Tag: Russia

Ookla Research™ Articles
| January 12, 2021

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

Global Speeds


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

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

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

Mobile-Broadband-Speeds-in-G20-Countries_0121

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

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

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

Fixed-Broadband-Speeds-in-G20-Countries_0121

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

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

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

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

Global Speeds

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 18, 2019

A Global Look at Mobile Modem Market Share and Device Performance

Devices

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

Global modem market share

Ookla_Global-Modem-Market-Share_1219-2

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

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

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

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

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

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

Device performance is affected by market factors

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

Mean-DL-Speeds-on-Flagship-Phones

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

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

Device performance in 5G markets

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

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

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

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

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

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

Devices

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| November 25, 2019

A Global Look at Russia’s Internet Speeds and 4G Availability

Global Speeds


Читать отчет на русском

With one of the largest economies in the world and also the largest landmass, Russia makes for an interesting case study of internet speeds. We examined Speedtest® data on mobile and fixed broadband speeds as well as 4G Availability during Q2-Q3 2019 to see how Russia compares to the ten largest economies in the world. We also analyzed data from Russia’s oblasts and most populous cities to determine how speeds and availability vary across Russia’s vast geography.

Russia ranked ninth for fixed broadband download speed among the world’s largest economies

Fixed-Download-Speeds

Russia’s mean download speed over fixed broadband trailed behind most of the world’s largest economies during Q2-Q3 2019. Russia placed ninth out of the 11 countries with a mean download speed of 53.46 Mbps during this period. Two other BRIC countries, Brazil and India, were slower than Russia with mean download speeds of 38.41 Mbps and 30.58 Mbps, respectively. The fourth BRIC country, China, placed fifth with a mean download over fixed broadband of 91.60 Mbps.

The United States secured the top spot among countries with the highest GDP with a mean download speed of 122.25 Mbps, 128.7% faster than Russia and 299.8% faster than India. Canada and France, ranked second and third, respectively, had almost identical mean download speeds of 112.86 Mbps and 112.84 Mbps, respectively.

On a month by month level, it’s interesting to note that most of the countries’ rankings did not change during this period — the exceptions were Russia and Italy which vied for eighth and ninth place and Canada which overtook France.

Brazil had the most significant gain during Q2-Q3 2019, with an increase in mean download speed of 29.5% (from 34.23 Mbps in April to 44.34 Mbps in September). India and Russia also experienced notable increases in their speeds. India’s mean download speed increased by 16.5%, while Russia experienced an 11.0% increase in mean download speed in the span of six months. These improvements open the door to the possibility of higher rankings for all three countries in the future.

Rankings on upload speed over fixed broadband did not match those for download speeds. Russia ranked well at third place (with a mean upload speed of 55.78 Mbps) during Q2-Q3 2019 when comparing upload speeds among countries with the highest GDP. Upload speeds on the top three spots showed a significant gap between Japan’s first place 105.83 Mbps and Russia’s 55.78 Mbps, a drop of 47.3%. Brazil, Germany and the U.K. fell to the last three spots in this category with upload speeds ranging from 15.62 Mbps to 19.21 Mbps. First-place Japan’s mean upload speed was a remarkable 577.5% faster than that of the U.K. during Q2-Q3 2019.

Russia ranked 10th for mobile download speed

Mobile-Download-Speeds

Speedtest data on mean download speeds over mobile reveals Canada, France, and China led the world’s largest economies during Q2-Q3 2019 with mean download speeds ranging between 36.68 Mbps and 62.62 Mbps. In tenth place, Russia once again landed in the bottom three along with Brazil and India. At 19.86 Mbps, Russia’s mean download speed on mobile was 68.3% slower than Canada’s.

While there were significant shifts in the rankings of mobile download speed on a month by month basis, China was the only country that experienced a major increase in mobile speed during Q2-Q3 2019. From April to September, China’s mean download speed on mobile increased by a notable 51.3%. This increase makes it more likely for China to lead the group in this category in the future. 5G will of course play a role in mobile speed increases. According to the Ookla 5G MapTM, China, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. are the only countries on this list with commercially available 5G as of November 18, 2019.

Russia also ranked poorly for mean upload speeds on mobile broadband during Q2-Q3 2019, coming in eighth with 9.40 Mbps when compared with the world’s largest economies. China ranked first with a mean upload speed of 14.86 Mbps, followed by Canada and Italy with mean upload speeds of 13.85 Mbps and 12.61 Mbps, respectively. Russia’s mean upload speed was 36.7% slower than China’s.

Japan, Brazil, and India made up the bottom three with mean upload speeds of 9.38 Mbps, 9.07 Mbps and 4.20 Mbps, respectively. First-place China’s mean upload speed was 253.8% faster than eleventh-place India’s mean upload speed during this period.

Russia’s 4G Availability was 60.4%

4G Availability in the World’s Largest Economies
Speedtest® Data | Q2-Q3 2019
Country 4G Availability
Japan 98.8%
China 96.7%
U.S. 94.0%
Canada 91.3%
U.K. 88.0%
India 87.9%
France 86.4%
Italy 85.0%
Germany 68.9%
Russia 60.4%
Brazil 47.3%

Russia ranked tenth for 4G Availability among the world’s largest economies during Q2-Q3 2019 with only 60.4% of surveyed locations in Russia having access to 4G LTE. This is not surprising given the vast land mass that Russian operators must contend with when building out mobile networks, as Russia is 80.1% larger in area than the next biggest country, Canada.

Japan had the highest 4G Availability on our list at 98.8%. China was a close second at 96.7% and the United States third at 94.0%. There was a significant gap in 4G Availability between eighth place Italy and ninth place Germany. Brazil completes the list in eleventh place.

Internet speeds vary widely between Russia’s largest cities

Fixed broadband download speeds in Russia’s largest cities

Ookla_Russia_Cities_Fixed-Broadband-Speeds_1119_en
Speedtest data for mean download speed over fixed broadband showed a disparity among Russia’s most populous cities during Q2-Q3 2019. First place Moscow, both the most populous city on the list and Russia’s capital, had a mean download speed of 77.31 Mbps during Q2-Q3 2019. Moscow’s mean download speed over fixed broadband was 93.5% faster than last-place Samara’s at 39.96 Mbps.

Mean upload speeds on fixed broadband indicated a smaller gap between the fastest and slowest speeds. Moscow once again lead the group with a mean upload speed on fixed broadband of 76.18 Mbps, followed by Saint Petersburg with a mean upload speed of 70.65 Mbps. Rostov-on-Don and Samara ranked ninth and tenth with mean upload speeds of 48.67 Mbps and 44.54 Mbps, respectively. There was a 71.0% difference between Moscow’s mean upload speed and Samara’s during this period.

Mobile download speeds show less variation in Russia’s largest cities

Ookla_Russia_Cities_Mobile-Speeds_1119_en

The gap between the fastest and slowest speeds in Russia’s largest cities was narrower on mobile broadband than on fixed during Q2-Q3 2019. Moscow ranked first with a mean download speed on mobile of 26.21 Mbps. Kazan had the slowest mean download speed at 16.54 Mbps. Moscow’s mean download speed was 58.5% faster than that of Kazan.

Chelyabinsk ranked first for mean upload speed on mobile broadband at 11.76 Mbps during Q2-Q3 2019. Saint Petersburg ranked second with 11.16 Mbps and Moscow ranked third with 10.92 Mbps. Rostov-on-Don ranked last with a mean upload speed of 7.97 Mbps, 32.2% slower than Chelyabinsk during this period.

4G Availability is relatively strong in Russia’s largest cities

Ookla_Russia_Cities_4G-Availability_1119_en
4G Availability during Q2-Q3 2019 was more consistent between Russia’s largest cities than internet speeds. Looking at 4G Availability during Q2-Q3 2019, Saint Petersburg was on top with 94.4% of surveyed locations showing access to 4G, followed by Moscow (92.8%) and Kazan (91.5%). Samara and Omsk ranked last for 4G Availability at 88.9% and 87.9%, respectively.

Internet speeds vary even more between Russia’s oblasts

We examined Speedtest data in Russia’s oblasts during Q2-Q3 2019 to see if there was any geographic logic to speeds. What we found was a large disparity in speeds that did not lend itself immediately to a geographic explanation.

Download speeds over fixed broadband are 175% faster in Russia’s fastest oblast than in the slowest

Ookla_Russia_Regional_Fixed-Broadband-Download-Speeds_1119_en

Murmansk, located near the border with Finland, was the fastest oblast in Russia during Q2-Q3 2019 with a mean download speed over fixed broadband of 71.13 Mbps. Kemerovo was second and Lipetsk third with mean download speeds of 68.32 Mbps and 66.37 Mbps, respectively. Kemerov is located in the south central region of the country, north of Russia’s border with Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China. Lipetsk is located closer to Europe, just east of Belarus.

Kaluga, Belgorod and Magadan were the three Russian oblasts with the slowest mean download speeds over fixed broadband in Q2-Q3 2019. First-place Murmank’s mean download speed was 175.0% faster than the mean download speed Magadan experienced during this period. Both Kaluga and Belgorod are located in the western part of the country, closer to Ukraine and Belarus. Magadan is on the other side of the country, closer to the Bering Sea and the Alaskan coast.

Mobile broadband speeds in Russia’s oblasts

Ookla_Russia_Regional_Mobile-Download-Speeds_1119_en
Aside for Murmansk and Kaluga, the list of oblasts with the fastest and slowest mean download speeds over mobile broadband during Q2-Q3 2019 was completely different from what we saw with fixed broadband. In addition, the range of speeds among Russian oblasts narrowed on mobile broadband.

Tomsk, located north of Kazakhstan, had the fastest mean download speed on mobile broadband at 25.91 Mbps during Q2-Q3 2019. Murmansk followed Tomsk with a mean download speed of 24.50 Mbps. Ulyanovsk, located in the southwest part of Russia, was third with a mean download speed of 23.11 Mbps.

The slowest oblast for mean download speed over mobile was Leningrad, followed by Vladimir and Kursk. All three oblasts are located on the west side of the country, closer to Europe than Asia. Kursk borders Ukraine, Vladimir borders Moscow Oblast and Leningrad borders both Estonia and Finland. First-place Tomsk’s mean download speed over mobile was 85.2% faster than Leningrad’s during Q2-Q3 2019.

Russian oblasts show wide variances in 4G Availability

Ookla_Russia_Regional_4G-Availability_1119_en
4G Availability in Russian oblasts varied greatly, ranging from 37.1% to 75.5% of surveyed locations having access to 4G LTE during Q2-Q3 2019. Moscow Oblast had the highest 4G Availability during Q2-Q3 2019 at 75.5%, followed by Magadan’s 71.5% and Sakhalin’s 66.7%. Vologda Oblast had the lowest 4G Availability among Russian oblasts during Q2-Q3 2019 at 37.1%. Pskov Oblast was the second lowest at 37.3% and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast third at 37.5%.

Our analysis shows Russia is more competitive with BRIC countries when it comes to internet speeds and 4G Availability than it is to the world’s largest economies as a whole. Speeds and availability vary, though, between Russia’s largest cities and across oblasts. We’ll be watching this market closely to see if the improvements we saw carry forward into a brighter telecom future for Russia.

To find out more about internet speeds at the provider level or in a specific city, region or country, reach out to our team here.

Глобальное исследование скорости Интернета и доступности 4G в России

Россия как государство с одной из крупнейших в мире экономик и самой большой территорией — интересная область для исследования скорости Интернета. На протяжении II и III кварталов 2019 года мы изучали данные Speedtest® о скорости мобильного и фиксированного широкополосного Интернета, а также о доступности 4G, чтобы сравнить показатели России с десятью другими странами с самой крупной в мире экономикой. Кроме того, мы проанализировали данные из областей России и самых густонаселенных городов, чтобы определить, как скорость и доступность различаются по огромной территории этой страны.

Россия заняла девятое место по скорости скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет среди стран с самой крупной в мире экономикой

Ookla_Russia_Fixed-Download-Speeds_1119_ru

Средняя скорость скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет в России оказалась ниже, чем в большинстве стран с самой крупной экономикой во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Россия заняла девятое место среди 11 стран со средней скоростью скачивания 53,46 Мбит/с за этот период. Скорость в двух других странах из объединения БРИК — в Бразилии и Индии — была ниже, чем в России: 38,41 Мбит/с и 30,58 Мбит/с соответственно. Китай, четвертая страна из объединения БРИК, заняла пятое место со средней скоростью скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет на уровне 91,60 Мбит/с.

Соединенные Штаты Америки возглавили список среди стран с самым высоким ВВП, показав среднюю скорость скачивания 122,25 Мбит/с — на 128,7% выше, чем Россия, и на 299,8% выше, чем Индия. В Канаде и Франции, которые заняли второе и третье места соответственно, средняя скорость скачивания практически идентична показателю США: 112,86 Мбит/с и 112,84 Мбит/с соответственно.

Если отслеживать данные по месяцам, интересно отметить, что рейтинг большинства стран не изменился за этот период, за исключением России и Италии, которые конкурировали за восьмое и девятое места, а также Канады, которая опередила Францию.

Самое значительное увеличение скорости во II и III кварталах наблюдалось в Бразилии, где средняя скорость скачивания выросла на 29,5% (с 34,23 Мбит/с в апреле до 44,34 Мбит/с в сентябре). Повышение скорости отмечалось также в Индии и России. Средняя скорость скачивания в Индии увеличилась на 16,5%, а в России — на 11,0% за шесть месяцев. Такие улучшения демонстрируют, что в будущем эти три страны потенциально могут улучшить свои позиции в рейтинге.

Рейтинги по скорости передачи данных через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет не совпадают с показателями для скорости скачивания. При сравнении скорости передачи данных в странах с самым высоким ВВП во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Россия заняла третье место (со средней скоростью передачи данных 55,78 Мбит/с). Наблюдается значительный разрыв между странами, занявшими первые три места по скорости передачи данных: разница между Японией, занявшей первое место с показателем 105,83 Мбит/с, и Россией со скоростью 55,78 Мбит/с составляет 47,3%. Бразилия, Германия и Великобритания занимают последние три места в этой категории со скоростью передачи данных в диапазоне от 15,62 Мбит/с до 19,21 Мбит/с. Средняя скорость передачи данных в Японии, занявшей первое место, во II и III кварталах 2019 г. была на 577,5% выше, чем в Великобритании.

Россия заняла 10-е место по скорости скачивания через мобильный Интернет

Ookla_Russia_Mobile-Download-Speeds_1119_ru

Данные Speedtest о средней скорости скачивания через мобильный Интернет показывают, что Канада, Франция и Китай заняли ведущие позиции среди стран с самой крупной в мире экономикой во II и III кварталах 2019 г. со средней скоростью скачивания от 36,68 Мбит/с до 62,62 Мбит/с. Россия заняла десятое место, снова в группе с Бразилией и Индией, которые оказались в числе последних. Средняя скорость скачивания через мобильный Интернет в России (19,86 Мбит/с) оказалась на 68,3% ниже, чем в Канаде.

По месяцам наблюдались значительные изменения в рейтингах по скорости скачивания через мобильный Интернет, однако Китай стал единственной страной, которая существенно увеличила скорость мобильного Интернета во II и III кварталах 2019 г. В период с апреля по сентябрь средняя скорость скачивания через мобильный Интернет в Китае выросла на 51,3%. При таком росте становится вероятнее, что Китай займет ведущую позицию в этой категории в будущем. Несомненно, 5G сыграет свою роль в повышении скорости мобильного Интернета. Согласно карте Ookla 5G MapTM, Китай, Германия, Италия, Великобритания и США — это единственные страны из представленного списка, в которых сеть 5G доступна на коммерческой основе, по данным на 18 ноября 2019 г.

Россия также получила низкий рейтинг по средней скорости передачи данных через мобильный Интернет во II и III кварталах 2019 г., заняв восьмое место с показателем 9,40 Мбит/с при сравнении с другими странами с самой крупной экономикой. Китай занял первое место со средней скоростью передачи данных 14,86 Мбит/с, а второе и третье места заняли Канада и Италия со средней скоростью передачи 13,85 Мбит/с и 12,61 Мбит/с соответственно. Средняя скорость передачи данных в России была на 36,7% ниже, чем в Китае.

Три нижние позиции заняли Япония, Бразилия и Индия со средней скоростью передачи данных 9,38 Мбит/с, 9,07 Мбит/с и 4,20 Мбит/с соответственно. Разница по средней скорости передачи данных между Китаем, занявшим первое место, и Индией, занявшей одиннадцатое место, составила 253,8% за этот период.

Доступность 4G в России составила 60,4%

Доступность 4G в странах с самой крупной экономикой
Данные Speedtest® | II и III кварталы 2019 г.
Страна Доступность 4G
Япония 98,8%
Китай 96,7%
США 94,0%
Канада 91,3%
Великобритания 88,0%
Индия 87,9%
Франция 86,4%
Италия 85,0%
Германия 68,9%
Россия 60,4%
Бразилия 47,3%

Россия заняла десятое место по доступности 4G среди стран с крупнейшей в мире экономикой во II и III кварталах 2019 года: только 60,4% расположений, в которых проводилось исследование в России, имели доступ к LTE-сети 4G. Такой результат не удивляет, если учитывать огромную территорию, которую необходимо охватывать российским операторам связи при строительстве мобильных сетей, поскольку Россия на 80,1% больше по площади, чем следующая по величине страна — Канада.

Максимальный показатель доступности 4G в нашем списке продемонстрировала Япония — 98,8%. С небольшим отрывом на втором месте Китай (96,7%), а на третьем — США (94%). Значительную разницу по доступности 4G можно отметить между Италией, занявшей восьмое место, и Германией, занявшей девятую позицию. Замыкает список Бразилия — одиннадцатое место.

Скорость Интернета значительно различается в крупных городах России

Скорость скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет в крупнейших городах России

Ookla_Russia_Cities_Fixed-Broadband-Speeds_1119_ru

Данные Speedtest о средней скорости скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет показали значительные различия между самыми густонаселенными городами России во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Первое место заняла Москва, самый густонаселенный город и столица России, со средней скоростью скачивания 77,31 Мбит/с во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Средняя скорость скачивания в Москве была на 93,5% выше, чем в Самаре (39,96 Мбит/с), занявшей последнее место.

Различия по средней скорости передачи данных через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет были менее значительными между городами на первом и последнем местах. Москва снова заняла первое место в группе со средней скоростью передачи данных через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет на уровне 76,18 Мбит/с. За ней следует Санкт-Петербург со средней скоростью передачи данных 70,65 Мбит/с. Ростов-на-Дону и Самара заняли девятое и десятое места со средней скоростью передачи данных 48,67 Мбит/с и 44,54 Мбит/с соответственно. В этот период разница между средней скоростью передачи данных в Москве и Самаре составила 71%.

Различия по скорости скачивания через мобильный Интернет в самых крупных городах России не настолько значительны

Ookla_Russia_Cities_Mobile-Speeds_1119_ru

Разница между самой высокой и самой низкой скоростью в крупнейших городах России была меньше для мобильного Интернета, чем для фиксированного во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Москва заняла первое место со средней скоростью скачивания через мобильный Интернет 26,21 Мбит/с. Самая низкая средняя скорость скачивания была зафиксирована в Казани — 16,54 Мбит/с. Средняя скорость скачивания в Москве была на 58,5% выше, чем в Казани.

Челябинск занял первое место по средней скорости передачи данных через мобильный Интернет (11,76 Мбит/с) во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Санкт-Петербург занял второе место со скоростью 11,16 Мбит/с, а Москва — третье место со скоростью 10,92 Мбит/с. Ростов-на-Дону оказался на последнем месте со средней скоростью передачи данных 7,97 Мбит/с, которая была на 32,2% ниже, чем в Челябинске за этот период.

Доступность 4G относительно высока в крупнейших городах России

Ookla_Russia_Cities_4G-Availability_1119_ru

Показатели доступности 4G во II и III кварталах 2019 г. не так сильно варьировались в самых крупных городах России по сравнению со скоростью Интернета. По доступности 4G во II и III кварталах 2019 г. первое место занял Санкт-Петербург: в 94,4% расположений города доступна сеть 4G. За ним следуют Москва (92,8%) и Казань (91,5%). Самара и Омск заняли последние места в рейтинге по доступности 4G с показателями 88,9% и 87,9% соответственно.

Скорость Интернета различается еще больше между областями России

Мы изучили данные Speedtest по областям России за II и III кварталы 2019 г., чтобы определить, имеется ли какая-либо географическая закономерность, связанная со скоростью. Мы обнаружили значительные различия в скорости, которые не поддавались простому географическому объяснению.

Разница между самой высокой и самой низкой скоростью фиксированного широкополосного Интернета в областях России составила 175%

Ookla_Russia_Regional_Fixed-Broadband-Download-Speeds_1119_ru

Во II и III кварталах средняя скорость скачивания через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет была выше всего в Мурманской области, расположенной возле границы с Финляндией, — 71,13 Мбит/с. Кемеровская область заняла второе, а Липецкая — третье место со средней скоростью скачивания 68,32 Мбит/с и 66,37 Мбит/с соответственно. Кемеровская область расположена в южно-центральном регионе страны, на север от границы России с Монголией, Казахстаном и Китаем. Липецкая область расположена ближе к Европе, на восток от Беларуси.

Калужская, Белгородская и Магаданская области — это три региона России с самой низкой средней скоростью передачи данных через фиксированный широкополосный Интернет во II и III кварталах 2019 г. Средняя скорость передачи в Мурманской области, занявшей первое место по этому показателю, была на 175% выше, чем аналогичный показатель в Магаданской области за этот период. Калужская и Белгородская области расположены в западной части страны, ближе к Украине и Беларуси. Магаданская область находится на противоположном конце страны, ближе к Беринговому морю и побережью Аляски.

Скорость мобильного Интернета в областях России

Ookla_Russia_Regional_Mobile-Download-Speeds_1119_ru

За исключением Мурманской и Калужской областей, список регионов с самой высокой и самой низкой средней скоростью скачивания через мобильный широкополосный Интернет во II и III кварталах 2019 г. значительно отличался от показателей для фиксированного широкополосного подключения. Более того, диапазон скорости мобильного Интернета среди областей России сократился.

Самая высокая средняя скорость скачивания через мобильный Интернет во II и III кварталах 2019 г. была зафиксирована в Томской области, расположенной на север от Казахстана, — 25,91 Мбит/с. Мурманская область заняла второе место после Томской со средней скоростью скачивания 24,50 Мбит/с. Ульяновская область, расположенная в юго-западной части России, заняла третье место со средней скоростью скачивания на уровне 23,11 Мбит/с.

Самая низкая средняя скорость скачивания через мобильный Интернет наблюдалась в Ленинградской области, за которой последовали Владимирская и Курская области. Все три области расположены в западной части страны, ближе к Европе, чем к Азии. Курская область граничит с Украиной, Владимирская — с Московской областью, а Ленинградская область — с Эстонией и Финляндией. Средняя скорость скачивания через мобильный Интернет в Томской области, занявшей первое место по этому показателю, была на 85,2% выше, чем в Ленинградской, во II и III кварталах 2019 г.

Области России демонстрируют значительные различия по доступности 4G

Ookla_Russia_Regional_4G-Availability_1119_ru

Во II и III кварталах 2019 г. доступность 4G по областям России значительно различалась: в исследуемых расположениях показатель доступности LTE-сети 4G колебался от 37,1% до 75,5%. В Московской области наблюдался самый высокий уровень доступности 4G во II и III кварталах 2019 г. — 75,5%. За ней последовали Магаданская (71,5%) и Сахалинская (66,7%) области. Самая низкая доступность 4G среди областей России во II и III кварталах 2019 г. была зарегистрирована в Вологодской области — 37,1%. Псковская область заняла предпоследнее место с показателем 37,3%, а Еврейская автономная область — третье место с конца с доступностью на уровне 37,5%.

Наш анализ демонстрирует, что показатели России лучше соотносятся со странами объединения БРИК в аспекте скорости Интернета и доступности 4G, чем со странами с самой крупной экономикой в целом. Однако скорость и доступность значительно различаются в крупнейших городах России и по областям. Мы будем пристально следить за этим рынком, чтобы узнать, приведут ли отмеченные улучшения к дальнейшему развитию телекоммуникаций в России.

Чтобы узнать больше о скорости Интернета на уровне отдельного провайдера, города, региона или страны, свяжитесь с нашей командой по этой ссылке.

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

Global Speeds

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 20, 2019

An Expansive Analysis of European Mobile Roaming Speeds and Behaviors

Global Speeds

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.

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

Global Speeds

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 12, 2017

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

Global Speeds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Most improved countries

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

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

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

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

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

Speeds in some countries declined

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

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

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

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

Performance in the world’s most populous countries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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About the Author

Isla McKetta