recording the highest Consistency in the market at 89.1%. LG U+ had the lowest median mobile latency in the market at 76 ms. In South Korea’s fixed broadband market, LG U+ delivered the fastest median download speed at 146.20 Mbps, and the lowest median latency of 57 ms.
Sri Lanka:There was no statistical winner for fastest mobile download performance during Q4 2023 in Sri Lanka, with Dialog and SLT-Mobitel both tied with speeds of 23.98 Mbps and 23.89 Mbps, respectively. Dialog delivered the lowest median mobile latency of 36 ms. SLT-Mobitel recorded the fastest fixed download speed of 37.46 Mbps, as well as the highest fixed broadband Consistency of 57.9% and the lowest fixed broadband latency at 13 ms.
Vietnam: Viettel was the fastest fixed provider in Vietnam during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 107.40 Mbps. Viettel also recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency at 94.8% and the lowest median fixed broadband latency of 4 ms.
Albania: Vodafone recorded the fastest median mobile download speed in Albania during Q4 2023, of 53.36 Mbps. One Albania recorded the highest mobile Consistency of 86.1%. Digicom was the fastest fixed broadband provider with a median download speed of 94.74 Mbps. Abissnet recorded the lowest fixed broadband latency, at 7 ms. Among Albania’s most populous cities, Vlorë recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 75.34 Mbps, while Shkodër recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 69.91 Mbps.
Belgium: Proximus recorded the fastest median mobile download speed in Belgium during Q4 2023, at 89.67 Mbps. Proximus also recorded the highest mobile Consistency in the market at 89.8%. There was no statistical winner for fastest fixed download performance, with Telenet and VOO both tied with speeds of 158.08 Mbps and 156.00 Mbps, respectively. VOO recorded the highest Consistency at 89.8%. Among Belgium’s most populous cities, Ghent recorded the fastest median mobile and fixed download speeds, of 168.89 Mbps and 90.14 Mbps, respectively.
Denmark: Telia was the fastest mobile operator in Denmark during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 163.41 Mbps. Hiper was fastest for fixed broadband, with a median download speed of 277.56 Mbps.
Estonia: The fastest mobile operator in Estonia was Telia with a median download speed of 92.39 Mbps in Q4 2023. Elisa recorded the highest mobile Consistency of 91.9%. Elisa was the fastest fixed broadband provider, with a median download speed of 100.13 Mbps. Elisa also recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency, of 86.3%. Infonet recorded the lowest median fixed broadband latency of 5 ms.
Finland: DNA had the fastest median mobile download speed at 113.57 Mbps in Q4 2023, and the highest Consistency of 95.4%. DNA also recorded the fastest median 5G download performance, at 247.54 Mbps. Telia recorded the lowest median mobile latency of 31 ms. Lounea was fastest for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 171.31 Mbps. Lounea also recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency in the market at 91.5%, as well as the lowest median fixed broadband latency at 13 ms.
Germany: Telekom was the fastest mobile operator in Germany during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 90.26 Mbps, as well as the top median download speed over 5G at 179.25 Mbps. Telekom also recorded the highest mobile Consistency in the market at 92.1% and the lowest median mobile latency of 38 ms. Deutsche Glasfaser recorded the fastest fixed broadband performance, with a median download speed at 201.43 Mbps. Deutsche Glasfaser also recorded the highest fixed broadband Consistency in the market at 90.5% and the lowest latency of 14 ms.
Latvia:There was no statistical winner for fastest mobile download performance in Latvia during Q4 2023, with BITĖ and LMT both tied with speeds of 81.56 Mbps and 81.11 Mbps, respectively.BITĖ recorded the highest mobile Consistency in the market of 91.3%, while LMT recorded the lowest mobile latency at 27 ms. Balticom was fastest for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 275.19 Mbps, while also leading with the highest fixed broadband Consistency of 93.7%, and the lowest median latency at 4 ms. Among Latvia’s most populous cities, Olaine recorded the fastest median mobile download speed, of 170.18 Mbps, while Salaspils recorded the fastest median fixed broadband download speed of 94.64 Mbps.
Lithuania: Telia was the fastest mobile operator in Lithuania during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 116.58 Mbps in Q4 2023. Telia also recorded the highest Consistency in the market at 94.7%, and the lowest median mobile latency at 32 ms. Cgates was fastest for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 177.14 Mbps. Cgates also recorded the highest Consistency over fixed broadband in the market at 90.9%, while Penki recorded the lowest fixed broadband latency, at 4ms. Among Lithuania’s most populous cities, Panevėžys recorded the fastest median mobile download speed, of 106.34 Mbps, while Klaipėda recorded the fastest median fixed broadband download speed of 138.34 Mbps.
Poland: T-Mobile was the fastest mobile operator in Poland during Q4 2023, with a median download speed of 49.10 Mbps. T-Mobile also recorded the highest Consistency in the market at 88.4%. Plus recorded the fastest 5G performance in the market, with a median 5G download speed of 133.34 Mbps. Plus also recorded the lowest median mobile latency, at 43 ms. UPC was the fastest provider for fixed broadband with a median download speed of 232.36 Mbps, while Netia recorded the lowest fixed broadband latency, at 16 ms. Among Poland’s most populous cities, Łódź recorded the fastest median mobile download speed of 46.53 Mbps, while Wrocław recorded the fastest median fixed download speed of 172.86 Mbps.
Turkey: Turkcell was the fastest mobile operator in Turkey with a median download speed of 56.73 Mbps in Q4 2023, and Turkcell also recorded the highest Consistency of 91.3%. Türk Telekom had the lowest median mobile latency at 39 ms. TurkNet was fastest for fixed broadband, with a median download speed of 66.57 Mbps. TurkNet also recorded the lowest median fixed latency at 13 ms, and the highest Consistency at 81.5%. Among Turkey’s most populous cities, Istanbul recorded the fastest median download speeds across mobile and fixed, at 38.50 Mbps and 47.81 Mbps, respectively.
New Zealand: There was no statistical winner for fastest mobile download performance during Q4 2023 in New Zealand, with One NZ and Spark both tied with speeds of 73.52 Mbps and 70.23 Mbps, respectively. 2degrees led the market with the highest Consistency of 91.0% and the lowest median mobile multi-server latency at 40 ms.
The Speedtest Global Index is your resource to understand how internet connectivity compares around the world and how it’s changing. Check back next month for updated data on country and city rankings, and look for updated Ookla Market Reports with 1H 2024 data in July.
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Mobile operators in Kazakhstan are making significant investments in their infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for reliable and high-speed mobile services. In this article, we take a closer look at the current state of mobile networks in Kazakhstan, evaluate their performance, and explore the efforts made by operators to expand their networks with the latest 5G technology.
Key Takeaways
Kazakhstan continues to improve its Speedtest Global Index ranking. Kazakhstan’s mobile download speeds have improved by 61% since late 2022, reaching 35.07 Mbps in December 2023 from 21.29 Mbps in December 2022. As a result, the country moved up 23 places on the Speedtest Global Index™, from 95th to 72nd over that period, putting it ahead of neighboring Central Asian countries.
Almaty’s 4G median download speed outpaces other cities in Kazakhstan and neighboring countries. In Q4 2023,Almaty had a 4G median download speed of 32.32 Mbps, outpacing Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Additionally, both cities reported faster 4G speeds than the neighboring capital cities of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan seeks to utilize 5G technology to support its digital transformation strategy and bridge the digital divide. Kcell and Tele2 are ramping up their 5G rollout with ambitious 5G deployment targets set by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation & Aerospace. Speedtest Intelligence® data shows that there is already a significant addressable base of customers with 5G-capable devices, with over 53% of all nationwide tests conducted on 5G-capable devices during Q4 2023.
Regulation and government initiatives drive Kazakhstan’s digital transformation. The country is implementing strategic regulatory policies, encouraging collaboration between various stakeholders, and launching initiatives like “Digital Kazakhstan” to promote digital infrastructure and ensure that telecommunications services are widely accessible.
Kazakhstan gradually climbed up the rankings on the Speedtest Mobile Global Index
Speedtest Intelligence® data shows that the mobile median download speeds for all technologies across Kazakhstan have gradually improved over the 12 months between December 2022 and December 2023. In December 2023, Kazakhstan’s median download speed increased to 35.07 Mbps from 21.29 Mbps recorded in December 2022. As a result of this improvement, Kazakhstan moved up 23 places on the Speedtest Global Index™, ranking at 72nd place in December 2023, compared to 95th place in December 2022. Kazakhstan ranks ahead of neighboring countries like Uzbekistan at 95th place, Kyrgyzstan at 100th place, and Tajikistan at 141st place.
Kazakhstan’s 4G performance in Central Asia continues to remain competitive
In our recent report discussing the performance and availability of mobile networks across Central Asia, Kazakhstan topped the ranks amongst its neighbors in terms of mobile download speed in Q4 2022. According to the latest Speedtest Intelligence data in Q4 2023, Kazakhstan still led in terms of 4G median mobile download speed, with a reported speed of 28.26 Mbps, higher than Kyrgyzstan (26.76 Mbps), Uzbekistan (23.09 Mbps), and Tajikistan (11.15 Mbps). However, Kazakhstan was slightly behind in 4G median upload speed at 12.09 Mbps compared to Kyrgyzstan (12.75 Mbps) and Uzbekistan (12.15 Mbps).
During the same period, Kazakhstan reported slightly lower 4G Availability than Kyrgyzstan. 4G Availability measures the percentage of users on all devices who spend most of their time connected to 4G technology, including roaming and on-network. In Q4 2023, Kyrgyzstan topped the region with a 4G Availability rate of 91.1%, while Kazakhstan was at 88.9%. Kazakhstan’s 4G Availability rate increased by 4.4 percentage points from 84.4% reported in Q4 2022.
Almaty had the fastest 4G median download speed among select Central Asia cities
Two major cities in Kazakhstan had the fastest 4G median download speeds compared to capital cities of neighboring countries. Among the select cities in the region we looked at (shown on the map above), Almaty, the largest city in the country, had a 4G median download speed of 32.32 Mbps in Q4 2023, the only city to surpass 30 Mbps. Astana was second among these neighboring cities, with a median download speed of 27.24 Mbps, outpacing Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan (26.59 Mbps), Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent (23.91 Mbps), and Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe (11.54 Mbps). Shymkent, the third-most populous city in Kazakhstan, had a 4G median download speed of 22.47 Mbps during the same period.
Operators have been making progress in providing consistent quality of service
While fast speeds are essential, providing consistent quality of service and customer experience are also key indicators of network quality. If a user’s speeds are inconsistent, it becomes difficult for users to stream HD video reliably, browse the web, or play online games. Ookla’s Consistency Score™ is a measure used to identify networks that provide a consistent quality of service. Consistency Score reflects the percentage of a provider’s users who experienced download and upload speeds that met or exceeded Ookla’s thresholds for the majority of their tests. For mobile (all technologies), the threshold of consistent service is 5 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed. Achieving these speeds means network users are likely to be able to do things like stream HD content or play online games without any issues.
Ookla’s data shows that all major operators in Kazakhstan showed an improved Consistency Score in Q4 2023 compared to Q4 2022. In Q4 2023, Tele2 achieved the highest Consistency Score of 85.3% among all the operators, a 4.6 percentage point increase from Q4 2022. Kcell was second with a Consistency Score of 80.2%, showing a significant increase of 15.1 percentage points from Q4 2022. Beeline also improved their score, with a Consistency Score of 78.3%, an increase of 3 percentage points over the same period.
5G is ramping up in Kazakhstan
The Central Asian region is gradually advancing towards the 5G era, although it is still in its early stages compared to more developed markets in Europe and Asia. In December 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation & Aerospace released the results of its spectrum auction for two 100 MHz blocks of 3.6 GHz spectrum. A consortium of mobile operators, consisting of Mobile Telecom Services (Tele2 and Altel brands) and Kcell, both of which are part of Kazakhtelecom, were awarded the two 100 MHz blocks in the 3.6 – 3.7 GHz and 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum bands. Initially, the licensing conditions required deploying 7,000 5G BTS across Kazakhstan by the end of 2027. However, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced an accelerated timeline, calling for operators to achieve the target by the end of 2025.
As of mid-November 2023, Kazakhtelecom announced that the 5G network is operational in 15 cities, with over 1,000 live 5G base stations. Tele2-Altel has deployed over 600 5G base stations, while Kcell has deployed 400.
While accelerated 5G deployment will ensure significant coverage in major cities, the affordability and availability of 5G-capable smartphones will be critical factors in growing 5G subscriptions. Encouraging users to upgrade to 5G-capable devices is a necessary first step before consumers can unlock 5G services and move beyond just making voice calls and text messaging.
Smartphone adoption in Kazakhstan has seen continued growth in recent years, driven by expanding mobile network coverage, increasing consumer disposable incomes, and improving economic conditions, resulting in a rising number of internet users. According to GSMA Intelligence, smartphone adoption in Kazakhstan has increased gradually over the last few years. In 2023, the share of total smartphone subscribers was 83%, an increase of more than ten percentage points from 2020.
To assess how prepared consumers in Kazakhstan are for 5G, we looked at the percentage of consumers already owning 5G-capable devices in the country. Based on Ookla’s data, we compared the proportion of unique devices that conducted consumer-initiated Speedtest using a 5G-capable device to the total number of devices running Speedtest, regardless of network technology.
In Q4 2023, over 53% of all tests conducted in Kazakhstan were carried out on unique 5G-capable devices, while the remaining 46.3% were on non-5G networks. The proportion shows that 5G operators in Kazakhstan have a significant existing addressable base of customers with 5G-capable devices they can target as they continue to roll out their 5G services. Motivating the remaining customers, who are yet to invest in 5G-capable devices, is critical as the operators continue expanding their 5G network access to all populated areas nationwide.
Users with 5G capable devices are already experiencing performance uplift compared to those on 4G devices
The deployment of 5G networks in Kazakhstan is still in its early stages, with Kcell and Tele2 working on expanding 5G coverage in major cities. Although the current 4G network’s performance is sufficient for most users’ everyday tasks, such as browsing, streaming, and online communication, users with 5G-capable devices are already experiencing significant performance improvements in areas with both 4G and 5G coverage. The deployment of 5G networks will also enhance 4G speeds thanks to the modernization of underlying infrastructure. Furthermore, it will offload 4G traffic onto the 5G network, improving the overall performance of the existing 4G network.
Ookla’s data show that, in Q4 2023, users with 5G capable devices reported median download speeds of 70.05 Mbps compared to 28.26 Mbps for users on 4G devices. This difference in speed translates to more than 2.48 times higher download speeds for users on 5G-capable devices than those on purely 4G devices. There is a slight increase in median upload speed, with 5G-capable devices reporting a median upload speed of 16.54 Mbps, a slight increase from 12.09 Mbps for 4G devices. While we must approach these early results cautiously, users who own 5G-capable devices and are in areas where 5G coverage is available can achieve much faster speeds, at least under current network conditions with no network congestion.
Addressing connectivity challenges with 5G
Thanks to its abundant reserve of mineral resources, Kazakhstan has the largest economy in Central Asia. The country holds the 12th position globally in oil reserves and the 14th in gas reserves. However, it also recognizes that more than a solid resource base is needed to compete in the global economy. The government and regulatory bodies of the country understand the benefits of digital transformation and have initiatives to stimulate mobile adoption, driving the country’s digital progress.
Both mobile operators and regulatory authorities have a vital role in reducing the digital divide and making 4G and 5G accessible to consumers. As operators continue to expand their 5G networks, they are also exploring new services that can complement their existing offerings. One such service is 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), which provides an excellent opportunity to cover areas too remote or expensive to deploy fiber. 5G FWA is particularly promising in rural areas, using 5G as the last-mile technology to provide broadband connectivity.
The M360 Eurasia event recently discussed how collaboration and partnership among stakeholders are crucial to unlocking a country’s digital transformation strategy. Kcell and Ericsson recently announced a seven-year partnership to deploy 5G networks in key regions, including Almaty and Shymkent. The partnership will also explore using 5G FWA as an alternative or complement to wired connections for residential and business customers, making it a valuable option for the “last mile” of connectivity.
Government and regulatory support in improving overall connectivity in Kazakhstan
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Kazakhstan has the highest internet usage rate within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, with 95.7% of its population using the internet. The CIS region comprises 12 independent countries previously part of the Soviet Union. In contrast, the internet usage rate across the rest of the region ranges from 80.6% in Uzbekistan to 92.9% in the Russian Federation. One of the main drivers for Kazakhstan as a regional leader in internet access is the relatively low price of telecommunication services compared to other countries. Based on the 2022 Internet Accessibility Index, Kazakhstan ranked sixth among countries with the lowest mobile internet tariffs, with subscribers in Kazakhstan only paying 0.6 USD for 1 GB of mobile data.
Kazakhstan is actively modernizing its telecommunication infrastructure and is making significant efforts to develop the ICT sector. In 2017, the government of Kazakhstan launched the “Digital Kazakhstan” national program to improve the country’s digital infrastructure and bridge the digital divide. The program envisaged digitally transforming the critical sectors of the economy, including digitization of economic sectors, establishing e-government services, developing high-speed and secure communication networks and IT infrastructure across the country, increasing digital literacy, and providing an environment for technological entrepreneurship.
The country’s government has set an ambitious target of achieving 100% broadband internet coverage of regional centers and 95% home broadband adoption by 2025. This target can be challenging for a large country with a sparse population, with almost half living in rural areas. To address this, and as part of the National Digital Kazakhstan strategy, the government has launched the 250+ program, which aims to extend high-speed internet to all villages with a population of 250 or more. The project uses a collaborative approach to network and equipment sharing between the top three telecommunication operators – Beeline Kazakhstan, Kcell, and Tele2. Once connected, local communities can access any mobile provider on competitive terms.
We will continue to monitor both 4G and 5G performance in Kazakhstan, see how operators scale networks, and assess real-world performance as more consumers connect with 5G devices and use 5G FWA. If you want to learn more, subscribe to Ookla Research™ to be the first to read our analyses.
Мобильные операторы Казахстана вкладывают значительные средства в свою инфраструктуру, чтобы удовлетворить растущий спрос на надежные и высокоскоростные мобильные услуги. В этой статье мы более подробно рассмотрим текущее состояние мобильных сетей в Казахстане, оценим их производительность и исследуем усилия операторов по расширению своих сетей с помощью новейшей технологии 5G.
Ключевые выводы
Казахстан продолжает улучшать свой рейтинг в глобальном индексе Speedtest. Скорость мобильной загрузки в Казахстане улучшилась на 61% с конца 2022 года, достигнув 35,07 Мбит/с в декабре 2023 года с 21,29 Мбит/с в декабре 2022 года. Врезультате страна поднялась на 23 позиции в Глобальном индексе Speedtest™, с 95-го на 72-е место за этот период, опередив соседние страны Центральной Азии.
Медианная скорость загрузки 4G в Алматы опережает другие города Казахстана и соседних стран. В четвертом квартале 2023 года в Алматы медианная скорость загрузки по 4G составила 32,32 Мбит/с, что опережает скорость в Астане, столице Казахстана. Кроме того, в обоих городах скорость 4G выше, чем в соседних столицах Кыргызстана, Таджикистана и Узбекистана.
Казахстан стремится использовать технологию 5G для поддержки своей стратегии цифровой трансформации и преодоления цифрового разрыва. Kcellи Tele2 наращивают темпы внедрения 5G, преследуя амбициозные цели по развертыванию 5G, поставленные Министерством цифрового развития, инноваций и аэрокосмической промышленности. Данные Speedtest Intelligence® показывают, что уже существует значительная база клиентов, обладающих устройствами с поддержкой 5G, — в четвертом квартале 2023 года более 53 % тестов по всей стране было проведено на устройствах с поддержкой 5G.
Регулирование и правительственные инициативы стимулируют цифровую трансформацию Казахстана. Страна реализует стратегическую политику регулирования, поощряет сотрудничество между различными заинтересованными сторонами и запускает такие инициативы, как «Цифровой Казахстан», для продвижения цифровой инфраструктуры и обеспечения широкой доступности телекоммуникационных услуг.
Казахстан постепенно поднялся в рейтинге Speedtest Mobile Global Index
Данные Speedtest Intelligence® показывают, что медианная скорость загрузки на мобильных устройствах для всех технологий в Казахстане постепенно улучшалась в течение 12 месяцев с декабря 2022 года по декабрь 2023 года. В декабре 2023 года медианная скорость загрузки в Казахстане, зафиксированная в декабре 2022 года, увеличилась с 21,29 Мбит/с до 35,07 Мбит/с. В результате этого улучшения Казахстан поднялся на 23 позиции в рейтинге Speedtest Global Index™, заняв 72-е место в декабре 2023 года по сравнению с 95-м местом в декабре 2022 года. Казахстан опережает соседние страны, такие как Узбекистан на 95-м месте, Кыргызстан на 100-м месте и Таджикистан на 141-м месте.
Показатели 4G Казахстана в Центральной Азии продолжают оставаться конкурентоспособными
В нашем недавнем отчете, посвященном производительности и доступности мобильных сетей в Центральной Азии, Казахстан возглавил рейтинг среди своих соседей по скорости мобильной загрузки в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Согласно последним данным Speedtest Intelligence за четвертый квартал 2023 года, Казахстан по-прежнему лидирует по средней скорости мобильной загрузки 4G с заявленной скоростью 28,26 Мбит/с, что выше, чем в Кыргызстане (26,76 Мбит/с), Узбекистане (23,09 Мбит/с) и Таджикистане (11,15 Мбит/с). Однако Казахстан немного отставал по средней скорости загрузки 4G (12,09 Мбит/с) по сравнению с Кыргызстаном (12,75 Мбит/с) и Узбекистаном (12,15 Мбит/с).
За тот же период Казахстан сообщил о несколько более низкой доступности 4G, чем Кыргызстан. Доступность 4G определяется процентом пользователей на всех устройствах, которые проводят преимущественную часть своего времени с подключением к технологии 4G, включая роуминг и работу в сети. В четвертом квартале 2023 года Кыргызстан возглавил регион с уровнем доступности 4G 91,1%, а Казахстан — с 88,9%. Уровень доступности 4G в Казахстане увеличился на 4,4 процентных пункта с 84,4%, зарегистрированных в четвертом квартале 2022 года.
В Алматы зафиксирована самая быстрая медианная скорость загрузки по 4G среди определенных городов Центральной Азии
В двух крупных городах Казахстана зафиксирована самая высокая медианная скорость загрузки по 4G по сравнению со столицами соседних стран. Среди избранных городов региона, которые мы рассмотрели (показаны на карте выше), Алматы, крупнейший город страны, имел медианную скорость загрузки 4G в четвертом квартале 2023 года 32,32 Мбит/с и был единственным городом, который превысил 30 Мбит/с. Астана заняла второе место среди этих соседних городов со средней скоростью загрузки 27,24 Мбит/с, опередив Бишкек, столицу Кыргызстана (26,59 Мбит/с), столицу Узбекистана Ташкент (23,91 Мбит/с) и столицу Таджикистана Душанбе (11,54 Мбит/с). В Шымкенте, третьем по численности населения городе Казахстана, за тот же период медианная скорость загрузки 4G составляла 22,47 Мбит/с.
Операторы добились прогресса в обеспечении стабильного качества обслуживания.
Хотя высокая скорость имеет большое значение, обеспечение стабильного качества обслуживания также является ключевым показателем качества сети. Если скорость нестабильна, пользователям сложно надежно транслировать видео высокой четкости, просматривать веб-страницы или играть в онлайн-игры. Показатель Consistency Score™ от Ookla — это показатель, используемый для определения сетей, обеспечивающих стабильное качество обслуживания. Consistency Score отражает процент пользователей провайдера, у которых скорость загрузки и передачи соответствовала пороговым значениям Ookla для большинства тестов или превышала их. Для мобильных устройств (все технологии) порогом стабильного обслуживания является скорость загрузки 5 Мбит/с и скорость передачи 1 Мбит/с. Достижение этих скоростей означает, что пользователи сети, скорее всего, смогут без каких-либо проблем выполнять такие действия, как потоковая передача HD-контента или играть в онлайн-игры.
Данные Ookla показывают, что все основные операторы в Казахстане продемонстрировали улучшение показателя Consistency Score в четвертом квартале 2023 года по сравнению с четвертым кварталом 2022 года. В четвертом квартале 2023 года компания Tele2 достигла самого высокого показателя Consistency Score — 85,3 % среди всех операторов, что на 4,6 процентного пункта больше, чем в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Компания Kcell заняла второе место с показателем Consistency Score 80,2 %, показав значительный рост на 15,1 процентного пункта по сравнению с четвертым кварталом 2022 года. Компания Beeline также улучшила свой показатель Consistency Score: он составил 78,3 %, что на 3 процентных пункта больше, чем в том же периоде.
5G набирает обороты в Казахстане
Центральноазиатский регион постепенно приближается к эпохе 5G, хотя он все еще находится на ранних стадиях по сравнению с более развитыми рынками Европы и Азии. В декабре 2022 года Министерство цифрового развития, инноваций и аэрокосмической промышленности опубликовало результаты аукциона по продаже двух блоков по 100 МГц спектра 3,6 ГГц. Консорциум мобильных операторов, в состав которого входят компании Mobile Telecom Services (бренды Tele2 и Altel) и Kcell, входящие в состав «Казахтелекома», получили два блока по 100 МГц в диапазонах спектра 3,6–3,7 ГГц и 3,7–3,8 ГГц. Первоначально условия лицензирования требовали развертывания 7000 базовых передающих станций 5G по всему Казахстану к концу 2027 года. Однако президент Касым-Жомарт Токаев объявил ускоренные сроки, призвав операторов достичь цели к концу 2025 года.
По состоянию на середину ноября 2023 года «Казахтелеком» объявил, что сеть 5G работает в 15 городах и имеет более 1000 работающих базовых станций 5G. «Теле2-Алтел» развернул более 600 базовых станций 5G, «Кселл» — 400.
Хотя ускоренное развертывание 5G обеспечит значительный охват в крупных городах, ценовая доступность и доступность смартфонов с поддержкой 5G станут решающими факторами роста числа подписчиков 5G. Поощрение пользователей перейти на устройства с поддержкой 5G является необходимым первым шагом, прежде чем потребители смогут разблокировать услуги 5G и выйти за рамки простого совершения голосовых вызовов и обмена текстовыми сообщениями.
В последние годы распространение смартфонов в Казахстане продолжает расти, что обусловлено расширением покрытия мобильной сети, увеличением располагаемых доходов потребителей и улучшением экономических условий, что приводит к увеличению числа пользователей Интернета. По данным GSMA Intelligence, распространение смартфонов в Казахстане постепенно росло за последние несколько лет. В 2023 году доля всех подписчиков смартфонов составила 83%, что более чем на десять процентных пунктов больше, чем в 2020 году.
Чтобы оценить, насколько потребители в Казахстане готовы к 5G, мы изучили процент потребителей, уже владеющих устройствами с поддержкой 5G в стране. Основываясь на данных Ookla, мы сравнили долю уникальных устройств, проводивших Speedtest по инициативе потребителя с использованием устройства с поддержкой 5G, к общему количеству устройств, выполняющих тест скорости с помощью приложения Speedtest, независимо от сетевой технологии.
В четвертом квартале 2023 года более 53 % всех тестов, проведенных в Казахстане, были проведены на уникальных устройствах с поддержкой 5G, а остальные 46,3 % — в сетях без 5G. Эта пропорция показывает, что операторы 5G в Казахстане имеют значительную существующую адресную базу клиентов с устройствами с поддержкой 5G, на которые они могут ориентироваться, продолжая развертывать свои услуги 5G. Мотивирование оставшейся части клиентов приобретать устройства с поддержкой 5G имеет решающее значение, поскольку операторы продолжают расширять доступ к сети 5G во всех населенных пунктах по всей стране.
Пользователи устройств с поддержкой 5G уже отмечают повышение производительности по сравнению с пользователями устройств 4G.
Развертывание сетей 5G в Казахстане все еще находится на начальной стадии: Kcell и Tele2 работают над расширением покрытия 5G в крупных городах. Хотя производительности нынешней сети 4G достаточно для большинства повседневных задач пользователей, таких как просмотр веб-страниц, потоковая передача данных и онлайн-общение, пользователи устройств с поддержкой 5G уже ощущают значительное улучшение производительности в областях с покрытием как 4G, так и 5G. Развертывание сетей 5G также повысит скорость 4G благодаря модернизации базовой инфраструктуры. Кроме того, это перенесет трафик 4G в сеть 5G, улучшив общую производительность существующей сети 4G.
Данные Ookla показывают, что в четвертом квартале 2023 года у пользователей устройств с поддержкой 5G была зарегистрирована медианная скорость загрузки 70,05 Мбит/с по сравнению с 28,26 Мбит/с для пользователей устройств с поддержкой 4G. Эта разница в скорости приводит к тому, что скорость загрузки для пользователей устройств с поддержкой 5G более чем в 2,48 раза выше, чем для пользователей устройств с поддержкой 4G. Наблюдается небольшое увеличение медианной скорости передачи: устройства с поддержкой 5G демонстрируют медианную скорость передачи 16,54 Мбит/с, что немного больше, чем 12,09 Мбит/с для устройств с поддержкой 4G. Хотя мы должны подходить к этим первым результатам с осторожностью, пользователи, владеющие устройствами с поддержкой 5G и находящиеся в районах, где доступно покрытие 5G, могут достичь гораздо более высоких скоростей, по крайней мере, в текущих условиях сети без перегрузки сети.
Решение проблем со связью с помощью 5G
Благодаря богатым запасам минеральных ресурсов Казахстан имеет крупнейшую экономику в Центральной Азии. Страна занимает 12-е место в мире по запасам нефти и 14-е место по запасам газа. Однако он также признает, что для конкуренции в глобальной экономике необходимо нечто большее, чем просто прочная ресурсная база. Правительство и регулирующие органы страны понимают преимущества цифровой трансформации и выступают с инициативами стимулирования внедрения мобильных технологий, что способствует цифровому прогрессу страны.
И операторы мобильной связи, и регулирующие органы играют жизненно важную роль в сокращении цифрового разрыва и обеспечении доступности 4G и 5G для потребителей. Продолжая расширять свои сети 5G, операторы также изучают новые услуги, которые могут дополнить существующие предложения. Одной из таких услуг является фиксированный беспроводной доступ 5G (FWA), который предоставляет прекрасную возможность охватить районы, слишком удаленные или дорогие для развертывания оптоволокна. 5G FWA особенно перспективен в сельской местности, поскольку 5G используется в качестве технологии последней мили для обеспечения широкополосного подключения.
На мероприятии M360 Eurasia недавно обсуждалось, насколько сотрудничество и партнерство между заинтересованными сторонами имеют решающее значение для реализации стратегии цифровой трансформации страны. Kcell и Ericsson недавно объявили о семилетнем партнерстве по развертыванию сетей 5G в ключевых регионах, включая Алматы и Шымкент. Партнерство также будет изучать возможность использования 5G FWA в качестве альтернативы или дополнения к проводным соединениям для частных и корпоративных клиентов, что сделает его ценным вариантом для «последней мили» подключения.
Поддержка правительства и регулирующих органов в улучшении общей связи в Казахстане
По данным Международного союза электросвязи (ITU), Казахстан имеет самый высокий уровень использования Интернета в регионе Содружества Независимых Государств (СНГ): 95,7% его населения используют Интернет. В регион СНГ входят 12 независимых стран, ранее входивших в состав Советского Союза. Напротив, уровень использования Интернета в остальной части региона колеблется от 80,6% в Узбекистане до 92,9% в Российской Федерации. Одним из основных факторов, способствующих тому, чтобы Казахстан стал региональным лидером в сфере доступа в Интернет, является относительно низкая цена на телекоммуникационные услуги по сравнению с другими странами. Согласно Индексу доступности Интернета, Казахстан занял шестое место среди стран с самыми низкими тарифами на мобильный интернет: абоненты в Казахстане платят всего 0,6 доллара США за 1 ГБ мобильных данных.
Казахстан активно модернизирует свою телекоммуникационную инфраструктуру и прилагает значительные усилия для развития сектора ИКТ. В 2017 году правительство Казахстана запустило национальную программу «Цифровой Казахстан», направленную на улучшение цифровой инфраструктуры страны и преодоление цифрового разрыва. Программа предусматривала цифровую трансформацию важнейших секторов экономики, включая цифровизацию секторов экономики, внедрение электронных государственных услуг, развитие высокоскоростных и безопасных сетей связи и ИТ-инфраструктуры по всей стране, повышение цифровой грамотности и создание среды для технологического предпринимательства.
Правительство страны поставило амбициозную цель по достижению 100%-го охвата широкополосным Интернетом региональных центров и 95%-го внедрения широкополосной связи в домашних условиях к 2025 году. Эта цель может оказаться сложной задачей для большой страны с малочисленным населением, почти половина которого проживает в сельской местности. Для решения этой проблемы и в рамках Национальной стратегии «Цифровой Казахстан» правительство запустило программу 250+, цель которой — обеспечить высокоскоростным Интернетом все села, в которых проживает 250 или более человек. В проекте используется стратегия сотрудничества в отношении использования сети и оборудования трех крупнейших операторов связи — Beeline Казахстан, Kcell и Tele2. После подключения местные сообщества смогут получить доступ к любому оператору мобильной связи на конкурентных условиях.
Мы продолжим следить за производительностью сетей 4G и 5G в Казахстане, наблюдать, как операторы масштабируют сети, и оценивать реальную производительность по мере того, как все больше потребителей подключаются с помощью устройств с поддержкой 5G и используют 5G FWA. Если вы хотите узнать больше, подпишитесь на Ookla Research™, чтобы первыми читать наши анализы.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
Ookla® recently participated in the M360 Eurasia event held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 16-17. The conference brought together various players in the telecom industry to discuss important topics such as digital resilience, building stronger customer relationships, and the future of infrastructure, including 5G, IoT, AI, machine learning, fintech, and cybersecurity. The event also emphasized the importance of partnerships, and as such, Ookla shared its perspective on the progress of regional networks and customer experience.
Key takeaways
Digital transformation imperative. Addressing the digital divide, fostering digital resilience, and improving the quality of connectivity are critical priorities in Central Asia’s digital transformation journey.
Partnerships are key. Collaboration among stakeholders, including mobile operators, is crucial to overcome challenges and ensure inclusive and reliable digital access for all.
AI in customer experience. Leveraging technologies like AI, cloud computing, and biometrics to enhance digital services, improve customer experiences, and promote innovation will be vital to building stronger customer connections.
Early days for 5G. Although 5G is still in its early stages in the region, there is a need for both the government and private sector to collaborate and prioritize the deployment of 5G technology.
The digital transformation is no longer just an option
As Central Asian countries continue to embrace digital transformation, it’s becoming clear that partnerships are critical to closing the digital divide. Despite network coverage expansion, mobile internet adoption has yet to keep up, resulting in almost 50 million unconnected people in the region, per the latest GSMA Intelligence report.
Deputy Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Tomas Lamanauskas highlighted the importance of digital resilience: “The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has changed the way people live, increasing their access to online resources. After the pandemic, the use of computers by people has increased by 60%.” To ensure digital resistance building a robust and flexible digital infrastructure, implementing adequate security measures, and developing a culture of adaptability and innovation are paramount.
During her opening keynote, Azercell CEO Zarina Zeynalova stressed the importance of mobile operators’ role in enabling digital resilience. She also emphasized the need for investing in new security systems and upskilling efforts. Ms. Zeynalova highlighted, “As the providers of mobile connectivity and communication services, we are at the forefront of the complex digital ecosystem and have a unique perspective on opportunities as well as first-hand insight into the challenges of the rapidly evolving landscape.”
The quality of connectivity also matters. Across Central Asia, where close to half of the population lives in rural areas, it is crucial to make sure that those communities are not left behind when it comes to fast and reliable internet. The latest data from Speedtest Global Index™ shows that there is still room for improvement in the rankings of the “stans.” However, it is encouraging to see that their mobile rankings are on the rise. In Central Asia, where fixed-line broadband and mobile access are limited, access to reliable and high-quality mobile networks is critical; mobile technology is a key factor in digital inclusion and supports economic growth through mobile banking and remote education, among other things.
Partnerships are crucial to spurring the digital transformation
During the panel discussion titled, “Building Stronger Customer Connections: Partnerships in a Mobile-First World,” participants highlighted how digital has become the new normal. One of the speakers, Polina Chernikova, Head of Android Partnerships, The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Google, explained how Google has always been a pioneer in digital innovation by developing platforms such as Android, Play, and Chrome, while providing cloud services to help businesses build better solutions. Additionally, Google supports telco partners in their digital transformation journey by assisting them in getting more smartphones on their networks. One notable example is the development and launch of a Device Locking Solution by Android, which has enabled operators to offer attractive installment plans.
With the rapid growth and changes in the digital world, many businesses and organizations are adopting cloud-based solutions to enhance their digital projects and streamline their operations. The Chairman of the Board of Directors at Azintelecom, Elkhan Azizov, highlighted the significance of dependable and secure cloud services in supporting digital transformation efforts.
AI will shape the future of customer experience
Leveraging technologies like AI, cloud computing, and biometrics to enhance digital services, improve customer experiences, and promote innovation will be vital to building stronger customer connections.
During his keynote speech, George Held, the AdTech CEO of VEON, discussed the company’s Digital Operator (DO1440) strategy that aims to reduce customer churn and increase loyalty by offering digital products and bundles. Mr. Held emphasized that “As telcos, we have more direct access to our customers than global tech. We can target customers with what they need when they need it and on the right device.”
VEON’s strategy is focused on creating locally relevant digital products and services, such as Beeline Kazakhstan’s AI linguistic model called Kaz-RoBERTA-conversational, or BeeBERT for short, which enhances the customer experience and promotes the development of AI-based solutions in the Kazakh language.
Google has been utilizing AI for over seven years to improve its products and make them more helpful to users. With its deep understanding of information and Generative AI capabilities, Google is transforming Search and all its products. Ms. Chernikova emphasized the importance of the developer community to unlock the vast opportunities ahead: “No one company can do this alone. Our developer community will be key to unlocking the enormous opportunities ahead”.
According to Mr. Azizov of Azintelecom, the company’s digital platform SIMA utilizes AI, cloud, and face recognition technologies through partnerships. SIMA has successfully digitalized processes in the country with its biometric-based mobile application for digital signature, which has been downloaded 400,000 times. Additionally, operators can now provide their customers with eSIM online and faster than ever due to the biometrical authentication possible with SIMA.
Still early days for 5G
Although 5G is still in its early stages in the region, there is a need for both the government and private sector to collaborate and prioritize the deployment of 5G technology. Mobile operators started to deploy and test 5G networks in 2020, although with limited geographic reach across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Companies across the region are working towards expanding 5G coverage, making devices more affordable, and optimizing network capabilities to make 5G more accessible and beneficial.
At the end of 2022, Kcell, which operates under two brands, Kcell and Activ, acquired 5G frequencies in the C-band. Aibek Nurkadyr, Strategic Development Director at Kcell, revealed that over 11% of devices using the mass-market Activ brand and 30% across the premium Kcell brand are connected to the 5G network. This shows that Kcell is making progress in expanding its 5G service, but the operator must continue to increase its 5G user base and deliver 5G use cases.
Google is also working to make affordable 5G devices a reality by collaborating with OEMs and SOCs. Additionally, Google is partnering with operators to enable traffic differentiation and improve network utilization through 5G slicing.
Overall, the event emphasized the importance of digital transformation, partnerships, and AI in shaping the future of the telecom ecosystem. The focus is on improving customer experience, digital resilience, and bridging the digital divide, all of which rely on reliable mobile networks. We will keep a close eye on 5G and network development across Central Asia going forward. In the meantime, if you want to learn more, subscribe to Ookla Research™ to be the first to read our analyses.
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.
At Ookla we celebrate speed and the individuals and companies that dedicate their lives to being the fastest at whatever they do. That’s why this month’s big race in France is so exciting. To cheer all the worn out tires that go into making a great event, we compared the mobile performance of cyclists’ home countries using the Speedtest Global IndexTM. We also looked at download speed in the race’s start and stop cities to see which has the best internet speed advantage.
Which countries’ mobile speeds are breaking away from the main group
The Speedtest Global Index ranks countries based on their download speeds over mobile and fixed broadband. To honor the big race, we narrowed that field to just the countries competing this year and looked at their mobile performance over the past 12 months. We had to leave Eritrea off the list as there were not sufficient samples in the country during the time period to qualify for the Speedtest Global Index.
Mobile speeds in Norway have exploded to the point that they’ve led the pack every single month for the past year. Even when Norway slipped to second in the world for mobile, behind South Korea, they still led all the countries currently touring. Canada’s mobile speeds started strong and rallied to surpass Australia and the Netherlands. These four countries were up in front of the pack for the entire year.
Up next in the chasing group, there was a lot more movement. France started a long climb in September 2018 that took them from 29th in the world for mobile download speed to 17th. This also helped France pass New Zealand and Austria. Belgium started strong but then they fell back in the bunch. The Czech Republic regrouped slightly in April to improve their ranking to a career high of 11, but recently they’ve fallen back to just above where they ranked 12 months ago.
All the way back in the broom wagon, Colombia fell behind early and couldn’t find their second wind. Costa Rica’s decline started later but still left them in second to last place.
Mobile performance in Tour cities
Cyclists and fans are visiting many different cities for the different stages of the race. We compared mean download speeds over mobile in some of the start and stop cities during Q2 2019 to see which were in front and which were chasing. Note that according to the Ookla 5G MapTM, no cities in France or Belgium have commercially-available 5G as of this writing.
Mobile Performance in Tour Start and Stop Cities
SpeedtestⓇ Data | Q2 2019
City
Mean Download (Mbps)
Mean Upload (Mbps)
Saint-Étienne, France
60.99
13.08
Reims, France
59.05
13.95
Nancy, France
58.48
14.66
Mulhouse, France
57.60
13.57
Toulouse, France
55.31
12.68
Belfort, France
53.46
13.19
Tarbes, France
53.26
12.92
Pau, France
52.27
13.14
Nîmes, France
51.10
12.84
Rambouillet, France
51.09
12.13
Colmar, France
50.52
13.97
Mâcon, France
48.57
14.42
Paris, France
46.76
11.18
Brussels, Belgium
45.81
16.56
Albi, France
44.49
12.22
Chalon-sur-Saône, France
42.99
12.89
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France
35.44
11.93
Gap, France
27.77
8.24
Saint-Étienne led a tight pack that included Reims, Nancy and Mulhouse which all showed mobile download speeds above 57 Mbps. Toulouse, Belfort, Tarbes, Pau, Nîmes, Rambouillet and Colmar were chasing with mobile download speeds between 50 and 56 Mbps.
We hope that last-place Gap and second-to-last Saint-Dié-des-Vosges were regrouping rather than taking a rest day as they showed mobile download speeds that were significantly slower than the rest of the cities.
Not all locations had sufficient samples to be included in our list, so if you want to know what mobile speeds are like at the Pont du Gard (or anywhere else), take a Speedtest on Android or iOS.
Chapeau to all the teams! May the rest of the race feel flat and fast.
Embarquez pour le tour des performances mobiles avec le Speedtest Global Index
Chez Ookla, nous vouons une véritable passion à la vitesse. Et alors que la Grande Boucle bat son plein en France, nous comptons bien la célébrer comme il se doit ! En parallèle de la lutte acharnée que se livrent les valeureuses équipes, nous avons comparé les performances mobiles des pays d’origine des coureurs en utilisant le Speedtest Global IndexTM. Nous avons également mesuré la vitesse de téléchargement dans les villes-étapes pour découvrir laquelle peut se vanter de disposer du meilleur débit Internet.
Performances mobiles : quels pays s’échappent du peloton ?
Le Speedtest Global Index classe les pays en fonction de leur vitesse de téléchargement haut débit mobile et fixe. Pour rendre hommage au Tour, nous avons uniquement examiné les performances mobiles des pays en lice au cours des douze derniers mois. L’Érythrée n’est malheureusement pas au rendez-vous en raison d’un nombre d’échantillons de données insuffisant.
Grâce à une vitesse de téléchargement mobile ultrarapide, la Norvège a trusté la première place du classement tout au long de l’année. Si le pays a rétrogradé à la deuxième place mondiale juste derrière la Corée du Sud, il a littéralement survolé les débats dans le cadre de notre compétition. De son côté, le Canada a démarré fort, en parvenant même à dépasser l’Australie et les Pays-Bas. Ces quatre pays ont réussi une formidable échappée tout au long de l’année.
Derrière, le groupe de poursuivants s’est organisé pour réduire l’écart. Grâce à une folle remontée en septembre 2018, la France est passée de la 29e à la 17e place mondiale, coiffant au poteau la Nouvelle-Zélande et l’Autriche. Après un très bon départ, la Belgique s’est malheureusement retrouvée engluée dans le peloton. La République Tchèque a mis un petit coup d’accélérateur en avril pour atteindre la 11e place (une première !). Elle a ensuite connu une baisse de régime qui l’a vu terminer juste au-dessus de son classement de l’année dernière.
En queue de peloton, la Colombie a rapidement été distancée et n’est jamais parvenue à trouver un second souffle. Malgré ses bonnes intentions, le Costa Rica a quant à lui fini avant-dernier.
Performances mobiles dans les villes-étapes
Les coureurs et les fans visitent de nombreuses villes lors des différentes étapes du Tour. Nous avons comparé les vitesses moyennes de téléchargement mobile dans certaines de ces villes au cours du deuxième trimestre 2019 afin d’établir un classement. Notez que selon l’Ookla 5G MapTM, aucune ville de France ou de Belgique ne propose actuellement la 5G.
Performances mobiles dans les villes-étapes
Données SpeedtestⓇ Data | Deuxième trimestre 2019
Ville
Débit descendant moyen (Mbps)
Débit ascendant moyen (Mbps)
Saint-Étienne, France
60,99
13,08
Reims, France
59,05
13,95
Nancy, France
58,48
14,66
Mulhouse, France
57,60
13,57
Toulouse, France
55,31
12,68
Belfort, France
53,46
13,19
Tarbes, France
53,26
12,92
Pau, France
52,27
13,14
Nîmes, France
51,10
12,84
Rambouillet, France
51,09
12,13
Colmar, France
50,52
13,97
Mâcon, France
48,57
14,42
Paris, France
46,76
11,18
Bruxelles, Belgique
45,81
16,56
Albi, France
44,49
12,22
Chalon-sur-Saône, France
42,99
12,89
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France
35,44
11,93
Gap, France
27,77
8,24
Au coude-à-coude avec Reims, Nancy et Mulhouse, Saint-Étienne s’est imposée dans un groupe relevé affichant une vitesse de téléchargement mobile supérieure à 57 Mbps. Dans son sillage, Toulouse, Belfort, Tarbes, Pau, Nîmes, Rambouillet et Colmar ont fait bonne figure avec une vitesse comprise entre 50 et 56 Mps.
Gap et Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, respectivement dernier et avant-dernier, n’ont jamais semblé pouvoir suivre le rythme du peloton, avec une vitesse bien inférieure à celle des autres villes.
Faute d’un nombre d’échantillons de données suffisant, cette liste n’est pas exhaustive. Si vous souhaitez connaître la vitesse de téléchargement mobile de Pont du Gard ou de toute autre ville, effectuez un Speedtest sur Android ou iOS.
Un grand bravo à toutes les équipes ! Nous vous souhaitons bonne chance pour le reste de la course !
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.
A lot has changed in the two years since 2017 when we first began ranking mobile and fixed broadband speeds of countries around the world with the Speedtest Global IndexTM. 5G is being deployed around the world and fiber continues to make gigabit speeds a reality in more and more countries. We’ve been tracking it all and are here to report on how much speeds have increased, which countries are leading internet performance and which are falling behind, and what trends we see across continents.
World mobile speed increased 21.4% with fixed broadband up 37.4%
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
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.
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
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.
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).
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.
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
We aggregated Speedtest results by continent to analyze mobile and fixed broadband performance by continent.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Most of the South American countries represented on the Speedtest Global Index are in the Speed Laggers quadrant (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela). Chile is an exception, being part of the Fixed-Focused group, as is Uruguay which sits in Mobile-Focused.
Global internet speeds are improving on average and 5G and gigabit are compounding those advances where available. However, not all countries are benefitting equally. We’ll be interested to see how 5G continues to push mobile speeds in the next year and also whether 5G Wi-Fi becomes a game changer for fixed broadband. Remember to check the Speedtest Global Index on a monthly basis for updated country rankings. And take a Speedtest to make sure your experience is represented in your country’s averages.
Editor’s Note: This article was edited on September 10, 2019 to correct an error in the labeling on the first image. The colors in a later image were updated for consistency.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
We are no longer updating this article as internet speeds in most countries have stabilized to pre-pandemic levels. For ongoing information about internet speeds in specific countries, visit the Speedtest Global IndexTM or contact our press team.
Ookla® closely monitored the impact of COVID-19 on the performance and quality of global mobile and broadband internet networks in the early days of the pandemic. We shared regular information based on Ookla data to assist in the understanding of this unprecedented situation. You can still download the July 20, 2020 CSV here which contains all the public data we tracked in this article. If you are looking for information on internet or online service outages, please check Downdetector®.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
5G is coming to Central Asia, begging the question: what is the current performance and availability of mobile networks? In this article, we will examine the state of mobile networks across five countries that comprise the Central Asian region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Central Asia is a region comprising upper-middle and low-income countries, rich in natural resources and sharing a common history. The countries within the region recognize that they have to enable good connectivity to ensure people and the economy can benefit from digital transformation.
Key takeaways
Need for more market reforms. The International Telecommunication Union ICT Regulatory Tracker puts three of the five countries: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as regulated public monopolies (G1). Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have more supportive regulatory environments, but none of the countries is fully transparent. According to the ICT, improved regulatory framework and performance correlate to increases in telecom investment, which positively affects coverage, price competitiveness, adoption levels, and GDP per capita.
Kazakhstan led on median download speeds. Kazakhstan topped the ranks in terms of mobile download speed, while Tele 2 Kazakhstan for median download speed across all Central Asia operators in Q4 2022.
Kyrgyzstan performed well on 4G Availability. Thanks to the supportive regulatory environment, Kyrgyzstan punches above its weight in terms of mobile performance and 4G Availability compared to other, richer neighbors.
Banking on digital transformation. Apart from Turkmenistan, Central Asian countries have initiatives to stimulate mobile adoption and drive digital transformation. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in particular, invest in digital infrastructure to stimulate all facets of the digital economy.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan shined the brightest for mobile across Central Asia
We used Speedtest Intelligence® data to compare performance across Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan had the fastest median mobile download speed at 22.44 Mbps during Q4 2022, and Kyrgyzstan topped the ranks for median upload speed at 9.78 Mbps.
Kyrgyzstan also came first in terms of 4G at 88.8%, up from 81.9% in Q2 2021. Tajikistan made the most progress with regard to 4G Availability — increasing by 12.8 ppt from 59.5% in Q4 2021 to 72.3% in Q4 2022, followed by Uzbekistan, which increased from 67.1% 4G Availability in Q4 2021 to 75.4% in Q4 2022. Turkmenistan had the lowest 4G Availability at 11.6% in Q4 2022, far behind its peers but up from a year prior (6.5% in Q4 2021).
Across Central Asia, where close to half of the population lives in rural areas, it is imperative to make sure that those communities are not left behind when it comes to fast and reliable internet. Speedtest Global Index™ shows that the “stans” still have a way to go to improve their ranking. Governments across Central Asia need to address the root cause of the poor connectivity, which partially stems from the lack of an open and competitive telecom market.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Regulatory Tracker sheds light on where Central Asia sits when it comes to regulatory environment — it provides a composite score derived from a set of 50 indicators across four pillars such as regulatory mandate, regulatory authority, regulatory regimen, and competitive framework, as follows:
G1: Regulated public monopolies — command and control approach
G2: Basic reform — partial liberalization and privatization across the layers
G3: Enabling investment, innovation, and access — dual focus on stimulating competition in service and content delivery, and consumer protection
G4: Integrated regulation — led by economic and social policy goal
The ITU puts three of the five countries: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as regulated public monopolies (G1). Kazakhstan (G2) and Kyrgyzstan (G3) have more supportive regulatory environments, but none of the countries is fully transparent.
Central Asia embraces digitalization to level up
The availability and quality of mobile networks are crucial across Central Asia due to the low proliferation of fixed-line broadband and mobile being the only de-facto connectivity option, especially in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Access to mobile broadband enables a range of services, such as mobile banking and remote education, which are key to digital inclusion and supporting economic growth. All Central Asian countries, bar Turkmenistan, have put strategies in place to stimulate telecom infrastructure and the wider ecosystem.
ITU ranks Kazakhstan’s regulatory status as G2 means that basic reform took place, and the market is partially liberalized and privatized. Through the Digital Kazakhstan program, Kazakhstan set an ambitious goal to ensure 100% country coverage with high-quality internet and 95% home broadband adoption by 2025. Furthermore, in 2020, Beeline, Kcell, and Tele2 agreed to deploy a shared network to support the government’s “250+” project, which aims to extend high-speed internet to all villages of more than 250 residents. Each operator will build and operate the network in one area providing equal access to the shared infrastructure to the other parties. The five-year project will deliver 3G/4G service to 600,000 people in nearly 1,000 rural settlements. Also, the operators offer a special social tariff, “Tugan zher,” for less than 900 tenges ($1.88).
The Kyrgyz Republic, known as Kyrgyzstan, has the highest levels of mobile penetration across Central Asian countries — 159.9% with 2.94 SIMs per unique mobile subscriber, according to GSMA Intelligence. Despite being the second poorest country across CA, Kyrgyzstan came first regarding 4G Availability (the proportion of users of 4G-capable devices who spend most of their time on 4G networks). The National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic 2018-2040 is one initiative that facilitates digital transformation to hasten the country’s economic development. The State Communications Agency (SCA) stated in its annual report for 2021 that a total of 2,049 settlements across the country were covered by 4G LTE mobile networks at the end of 2021, equivalent to 96% of the country’s 2,130 officially registered cities, towns and villages. 2G mobile network technology extended to 2,088 locations (98%), while 3G networks were present in 2,081 (97%). Overall, 42 settlements (1.9%) were outside mobile network coverage, some due to a lack of power transmission lines.
At the end of 2020, Uzbekistan embarked on a “Digital Uzbekistan 2030” strategy to stimulate the country’s digital transformation across various industries. To achieve this, Uzbekistan is expanding its telecommunication infrastructure to improve communication quality and close the urban-rural divide (50% of the population lives in rural areas) by inking several partnerships. VEON, Beeline Uzbekistan’s parent company, announced in May 2022 that it would invest $250 million over the next five years to develop the communications infrastructure and ecosystem of digital services in Uzbekistan to support Digital Uzbekistan 2030.
Andrzej Malinowski, the CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan, acknowledges that “there is a clear understanding that (mobile) is a driver of the economy and the best way to further improve education level within the country. We want to enable remote education and build an education platform as a social project, make it zero-rated and available to all”.
VEON also announced it would advise and provide digitalization services to the Uzbek government during the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In September 2022, state-backed Uzbektelecom signed eight contracts with Huawei and ZTE worth $506.8 million. The deal, backed by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MITC), to implement a telecommunication network and infrastructure across the western and eastern regions of the country in two phases to deliver expanded population coverage and QoS. Furthermore, Uzbektelecom has also signed a contract with four Japanese companies — NTT, NEC, Toyota Tsusho, and Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) — to deploy a telecommunications infrastructure development project to provide data center and telecommunication infrastructure to enable “Digital Uzbekistan 2030”.
Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia, with most of the population living in rural areas (72%). Unsurprisingly, the country ranked low on the Speedtest Global Index, taking 132nd place for mobile and 124th for fixed networks. According to the State Communication Service, only one-third of the population (3.3 million) used mobile Internet in Tajikistan in 2021. One of the reasons behind this is the high expense of mobile broadband subscriptions which costs on average 7.5% of monthly GNI per capita, as per data from the ITU, one of the highest in the region. It also has one of the largest (20 percentage points) gender gaps in mobile ownership. Tajikistan outlined its priorities in the National Development Strategy 2030, as it aims to leverage digital technologies to fight poverty, achieve energy independence, boost food security, and create new jobs for the population.
Turkmenistan, known for its autocratic government and large gas reserves, has the least developed telecommunications sector across Central Asia, partially because of the strong government control over most economic activities, including telecommunication which prevents foreign investment. ITU gave the country an overall score of 6.70 in 2022, second worst only to Djibouti. There is only one operator in the country, Altyn Asyr, which operates under the brand name TM Cell after MTS exited the market in 2019. The lack of competition harms telecommunication services’ availability, affordability, and quality. The treatment of MTS doesn’t encourage foreign investment, which the country desperately needs to build telecom infrastructure. In late 2021, Turkmenistan reportedly purchased equipment, software, and technical support from Huawei.
Tele 2 Kazakhstan topped median download speed; Mega Kyrgyzstan uploads
Tele 2 Kazakhstan achieved the fastest median mobile download speed across all of the operators in Central Asia in Q4 2022, of 27.25 Mbps, a slight uptick over Q4 2021 (26.13 Mbps median download speed). The only privately owned company in Kazakhstan, Beeline Kazakhstan, was the second fastest operator in Kazakhstan and third across Central Asia — the operator’s investment into mobile is paying off as it has increased its median download speed from 17.97 Mbps in Q4 2021 to 21.95 Mbps in Q4 2022. The operator reported 7.2 million 4G users in Q3 2022, a 25.5% year-on-year increase, translating into 69% 4G penetration of the total customer base (7 percentage points year over year). Beeline Kazakhstan is already the largest mobile operator in the country, with around 42% market share, and it is also the winner regarding mobile number portability.
Kyrgyz operators performed well on 4G Availability
4G Availability is a function of smartphone availability and affordability and 4G coverage. According to the National Statistics Office, smartphone shipments to Kyrgyzstan reached 968,000 units between January and July 2022, of which the majority (872,000) were from China, with an average price of $69. Affordable smartphone shipments, combined with the operators’ efforts to expand 4G LTE network coverage, resulted in Kyrgyz operators topping the 4G Availability rankings in Central Asia. The top-ranking operator regarding 4G Availability has had an eventful past couple of months. In December 2022, Megacom Kyrgyzstan, run by the state-owned Alfa-Telecom, started its rebranding campaign to MEGA following Megacom ownership transfer to the state-owned Kyrgyzstan State Development Bank. The operator announced that it expanded and upgraded its 2G, 3G, and 4G networks in seven regions and the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. It plans to continue network coverage expansion across remote areas of Kyrgyzstan.
The second operator on the chart, Sky Mobile, operating under the Beeline Kyrgyzstan brand, announced In September 2022 that it has expanded its LTE network by deploying or upgrading 1,000 base stations. Additionally, between November 2021 and May 2022, Beeline Kyrgyzstan offered smartphones in installments for six or twelve months bundled with its mobile service package.
Tele2 and Kcell, controlled by the same company Kazakhtelecom, differ regarding 4G Availability. Kcell reported that the 4G/5G smartphone share of total subscribers was 72.8% in Q2 2022 (3.6% higher than a year prior), while LTE traffic accounted for 78.7% of all traffic. Kcell is actively working on expanding LTE coverage — it has increased from 65.1% in 2020 to 67.5% as of 1H 2022. At the end of end-2022, around Kazhtelecom’s twin subsidiaries: Kcell and Tele2-Altel, operated 14,000 cellular base stations. On the other hand, Beeline Kazakhstan, part of the VEON group, reported that it installed over 4,000 base stations during 2022, taking its total to more than 25,000 base stations. The operator also stated it provides 97% LTE coverage within each area where it has deployed 4G base stations.
Beeline Uzbekistan outperformed other Uzbek operators on 4G Availability; the operator stated that it covered 79% of the population with an LTE network in 2022, a 16% year-over-year increase. In Q3 2022, the operator reported a 40% year-over-year data revenue increase based on strong mobile data usage (+42.2% YoY). 4G users grew by almost 35% during Q3 2022 to 5.2 million, driven by an expanded network rollout and portfolio of digital products. The absence of big tech such as Spotify means Beeline can drive local content. Beeline Uzbekistan follows its parent company’s strategy of offering digital products and bundles, which helps with churn reduction and increased consumer loyalty — 33% of its customers are multiplayer consumers. My Beeline, its locally developed self-service app, had 2.6 million monthly active users (MAUs) — almost a third more than a year ago. Local entertainment platforms such as Beeline TV and Beeline Music had 1.2 million MAUs. Beeline has set up a wholly owned software house called BeeLab, which has been recently awarded a license from the Uzbekistan Central Bank to provide payment services. Beeline Uzbekistan subscribers can pay for a total of 500 services by using the Beepul mobile application. Mr Malinowski recognized a need to build an ecosystem around mobile payment to bring a third of the Uzbek population, currently unbanked, into the economy to enable a cashless society.
Megafon Tajikistan outran other Tajik operators in Q4 2022; its network investment can partially explain this — it announced that the number of 4G base stations increased by nearly 40% during 2022, while it added around 300 4G base stations until November 2022.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, provided a $30 million loan to Tcell, the largest mobile operator in Tajikistan, to support its network expansion and improve connectivity across the country, especially in remote, less-densely populated areas of the country.
Almaty in Kazakhstan took the top spot in terms of mobile download speed
Given that Kazakhstan had the fastest mobile speed amongst its peers, it is not surprising that Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, the country’s former capital, and financial and cultural center of Central Asia, was the top-ranked city in Q4 2022, with a median download speed of 25.78 Mbps and 11.06 Mbps upload speed. Tele2’s median download speed was 30.10 Mbps, just ahead of Beeline with 29.27 Mbps but double that of Kcell (12.39 Mbps download speed).
Despite Kyrgyzstan having the best 4G Availability across neighboring countries, this is not the case when it comes to capital cities; three cities share the honors here: 4G Availability in the Kazakh cities of Almaty and Astana, and the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, exceeded 84%.
4G for all, or 5G for a few?
Across the countries Beeline operates, its strategy is to primarily deploy 4G networks rather than to focus on 5G. This was particularly visible as Beeline didn’t participate in Kazakhstan’s latest 5G spectrum auction. In December 2022, the consortium of mobile operators Mobile Telecom Services (Tele2 and Altel brands) and Kcell (Kcell and Active brand), both controlled by Kazakhtelecom, won two 100 MHz blocks in the 3.6 – 3.7 GHz and 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum band. In December 2022, the Minister of Digital Development announced that 75% of Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent and 60% of regional centers will be covered by 5G networks by 2027. The state-owned operator, Kazakhtelecom, already outlined its plans concerning the 5G services launch, with the first 486 base stations scheduled to be launched in Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent in 2023, ahead of a wider rollout of over 7,000 5G cell sites across the Kcell and Tele2-Altel networks by the end of 2025.
Operators across the rest of Central Asia, apart from Turkmenistan, followed suit. Mobile operators started to deploy and test 5G networks, although with limited geographic reach.
Surprisingly Tajikistan was one of the first countries in Central Asia to launch 5G. MegaFon Tajikistan was the first in Tajikistan to activate a 5G base station in Dushanbe in February 2020, followed by Tcell in August 2020, and ZET Mobile in 2021. Operators in Kyrgyzstan are piloting 5G as well. In September 2022, MegaCom, in partnership with Huawei and the Ministry of Digital Development, launched a 5G showcase zone in Bishkek. Nur Telecom (O!) opened a second demo zone in October 2022 in the city of Osh, in addition to the one in Bishkek.
Central Asian countries understand the benefits digital transformation brings, and some, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have initiatives to stimulate mobile adoption and drive the country’s digital transformation. Others need to take a hard look at the regulatory and competitive landscape to drive telecom market development.
Operators continue to modernize their networks and we are keeping a close eye on how the network deployments are progressing and the network performance end users experience. 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.
5G приходит в Центральную Азию, в связи с чем возникает вопрос: какова текущая производительность и доступность мобильных сетей? В этой статье мы рассмотрим состояние мобильных сетей в пяти странах, входящих в регион Центральной Азии: Казахстане, Кыргызстане, Таджикистане, Узбекистане и Туркменистане. Регион Центральной Азии объединяет страны с различным уровнем доходов, включая как высокий, так и низкий, а также обладающие богатыми природными ресурсами и имеющие общую историю. Страны региона признают, что они должны обеспечить хорошую связь, чтобы люди и экономика могли извлечь выгоду из цифровой трансформации.
Основные выводы
Необходимость дополнительных рыночных реформ.ICT Regulatory Tracker Международного союза электросвязи относит три из пяти стран, Таджикистан, Узбекистан и Туркменистан, к регулируемым государственным монополиям (G1). Казахстан и Кыргызстан имеют более благоприятную нормативно-правовую базу, но ни одна из стран не является полностью прозрачной. По данным ICT, улучшенная нормативно-правовая база и эффективность регулирующих органов коррелируют с увеличением инвестиций в телекоммуникации, что положительно влияет на покрытие, ценовую конкурентоспособность, уровень внедрения и ВВП на душу населения.
Казахстан лидирует по средней скорости загрузки. Казахстан возглавил рейтинг по скорости загрузки с мобильных устройств, а Tele 2 Kazakhstan — по средней скорости загрузки среди всех операторов Центральной Азии в четвертом квартале 2022 года.
Кыргызстан показал хорошие результаты по доступности 4G. Благодаря благоприятной нормативно-правовой среде Кыргызстан превосходит своих более богатых соседей с точки зрения скорости и доступности 4G.
Ставка на цифровую трансформацию. Помимо Туркменистана, в странах Центральной Азии есть инициативы по стимулированию внедрения мобильных устройств и цифровой трансформации. Узбекистан и Казахстан, в частности, инвестируют в цифровую инфраструктуру, чтобы стимулировать все аспекты цифровой экономики.
Казахстан и Кыргызстан имеют лучшую мобильную связь в Центральной Азии
Мы воспользовались данными Speedtest Intelligence®, чтобы сравнить скорость в странах Центральной Азии. В четвертом квартале 2022 года у Казахстана была самая высокая средняя скорость загрузки с мобильных устройств — 22,44 Мбит/с, а Кыргызстан возглавил рейтинг по средней скорости передачи — 9,78 Мбит/с.
Кыргызстан также занял первое место по доступности 4G с 88,8 % по сравнению с 81,9 % во втором квартале 2021 года. Таджикистан добился наибольшего прогресса в отношении доступности 4G, показав рост на 12,8 п. п. с 59,5 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 72,3 % в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Далее следует Узбекистан, в котором доступность 4G увеличилась с 67,1 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 75,4% в четвертом квартале 2022 года. В Туркменистане был самый низкий уровень доступности 4G — 11,6 % в четвертом квартале 2022 года, что значительно уступает показателям соседей, но выше, чем годом ранее (6,5 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года).
В Центральной Азии, где почти половина населения проживает в сельской местности, крайне важно, чтобы населению был доступен быстрый и надежный интернет. СогласноSpeedtest Global Index™, «станам» еще есть куда стремиться, чтобы улучшить свой рейтинг. Правительствам стран Центральной Азии необходимо устранить первопричину плохой связи, которая частично связана с отсутствием открытого и конкурентного рынка телекоммуникаций.
ICT Regulatory Tracker Международного союза электросвязи (ITU) проливает свет на положение Центральной Азии в том, что касается регулирования. Трекер предоставляет сводную оценку, полученную из набора 50 показателей по четырем основным элементам, таким как регулирующий мандат, регулирующий орган, режим регулирования и конкурентная среда, как показано ниже.
G1: регулируемые государственные монополии — командно-управленческий подход
G2: базовая реформа — частичная либерализация и многоуровневая приватизация
G3: обеспечение инвестиций, инноваций и доступа — двойной акцент на стимулирование конкуренции в сфере предоставления услуг и контента, а также на защиту прав потребителей
G4: интегрированное регулирование — направленное на достижение целей экономической и социальной политики
ITU относит три из пяти стран, Таджикистан, Узбекистан и Туркменистан, к регулируемым государственным монополиям (G1). Казахстан (G2) и Кыргызстан (G3) имеют более благоприятную нормативно-правовую базу, но ни одна из стран не является полностью прозрачной.
Центральная Азия проводит цифровую трансформацию, чтобы подняться на новый уровень
Доступность и качество мобильных сетей имеют решающее значение в Центральной Азии из-за низкого распространения стационарной широкополосной связи, а мобильная связь является фактически единственным вариантом выхода в сеть, особенно в Таджикистане, Туркменистане и Кыргызстане. Доступ к мобильной широкополосной связи позволяет предоставлять ряд услуг, таких как мобильный банкинг и дистанционное обучение, которые имеют ключевое значение для охвата цифровыми технологиями и поддержки экономического роста. Все страны Центральной Азии, за исключением Туркменистана, разработали стратегии по развитию телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры и расширению экосистемы.
ITU оценивает регулятивный статус Казахстана как G2, что означает, что основные реформы были проведены, а рынок частично либерализован и приватизирован. В рамках программыЦифровой Казахстан, Казахстан поставил перед собой амбициозную цель: к 2025 году на 100 % обеспечить страну качественным интернетом и на 95 % — домашним широкополосным доступом. Кроме того, в 2020 году компании Beeline, Kcell и Tele2 договорились развернуть общую сеть для поддержки государственного проекта «250+», целью которого является распространение высокоскоростного интернета на все села с населением более 250 жителей. Каждый оператор будет строить и эксплуатировать сеть в своей зоне, предоставляя равный доступ к общей инфраструктуре другим сторонам. Пятилетний проект предоставит услуги 3G/4G 600 000 человек почти в 1000 сельских населенных пунктов. Также операторы предлагают специальный социальный тариф «Туган жер» стоимостью менее 900 тенге (1,88 долл. США).
По данным GSMA Intelligence, Кыргызская Республика, известная как Кыргызстан, имеет самый высокий уровень проникновения мобильной связи среди стран Центральной Азии — 159,9 % с 2,94 SIM-карты на одного мобильного абонента. Несмотря на то, что Кыргызстан является второй беднейшей страной в Центральной Азии, он занял первое место по доступности 4G (по доле пользователей устройств с поддержкой 4G, которые проводят большую часть своего времени в сетях 4G).«Национальная стратегия развития Кыргызской Республики на 2018–2040 годы» является одной из инициатив, способствующих цифровой трансформации для ускорения экономического развития страны. Государственное агентство связи (SCA) в своемгодовом отчете за 2021 год сообщило, что на конец 2021 года мобильными сетями 4G LTE было покрыто 2049 населенных пунктов, что соответствует 96 % из 2130 официально зарегистрированных городов, поселков и сел страны. Технология мобильных сетей 2G распространилась на 2088 населенных пунктов (98 %), а сети 3G присутствовали в 2081 (97 %). Всего 42 населенных пункта (1,9 %) оказались вне зоны действия мобильной связи, в том числе из-за отсутствия линий электропередачи.
В конце 2020 года Узбекистан приступил к реализации стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030», направленной на стимулирование цифровой трансформации страны в различных отраслях. Для этого Узбекистан расширяет свою телекоммуникационную инфраструктуру, чтобы улучшить качество связи и сократить разрыв между городом и деревней (50 % населения проживает в сельской местности) путем заключения нескольких партнерств. В мае 2022 года VEON, материнская компания Beeline Uzbekistan, объявила, что в течение следующих пяти лет инвестирует 250 миллионов долларов США в развитие коммуникационной инфраструктуры и экосистемы цифровых услуг в Узбекистане для поддержки стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030».
Анджей Малиновский, генеральный директор Beeline Uzbekistan, признает, что «существует четкое понимание того, что (мобильная связь) является движущей силой экономики и лучшим способом помочь в улучшении уровня образования в стране. Мы хотим обеспечить дистанционное обучение и построить образовательную платформу как социальный проект, сделать ее безналоговой и доступной для всех».
В VEON также объявили, что будут консультировать и предоставлять услуги по цифровой трансформации правительству Узбекистана во время вступления страны во Всемирную торговую организацию (ВТО).В сентябре 2022 года поддерживаемая государством компания «Узбектелеком» подписала восемь контрактов с Huawei и ZTE на сумму 506,8 млн долларов США. Сделка, поддержанная Министерством информационных технологий и связи Узбекистана, предусматривает внедрение телекоммуникационной сети и инфраструктуры в западных и восточных регионах страны в два этапа, чтобы обеспечить расширенное покрытие для населения и высокое качество услуг. Кроме того, «Узбектелеком» также подписал контракт с четырьмя японскими компаниями — NTT, NEC, Toyota Tsusho и Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) — на развертывание проекта развития телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры для предоставления центра обработки данных и телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры и поддержки стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030».
Таджикистан — самая бедная страна в Центральной Азии, большая часть населения которой проживает в сельской местности (72 %). Неудивительно, что страна получила низкий рейтинг вSpeedtest Global Index, заняв 132-е место для мобильных и 124-е место для стационарных сетей. По данным Государственной службы связи, в 2021 году в Таджикистане только треть населения (3,3 млн человек) пользовалась мобильным интернетом. Одной из причин этого является высокая стоимость подписки на мобильный широкополосный интернет, которая в среднем составляет 7,5 % от месячного ВНД на душу населения (по данным ITU), что является одним из самых высоких показателей в регионе. В стране также наблюдается один из самых больших (20 процентных пунктов) гендерных разрывов в плане владения мобильными устройствами. Таджикистан обозначил свои приоритеты в Национальной стратегии развития до 2030 года, она направлена на использование цифровых технологий для борьбы с бедностью, достижения энергетической независимости, повышения продовольственной безопасности и создания новых рабочих мест для населения.
Туркменистан, известный своим авторитарным правительством и большими запасами газа, имеет наименее развитый телекоммуникационный сектор в Центральной Азии, отчасти из-за сильного государственного контроля над большей частью экономической деятельности, включая телекоммуникации, что препятствует иностранным инвестициям. Союз ITU дал стране общий балл 6,70 в 2022 году, что является вторым худшим показателем после Джибути. В стране действует только один оператор «Алтын Асыр», который, после того, как компания «МТС» ушла с рынка в 2019 году, работает под торговой маркой TM Cell. Отсутствие конкуренции негативно сказывается на зоне покрытия, доступности и качестве телекоммуникационных услуг. Уход «МТС» не способствует привлечению иностранных инвестиций, в которых страна остро нуждается для создания телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры. Сообщается, что в конце 2021 года Туркменистан приобрел оборудование, программное обеспечение и техническую поддержку у Huawei.
Tele 2 Казахстан лидирует по средней скорости загрузки; Mega Кыргызстан — передачи
Оператор Tele 2 Казахстан показал самую высокую среднюю скорость загрузки мобильного интернета среди всех операторов в Центральной Азии в четвертом квартале 2022 года, которая составила 27,25 Мбит/с, что немного превышает среднюю скорость загрузки за четвертый квартал 2021 года (26,13 Мбит/с). Единственная частная компания в Казахстане, Beeline Казахстан, была вторым самым быстрым оператором в Казахстане и третьим в Центральной Азии — инвестиции оператора в мобильную связь окупаются, поскольку он увеличил среднюю скорость загрузки с 17,97 Мбит/с в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 21,95 Мбит/с в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Оператор сообщил о 7,2 млн пользователей 4G в третьем квартале 2022 года, что на 25,5 % больше, чем в прошлом году, и соответствует 69 % проникновению 4G от общей клиентской базы (7 процентных пунктов в годовом исчислении). Beeline Казахстан уже является крупнейшим оператором мобильной связи в стране с долей рынка около 42 %, а также лидером по переносимости мобильных номеров.
Кыргызские операторы показали хорошие результаты по доступности 4G
Доступность 4G зависит от наличия и доступности смартфонов, а также покрытия 4G. По данным Национального статистического управления, поставки смартфонов в Кыргызстан в период с января по июль 2022 года достигли 968 000 единиц, из которых большая часть (872 000) были из Китая, по средней цене 69 долларов США. Поставки доступных смартфонов в сочетании с усилиями операторов по расширению покрытия сети 4G LTE привели к тому, что кыргызские операторы заняли первое место в рейтинге доступности 4G в Центральной Азии. У оператора, занимающего первое место в отношении доступности 4G, последние пару месяцев были насыщенными событиями. В декабре 2022 года оператор Megacom Кыргызстан, управляемый государственной компанией «Альфа-Телеком», начал ребрендинг в MEGA после передачи права собственности на Megacom государственному банку развития Кыргызстана. Оператор объявил о расширении и модернизации своих сетей 2G, 3G и 4G в семи регионах и столице Кыргызской Республики. Он планирует продолжить расширение покрытия сети в отдаленных районах Кыргызстана.
Второй оператор в таблице, Sky Mobile, работающий под брендом Beeline Кыргызстан, объявил в сентябре 2022 года, что он расширил свою сеть LTE, развернув или модернизировав 1000 базовых станций. Кроме того, в период с ноября 2021 года по май 2022 года Beeline Кыргызстан предлагал смартфоны в рассрочку на шесть или двенадцать месяцев в комплекте с пакетом услуг мобильной связи.
Операторы Tele2 и Kcell, оба контролируемые компанией «Казахтелеком», имеют разные показатели доступности 4G. Kcell сообщает, что доля смартфонов 4G/5G в общем количестве абонентов составила 72,8 % вовтором квартале 2022 г. (на 3,6 % больше, чем годом ранее), в то время как на трафик LTE пришлось 78,7 %. Kcell активно работает над расширением покрытия LTE — оно увеличилось с 65,1 % в 2020 году до 67,5 % по состоянию на 1 полугодие 2022 года. По состоянию на конец 2022 года дочерними компаниями-близнецами «Казтелекома», Kcell и Tele2-Altel, эксплуатировалось 14 000 базовых станций сотовой связи. С другой стороны, оператор Beeline Казахстан, входящий в группу VEON, сообщил, что в течение 2022 года он установил более 4000 базовых станций, в результате чего их общее количество составило более 25 000. Оператор также заявил, что обеспечивает 97 % покрытия LTE в каждой области, где развернуты базовые станции 4G.
Beeline Узбекистан превзошел других узбекских операторов по доступности 4G. Оператор заявил, что в 2022 году он охватил сетью LTE 79 % населения, что на 16 % больше, чем в прошлом году. В третьем квартале 2022 года оператор сообщил об увеличении выручки от передачи данных на 40 % по сравнению с аналогичным периодом прошлого года за счет активного использования мобильных данных (+42,2 % в годовом исчислении). Количество пользователей 4G выросло почти на 35 % в течение третьего квартала 2022 года до 5,2 млн благодаря расширению сети и портфеля цифровых продуктов. Отсутствие крупных брендов, таких как Spotify, означает, что Beeline может продвигать локальный контент. Beeline Узбекистан следует стратегии материнской компании по предложению цифровых продуктов и пакетов, что помогает сократить отток клиентов и повысить лояльность потребителей — 33 % его клиентов используют многопользовательские продукты. My Beeline, местное приложение для самообслуживания, насчитывало 2,6 миллиона активных пользователей в месяц (АПМ) — почти на треть больше, чем год назад. Местные развлекательные платформы, такие как Beeline TV и Beeline Music, насчитывали 1,2 млн АПМ. В Beeline создали собственную компанию по разработке программного обеспечения под названием BeeLab, которая недавно получила лицензию Центрального банка Узбекистана на предоставление платежных услуг. Абоненты Beeline в Узбекистане могут оплатить в общей сложности 500 услуг с помощью мобильного приложения Beepul. Г-н Малиновский признал необходимость создания экосистемы вокруг мобильных платежей, чтобы вовлечь в экономику треть населения Узбекистана, которое в настоящее время не имеет доступа к банковским услугам, и сделать общество безналичным.
Megafon Таджикистан опередил других таджикских операторов в 4 квартале 2022 года; это могут частично объяснить его сетевые инвестиции — оператор объявил, что количество базовых станций 4G увеличилось почти на 40 % в течение 2022 года, а к ноябрю 2022 года было добавлено около 300 базовых станций 4G.
Международная финансовая корпорация (IFC), входящая в состав Всемирного банка, предоставила крупнейшему оператору мобильной связи в Таджикистане, компании Tcell,кредит в размере 30 миллионов долларов для расширения сети и улучшения связи по всей стране, особенно в отдаленных, менее густонаселенных районах страны.
Город Алматы в Казахстане занял первое место по скорости мобильной загрузки
интернета среди соседних стран, неудивительно, что Алматы, крупнейший город Казахстана, бывшая столица страны и финансовый и культурный центр Центральной Азии, занял первое место в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Средняя скорость загрузки составила 25,78 Мбит/с, а передачи — 11,06 Мбит/с. Средняя скорость загрузки у Tele2 составила 30,10 Мбит/с, что чуть больше, чем у Beeline с его 29,27 Мбит/с, но вдвое больше, чем у Kcell (скорость загрузки — 12,39 Мбит/с).
Несмотря на то, что Кыргызстан имеет лучшую доступность 4G среди соседних стран, в столицах ситуация противоположная — здесь доступность 4G в казахстанских городах Алматы и Астана, а также столице Кыргызстана Бишкеке превысила 84%.
4G для всех или 5G для избранных?
Во всех странах, где работает Beeline, его стратегия заключается в том, чтобы в первую очередь развертывать сети 4G, а не фокусироваться на 5G. Это также очевидно ввиду того факта, что Beeline не участвовал в последнем казахстанском аукционе частот 5G. В декабре 2022 года консорциум операторов сотовой связи Mobile Telecom Services (бренды Tele2 и Altel) и Kcell (бренды Kcell и Active), оба подконтрольные «Казахтелеком», выиграл две полосы по 100 МГц в диапазоне частот 3,6–3,7 ГГц и 3,7–3,8 ГГц. Вдекабре 2022 года министр цифрового развития объявил, что 75 % Астаны, Алматы и Шымкента и 60 % областных центров будут покрыты сетями 5G к 2027 году. Государственный оператор «Казахтелеком» уже изложил свои планы по запуску услуг 5G: первые 486 базовых станций планируется запустить в Астане, Алматы и Шымкенте в 2023 году, а позже, к концу 2025 года, — еще более 7000 сотовых вышек 5G в сетях Kcell и Tele2-Altel.
Операторы по всей остальной Центральной Азии, кроме Туркменистана, последовали их примеру. Операторы мобильной связи начали развертывать и тестировать сети 5G, хотя и с ограниченным географическим охватом.
Как ни странно, Таджикистан был одной из первых стран Центральной Азии, запустивших 5G. Первым в Таджикистане в феврале 2020 года «МегаФон Таджикистан» активировал базовую станцию 5G в Душанбе, следом в августе 2020 года Tcell и ZET Mobile. Операторы в Кыргызстане также тестируют 5G. В сентябре 2022 года MegaCom в партнерстве с Huawei и Министерством цифрового развития запустили демонстрационную зону 5G в Бишкеке. «НУР Телеком» (О!) открыл вторую демонстрационную зону в октябре 2022 года в городе Ош, в дополнение к бишкекской.
Страны Центральной Азии осознают преимущества, которые приносит цифровая трансформация, а некоторые, такие как Узбекистан и Казахстан, выдвигают инициативы по внедрению мобильных технологий и цифровой трансформации страны. Другим странам необходимо пересмотреть нормативную и конкурентную среду, чтобы стимулировать развитие рынка телекоммуникаций.
Операторы продолжают модернизировать свои сети, и мы внимательно следим за тем, как продвигается их развертывание и как оценивают их производительность конечные пользователи. Если вы хотите сравнить свои показатели или узнать больше о скорости и производительности интернета на других рынках по всему миру,посетите Speedtest Global Index.
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Last year we took a look at how free roaming was working out for EU citizens in terms of speeds and latency. This year we’ve expanded our analysis to all European countries and included data on Wi-Fi roaming behavior. We’ve also added a little insight into how roaming might affect download speeds for visitors to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from February 25- 28, 2019.
Except where noted, this analysis is based on Speedtest data from Android devices on 4G LTE cellular connections during Q3-Q4 2018. We included data on any country with greater than 30 samples in all categories.
Most Europeans experience slower downloads while roaming
Roaming traffic is subject to deals struck between individual mobile operators on how that traffic will be prioritized, so roaming speeds can depend not only on the country of origin but also the country of destination and the plan a subscriber has selected.
Consider the following table where an Albanian experiences a mean download speed of 54.56 Mbps at home and then 38.47 Mbps while roaming elsewhere in Europe. This is expected as a roamer does not usually have a direct relationship with the mobile operator handling their data and calls abroad.
Mean Mobile Download Speeds in Europe
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country
Local Speed (Mbps)
Roaming Speed (Mbps)
% Difference
Austria
38.23
35.78
-6.4%
Belarus
16.15
19.49
20.7%
Belgium
52.58
35.42
-32.6%
Bulgaria
47.28
32.35
-31.6%
Croatia
43.83
43.60
-0.5%
Cyprus
37.13
20.58
-44.6%
Czech Republic
44.91
13.43
-70.1%
Denmark
48.83
34.89
-28.6%
Estonia
36.43
38.98
7.0%
Finland
39.33
38.20
-2.9%
France
39.94
34.97
-12.5%
Germany
33.77
28.57
-15.4%
Greece
41.35
38.08
-7.9%
Hungary
49.57
28.19
-43.1%
Iceland
69.27
35.58
-48.6%
Ireland
28.23
31.49
11.6%
Italy
32.18
43.12
34.0%
Kazakhstan
22.93
13.80
-39.8%
Latvia
30.88
33.79
9.4%
Liechtenstein
56.48
36.66
-35.1%
Lithuania
41.49
33.43
-19.4%
Luxembourg
50.91
25.08
-50.7%
Malta
56.34
34.27
-39.2%
Montenegro
45.45
49.97
10.0%
Netherlands
56.06
33.86
-39.6%
Norway
68.49
38.69
-43.5%
Poland
28.74
29.71
3.4%
Portugal
32.06
36.95
15.3%
Romania
36.64
30.74
-16.1%
Russia
20.91
20.47
-2.1%
Serbia
43.41
21.64
-50.1%
Slovakia
33.47
31.80
-5.0%
Slovenia
35.51
36.41
2.5%
Spain
36.07
22.37
-38.0%
Sweden
44.87
34.59
-22.9%
Switzerland
47.59
30.36
-36.2%
Turkey
38.19
28.77
-24.7%
Ukraine
26.07
25.48
-2.3%
United Kingdom
30.84
38.76
25.7%
Residents of the Czech Republic will face massive speed disappointment when roaming through the rest of Europe. Other countries with much better speeds at home than abroad include Luxembourg, Serbia, Iceland and Cyprus.
In ten European countries, citizens experience faster mobile downloads while roaming than they do at home. These include: Italy, the United Kingdom, Belarus, Portugal, Ireland, Montenegro, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Slovenia. Most of these are among the slowest countries on this list, so it would make sense that their citizens would experience better speeds elsewhere in Europe than they do at home.
Europeans are connected to Wi-Fi most of the time
Customers sometimes try to get better speeds and avoid roaming fees (for those outside the E.U.) and data overages by connecting to Wi-Fi. The following table compares the percentage of time spent on Wi-Fi by a resident of a country with that of a visitor to the country.
Percentage of Time Spent on Wi-Fi in Europe
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country
Local Customers
Visitors
% Difference
Albania
61.9%
59.8%
-3.4%
Andorra
73.6%
69.0%
-6.2%
Armenia
61.5%
68.1%
10.7%
Austria
65.6%
36.7%
-44.1%
Azerbaijan
67.0%
70.7%
5.5%
Belarus
63.9%
58.3%
-8.9%
Belgium
71.1%
32.9%
-53.7%
Bosnia and Herzegovina
71.9%
66.0%
-8.2%
Bulgaria
65.2%
46.8%
-28.2%
Croatia
66.1%
41.0%
-38.0%
Cyprus
70.9%
58.4%
-17.7%
Czech Republic
75.1%
38.9%
-48.1%
Denmark
70.4%
52.9%
-24.9%
Estonia
61.2%
45.6%
-25.4%
Finland
56.6%
47.1%
-16.7%
France
60.2%
43.1%
-28.5%
Georgia
61.4%
62.2%
1.3%
Germany
72.2%
42.4%
-41.3%
Greece
73.5%
52.2%
-28.9%
Hungary
71.9%
35.0%
-51.3%
Iceland
65.7%
58.2%
-11.4%
Ireland
67.2%
52.4%
-22.0%
Italy
64.1%
48.9%
-23.7%
Kazakhstan
57.7%
64.7%
12.3%
Latvia
60.9%
43.8%
-28.1%
Liechtenstein
71.7%
58.2%
-18.9%
Lithuania
66.8%
43.3%
-35.1%
Luxembourg
63.6%
26.0%
-59.1%
Macedonia
65.3%
52.9%
-18.9%
Malta
74.3%
58.0%
-22.0%
Moldova
67.2%
67.3%
0.2%
Montenegro
63.6%
65.2%
2.5%
Netherlands
73.0%
42.5%
-41.7%
Norway
74.7%
59.7%
-20.1%
Poland
62.5%
48.1%
-23.1%
Portugal
69.1%
54.7%
-20.9%
Romania
62.4%
48.7%
-21.9%
Russia
58.8%
65.9%
12.2%
San Marino
66.8%
39.7%
-40.6%
Serbia
68.6%
61.2%
-10.7%
Slovakia
69.6%
35.1%
-49.6%
Slovenia
63.3%
26.4%
-58.3%
Spain
70.8%
53.0%
-25.2%
Sweden
71.8%
44.9%
-37.4%
Switzerland
62.4%
47.2%
-24.4%
Turkey
61.7%
73.0%
18.4%
Ukraine
61.5%
62.4%
1.5%
United Kingdom
71.3%
54.0%
-24.3%
Finland showed the lowest time spent on Wi-Fi by residents at 56.6%. Kazakhstan was second at 57.7% followed by Russia (58.8%), France (60.2%) and Latvia (60.9%). The Czech Republic showed the highest time spent on Wi-Fi by residents at 75.1%. Norway was second at 74.7% followed by Malta (74.3%), Andorra (73.6%) and Greece (73.5%).
When it comes to time spent on Wi-Fi by visitors, Luxembourg had the lowest percentage at 26.0%. Slovenia was second at 26.4% followed by Belgium (32.9%), Hungary (35.0%) and Slovakia (35.1%). Turkey showed the highest time spent on Wi-Fi by visitors at 73.0%. Azerbaijan was second at 70.7% followed by Andorra (69.0%), Armenia (68.1%) and Moldova (67.3%).
Luxembourg saw the largest difference in time spent on Wi-Fi between residents and visitors with visitors using Wi-Fi 59.1% less than residents. Slovenia was close behind at 58.3%, followed by Belgium (53.7%) and Hungary (51.3%). On the other end of the spectrum, visitors to Turkey were on Wi-Fi 18.4% longer than residents followed by Kazakhstan (12.3%) and Russia (12.2%).
Roaming dramatically increases latency in Europe
Because roaming signals are routed through a user’s home network, latency is always an issue in roaming. Speedtest data shows that latency while roaming is a much larger issue for residents of some countries than it is for others.
Comparing European Latency In-Country and Abroad
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country
Local Latency (ms)
Roaming Latency (ms)
% Difference
Austria
24
83
245.8%
Belarus
32
75
134.4%
Belgium
24
81
237.5%
Bulgaria
24
126
425.0%
Croatia
32
86
168.8%
Cyprus
20
194
870.0%
Czech Republic
24
86
258.3%
Denmark
24
98
308.3%
Estonia
23
78
239.1%
Finland
26
104
300.0%
France
42
87
107.1%
Germany
33
87
163.6%
Greece
27
137
407.4%
Hungary
22
94
327.3%
Iceland
18
163
805.6%
Ireland
34
114
235.3%
Italy
52
116
123.1%
Kazakhstan
35
164
368.6%
Latvia
24
94
291.7%
Liechtenstein
40
90
125.0%
Lithuania
26
108
315.4%
Luxembourg
23
73
217.4%
Malta
18
141
683.3%
Montenegro
18
42
133.3%
Netherlands
26
81
211.5%
Norway
36
109
202.8%
Poland
33
104
215.2%
Portugal
27
102
277.8%
Romania
26
131
403.8%
Russia
42
161
283.3%
Serbia
22
76
245.5%
Slovakia
30
69
130.0%
Slovenia
21
69
228.6%
Spain
45
118
162.2%
Sweden
30
118
293.3%
Switzerland
26
75
188.5%
Turkey
26
115
342.3%
Ukraine
35
116
231.4%
United Kingdom
37
107
189.2%
Residents of Cyprus saw an average latency of 194 ms while roaming in Europe. The country with the second highest latency for residents roaming abroad was Kazakhstan at 164 ms, followed by Iceland (163 ms). Russia (161 ms) and Malta (141 ms). In contrast, Montenegro had a lower latency for residents roaming abroad than Italy did for residents using their mobile phones locally.
Roaming performance at MWC
MWC, the largest mobile conference in the world, has Barcelona teeming with visitors from across the globe all trying to connect to their home networks. During February 2018 we saw an average download speed of 34.31 Mbps while roaming in Barcelona and a mean latency of 201 ms. Visitors from the U.K. saw an average download speed of 49.00 Mbps and a mean latency of 111 ms, while those from Italy averaged a download of 32.88 Mbps and a latency of 128 ms.
What will the performance look like at this year’s conference? Schedule a meeting or come see us in Hall 2 at Booth 2i25 to learn more about our roaming data.
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