Tag: Global Speeds

Ookla Research™ Articles
| April 6, 2022

How CHT Monitors Taiwan’s Largest Live Events with Ookla Wind® [Case Study]

Global Speeds

Taiwan is home to some of the most spectacular end-of-year celebrations in Asia, and local government entities planned several massive celebrations in different cities and regions of Taiwan to ring in New Year’s Eve 2022. With crowds of hundreds of thousands in attendance across six different venues, network congestion was a potential issue that could disrupt the festive experience and leave many frustrated with their operator’s mobile performance. It wasn’t enough for local operators to simply understand network conditions prior to the events, they also needed to monitor performance in real-time to proactively mitigate any congestion issues.

As the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan, ChungHwa Telecom (CHT) understood the stakes. CHT’s mission includes delivering fast, reliable network performance — which is especially critical during popular events where attendees want to upload their photos and videos to social media. CHT wanted to have testing and monitoring solutions in place to analyze performance at the events and act on any capacity-related performance issues in real-time.

CHT Speedtest Awards

The need for better live event monitoring

Traditional drive and walk testing solutions rely on the uploading and post-processing of massive log files — which just won’t work when meeting the immediate demands a large live event places on a network. While testing the venues beforehand can provide network insights, these tests only represent a snapshot in time during more typical usage conditions. 

CHT couldn’t expect their network to perform the same way during a live event with hundreds of thousands of people in a single location all simultaneously texting and uploading photos and videos of the live music, fireworks, and celebrations. To deliver a superior network experience would take real-time data collection, processing, and visualization.

Read the full case study to learn more about how Wind helps with live event monitoring.

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

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Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 30, 2022

5G in The U.K.: Calls for Consolidation Grow

Global Speeds

Key Takeaways

  • Operator Three UK led the U.K. market for 5G performance with a median download speed of 258.80 Mbps in Q3-Q4 2021.
  • EE led on 5G Availability at 19.3% during Q3-Q4 2021, but this remains low at a market level.
  • Like other European markets, the requirement to remove network equipment from Chinese vendors has negatively impacted the speed of 5G deployments in the U.K.
  • Based on the number of people per 5G base station, the U.K. lags behind other 5G pioneer markets, indicating a change in deployment is required.
  • U.K. regulator Ofcom has highlighted the need to drive greater mobile network capacity to meet future demand, with the release of mmWave spectrum and further network densification key levers. However, attention is likely to turn once again to market consolidation to help accelerate network densification — an area where Ofcom has felt the need to clarify its position.

5G network investment accelerating

The United Kingdom (U.K.) was among the first markets to launch 5G globally, with EE launching the 5G in May 2019. Since then, despite U.K. operators ramping up 5G investment, the market has been on par with many other European markets in terms of 5G performance, but the U.K. still lags behind 5G pioneers like South Korea and China as we saw in Q1-Q2 2021.

According to the Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2021 report, 5G network investment in the U.K. is accelerating, hitting £330 million in 2020 — an increase of over £150 million (88%) vs. 2019. Dense urban areas are mostly supported by high capacity C-band spectrum (awarded in 2018 and in 2021), increasingly augmented by hotspot deployments in suburban areas and around main transport corridors. The number of mobile base stations providing 5G services more than doubled last year — from 3,000 sites in 2020 to over 6,500 sites in 2021. Based on the U.K.’s population as of 2020, this would equate to over 10,000 people per 5G base station, placing it well behind South Korea, China, the EU average, and even the U.S. according to the EU 5G Observatory’s International Scoreboard.

In order to reduce costs and optimize network deployment, the U.K.’s mobile network operators already deploy and run a portion of their radio access network (RAN) via network sharing agreements. Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), is a 50-50 joint venture between EE and Three UK, to manage the design and operation of their shared network. Additionally, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (CTIL) is a 50-50 joint venture between O2 and Vodafone that owns and oversees the operators’ passive tower infrastructure. 

O2 and Vodafone announced in 2019 that they would share 5G- active equipment, such as radio antennas, in order to reduce the time to launch and cost effectively deploy 5G. This excludes around 2,700 sites in densely populated areas (in over 20 cities) where the operators will maintain separate active RAN components to give them greater autonomy and enable more flexibility to meet customer requirements. In January 2021, Vodafone transferred its 50% share to Vantage Towers.

Ofcom highlights need for greater network capacity

A recent discussion paper by U.K. regulator Ofcom illuminated its future approach to mobile markets, and while it shied away from further regulation, it did highlight the need to plan for more network capacity to meet future demand. Additionally, Ofcom’s discussion paper highlighted releasing further spectrum, looking to technological advances to improve spectral efficiency, and the need for further network densification. However, the challenge for operators lies in supporting the level of network investment required given the current mobile market structure in the U.K..

There is a clear desire for further mobile network consolidation in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, with recent examples including the agreed joint venture between MasMovil and Orange in Spain, and Iliad’s recent bid for Vodafone Italy. The last time the U.K. market saw mobile consolidation was in 2010 with the merger of T-Mobile and Orange to form EE. Since then, subsequent attempts to drive further mobile consolidation — Three UK’s planned merger with O2 in 2016 — have been blocked by Ofcom and the European Commission. During Three UK’s  recent 2021 results announcement, Robert Finnegan, Three UK’s Chief Executive Officer, warned that despite achieving positive results, “the U.K. market with four operators continues to remain dysfunctional and requires a structural change to improve the overall quality of infrastructure that U.K. customers should expect.”

Ofcom’s latest discussion paper alludes to a potential softening in its stance on mobile mergers, indicating that it would be “informed by the specific circumstances of that particular merger, taking into account how markets are evolving.” Given the strong move towards convergence, such as BT’s acquisition of EE and the more recent O2 and Virgin Media merger, further market consolidation cannot be ruled out. 

Freeing up further spectrum for 5G use remains a priority

Since early 5G deployments, all four operators in the U.K. have been utilizing mid-band spectrum for 5G, which is considered a spectrum “sweet spot” that offers both fast speeds and broad geographic coverage. In April 2021, every operator boosted their spectrum holdings across the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands. O2, for example, has started using low-band spectrum for 5G, and has recently committed to invest at least £10 billion in the U.K., delivering 5G to over 2,000 sites across the country in 2021. The operator’s 5G coverage currently extends to 300 towns and cities and is set to reach 50% of the U.K.’s population with its 5G services in 2023. 

Operators have been also re-farming their legacy 2G and 3G spectrum for 5G and utilizing dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to facilitate dynamic use of 4G and 5G in the same bands. In December 2021, the government also announced the goal of switching off 2G and 3G networks by 2033 to free up spectrum for 5G. Ofcom’s recently published discussion paper on mobile networks and spectrum, identifies a large amount of mobile spectrum in the mmWave frequencies, which if allocated, will help boost network capacity. The regulator will consult on proposals to enable mmWave band in Q1 2022/23.

On the road to 5G standalone networks 

5G is currently rolled out in a non-standalone (NSA) mode in the U.K., meaning that it still relies on the 4G LTE core network. We expect all operators to upgrade to 5G standalone (SA) in time, with 5G core networks and 5G RAN, especially as additional 5G capabilities proliferate such as ultra-low latency communication (URLC)  and virtual network functions such as network slicing which will enable new 5G use cases. Operators in the U.K. are already trialing 5G SA:  in June 2021 Vodafone launched a commercial pilot of 5G SA in London, Manchester, and Cardiff, which built on an earlier trial carried out with Coventry University in the summer of 2020. In March 2022, Vodafone and Ericsson completed the U.K.’s first 5G SA network slicing trial. It was a lab demonstration of 5G network slicing with on-demand quality of service control for virtual reality use case in a retail store. The slice guaranteed a download speed of 260 Mbps and latency of 12 milliseconds. It isn’t clear when Vodafone plans to commercially launch 5G SA but Vodafone Germany became the first operator to launch 5G SA in Europe last year.

The recent 5G SA collaboration between EE, the BBC, and Ericsson, “The Green Planet AR Experience,” showcased the unique capabilities of 5G SA and edge computing. Additionally, EE plans to extend 5G coverage to 90% of the U.K. geographical area by 2028, which will be facilitated by the migration to a cloud-based core and the launch of 5G SA by 2023. EE is also planning to sell 5G SA in a way that will resonate with the customers and bring “technology to them in a really human way”. This is a move away from EE advertising the benefits of 5G as being able to get a real-time close shave with a robotic arm. However, Marc Allera, CEO of BT Consumer (EE’s parent company), does not rule out metaverse as a possible proposition blending entertainment, sports broadcasting, gaming, and e-commerce. 

Security worries pave the road to Open RAN 

Huawei kit needs to be removed from a number of European countries, including the U.K. In July 2020, in response to U.S. sanctions against Huawei, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) announced that it overturned its earlier decision to exclude Huawei’s access from core and sensitive networks and, instead, completely remove Huawei’s kit from the U.K.’s 5G networks by the end of 2027. The government further pushed Open RAN expectations in December 2021 by setting a goal of having 35% of its telecom network traffic carried over Open RAN by 2030. This target is an aspirational one, rather than a hard mandated quota and is apparently supported by all mobile operators. It does come with a £250 million funding to support and accelerate the development of open and interoperable RAN, which is significantly less than €2 billion the German government has  specifically dedicated for Open RAN as part of €50 billion Package for the Future.

In January 2022, Vodafone switched on the U.K.’s first 5G Open RAN site in Bath, Somerset, which is the first of 2,500 planned sites and marks the beginning of the first scaled Open RAN project in Europe. EE’s parent company, BT Group, is more skeptical about the technology, with Neil McRae, MD of Architecture and Strategy and chief architect at BT Group, reminding the MWC 2022 audiences that there are different paths operators can take to drive down costs and improve performance. Nonetheless, BT is trialing Open RAN in Hull to see how the technology can improve the customer experience of EE’s 5G network. We have discussed the current progress on Open RAN across Europe in our latest article 5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future and reflected on the discussions on this topic at MWC 2022 here. 

U.K. compared to its European peers 

In our recent post “5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future”, we looked at how different European countries stacked up against each other and international peers. Using Speedtest Intelligence®,  we compared 5G in the U.K. against its peers’ 5G performance.France (190.17 Mbps) and Switzerland (188.27 Mbps) topped our list with the fastest median 5G download speeds  during the second half of 2021, followed by the U.K. (176.22 Mbps), Ireland (162.46 Mbps), Germany (155.87 Mbps), and Netherlands (142.55 Mbps). Interestingly, despite all of the French operators launching 5G service in December 2020, relatively late compared to other analyzed countries, they achieved top median download speeds due to substantial network investments. 

Switzerland, however, had the fastest median upload speed over 5G at 35.51 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, followed by the Netherlands (31.29 Mbps), Germany (25.80 Mbps), Ireland (21.20 Mbps), France (15.19 Mbps), and the U.K. (14.79 Mbps). 

The Netherlands had the highest 5G Availability among the U.K’s peers

The ranking shifts when it comes to 5G Availability — the percentage of users on 5G-capable devices that spend most of the time with access to 5G networks. The Netherlands had the highest 5G Availability at 45.3%, followed by Switzerland (32.2%), the U.K. (12.4%), Ireland (11.7%), and France (11.5%). 

The telecom regulator Ofcom in its Connected Nations report stated that the uptake of 5G-enabled handsets across the U.K. increased from 800,000 in 2020 to over six million in September 2021, accounting for around 10% of all devices. This is still far behind South Korea, which was the first country to commercialize 5G in 2019 and where the number of smartphone users on the 5G network reached roughly 20.2 million in November 2021, equivalent to 28% of mobile subscriptions.

According to Counterpoint Research, the U.K. is the leader in Western Europe in terms of 5G penetration of smartphone sales. In Q4 2021, 83% of smartphones sold in the U.K. were 5G enabled, compared to the regional average of 73%. In time, this will translate into a larger install base of 5G devices and share of overall subscriptions. 

Three UK was the fastest 5G operator in the U.K.

Three UK had the fastest median 5G download speed among top operators, achieving 258.80 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, far ahead of Vodafone (170.39 Mbps), EE (166.87 Mbps), and O2 (139.61 Mbps). Median 5G upload speeds across all operators were very similar with Vodafone at 17.86 Mbps, EE at 15.89 Mbps, Three UK at 13.94 Mbps, and O2 at 11.47 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021. Three UK benefited from having the largest, dedicated 5G spectrum — 140MHz frequency across several 5G spectrum bands, including 100 MH block of continuous spectrum in the 3.3-3.8 GHz band. Three UK’s 5G coverage extended to more than a third of the U.K. population across 370 towns and cities with 2,500 live sites. The operator launched fixed wireless access (FWA) 5G services in August 2019, followed by mobile 5G services in February 2020, which were built upon the 5G-ready, cloud-native core network provided by Nokia in July 2019. Three UK has invested over £2 billion to transform its network and IT infrastructure, as part of a five-year program. 

EE leads on 5G Availability 

EE had the highest 5G Availability at 19.3% during Q3-Q4 2021, ahead of Three UK (14.4%), Vodafone (9.8%), and O2 (7.8%). In a bid to extend its 4G LTE network coverage, EE has deployed small cells to boost capacity in high-demand areas. Soon, the operator will begin trials to extend the use of small cells to 5G networks by upgrading Nokia’s AirScale portfolio.

5G in the U.K. is rapidly expanding and we’ll be following the market closely

Mobile operators are actively expanding 5G networks and the 5G adoption in the U.K. is growing, stimulated by greater smartphone availability and operators’ innovative services. We’ll be watching 5G performance closely in the U.K. using Speedtest Intelligence. If you want to learn more about how Speedtest Intelligence can help you benchmark your 5G performance against competitors, please inquire here.

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

Global Speeds

About the Author

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 23, 2022

Ireland Puts 5G in the Fast Lane

Global Speeds

The Irish government has recently launched a new national digital strategy, “Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework,” to drive and enable digital transformation of the Irish economy and society. The government committed to enhance digital infrastructure by making connectivity available to everyone, including bringing 5G to all populated areas by 2030. We analyzed Speedtest Intelligence® data from Q3-Q4 2021 to see how Irish 5G speeds compared to those of Ireland’s regional peers and examined how Irish operators’ 5G networks performed across the country and against each other. 

Ireland has already awarded mid-band 5G spectrum 

Ireland was one of the first countries to assign spectrum in the 3.4 GHz – 4.2 GHz band, C-band spectrum, which is considered a sweet spot for 5G as it strikes a good balance between capacity and coverage. In June 2017, the Irish regulator, ComReg, granted new 3.6 GHz licenses to five operators for a total of €78m, consisting of €60.5m in upfront fees and around €17.7m in spectrum usage fees. The following companies purchased a total of 350 MHz of TDD spectrum, which has been assigned at a regional basis: 

  1. Vodafone Ireland received 85 MHz in rural regions and 105 MHz in the cities. The operator launched 5G services across five Irish cities in August 2019. 
  2. Eir Ireland obtained 80MHz in the rural regions and 85 MHz in the cities, and went live with 5G in December 2019.
  3. Three Ireland was the only operator to receive a nationwide spectrum — 100 MHz nationally — and switched on its 5G network in September 2020. 
  4. Imagine Communications Ireland (Imagine), a fixed wireless operator, won 60 MHz in each of Ireland’s rural provinces. This will offer fixed wireless broadband to homes that are outside of the high speed broadband coverage and within the National Broadband Plan intervention area. 
  5. Airspan Spectrum Holdings (Airspan), a new entrant to the Irish market focused on smart utilities, transportation, and public safety, obtained 25 MHz in rural regions and 60 MHz in cities. It has since been rebranded to Dense Air Limited. 

Provisional spectrum assignment in the 700 MHz band 

A decision has been made at the European level to allow operators to use the 694-790 MHz frequency band (the 700 MHz frequency band) across Europe. In Ireland, RTÉ has been utilizing this band to broadcast national digital terrestrial television (DTT) but that license expired in March 2020. In order to free up the 700 MHz spectrum bands, services had to vacate these frequencies. 

New regulation under the Wireless Telegraphy Act introduced in April 2020, allowed for the temporary assignment of licenses in the 700 MHz band to “help alleviate congestion on the telecommunications networks during the exceptional and extraordinary situation raised by the Covid-19 situation.” Initially, awarded for the period of three months, the temporary licenses have been extended to an indeterminate date when a spectrum auction will take place. Awarding a permanent 700 MHz license is critical, as low-band spectrum has very good propagation characteristics, which enable a wider geographic coverage footprint. This will be key to achieving the goal of covering populated areas with 5G by 2030.

Ireland 5G performance compared to its European peers 

In our recent post “5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future”, we looked at how different European countries stacked up versus each other and international peers. Here we compare 5G in Ireland against its peers’ 5G. During the second half of 2021, France (190.17 Mbps) and Switzerland (188.27 Mbps) topped our list with the fastest median 5G download speed, followed by the United Kingdom (176.22 Mbps), Ireland (162.46 Mbps), Germany (155.87 Mbps), and Netherlands (142.55 Mbps). Interestingly, despite all of the French operators launching 5G service in December 2020, relatively late compared to other analyzed countries, they achieved top median download speeds due to substantial network investments. 

Switzerland, however, had the fastest median upload speed over 5G at 35.51 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, followed by the Netherlands (31.29 Mbps), Germany (25.80 Mbps), Ireland (21.20 Mbps), France (15.19 Mbps), and the U.K. (14.79 Mbps). 

The Irish regulator, ComReg published the number of mobile 5G subscribers for the first time in Q3 2021. 5G mobile voice and mobile broadband (MBB) subscriptions increased 31.4% quarter over quarter from 298,479 in Q3 2021 to 392,082 in Q4 2021, accounting for 3.9% and 5.0% of subscriptions at the same time. However, operators are still looking for ways to stimulate market adoption. For instance, in order to increase 5G market adoption, eir has announced that as of November 1, 2021, 5G was enabled on all market mobile plans at no additional cost. 

Cork had the fastest 5G download and upload speeds in Ireland 

Cork was the clear winner for 5G speeds across Irish cities, with a median 5G download speed of 339.98 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, a 14% year-over-year increase for all operators combined. Cork also had a median 5G upload speed of 32.82 Mbps. Three Ireland’s 5G network in Cork reached a median download speed of 508.96 Mbps. Cork was ahead of the rest of the cities, which partially can be explained by being home to pharmaceutical and IT companies such as Apple, Amazon, and IBM. Cork also benefited from connectivity with the EXA Express undersea cable.

Three Ireland was the fastest 5G operator in Ireland 

Despite being the last operator to jump on the 5G bandwagon in September 2020, Three Ireland has raced to the top in terms of median 5G download speed — achieving 238.70 Mbps in the Q3-Q4 2021, a 20% year-over-year increase. The median 5G upload speeds across all operators were very similar at 19.89 Mbps (Vodafone) and 22.35 Mbps for 3, and 22.24 Mbps for eir during Q3-Q4 2021. However, 3 Ireland has been hard at work with Ericsson to transform its Radio Access Network (RAN), rebuilding over 1,000 deployments. 3 Ireland also has the advantage of being able to use some of its excess capacity in the 1.8 GHz band to deploy 5G in rural villages and towns, a strategy that can take advantage of favorable propagation relative to 3.6 GHz. 

Ericsson has been the partner of choice for Three, not only in terms of network roll out but also in terms of looking for new ways to monetize 5G. As such, in May 2021, Three Ireland joined Ericsson’s global Startup 5G program as the first communication provider. The goal of the program is to leverage 5G as a platform for innovation and thus stimulate 5G commercialization and monetization by introducing operators to startups in the area of immersive learning, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) among other emerging technologies. 

In July 2021, Ericsson and Three Ireland extended their collaboration to the field of Industry 4.0. They launched a strategic partnership with Glanbia Ireland to install an indoor 5G network to increase manufacturing efficiency of the Glanbia’s cheese plant in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny. However, this isn’t the first 5G private network in Ireland. In March 2021, Vodafone in partnership with Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) rolled out a private 5G Standalone (SA) network utilizing Ericsson’s equipment. IMR, a not-for-profit manufacturing and energy research organization, plans to test smart manufacturing 5G use cases such as automated production lines, predictive maintenance, mobile robots, cobots, and AR and VR. These demonstrations of 5G capabilities in the manufacturing context are important to showcase the value digital transformation can bring to the sector by deploying private networks and creating bespoke use cases that enable greater latency and security.

eir tops the charts for 5G Availability 

The picture is slightly different when it comes to 5G Availability — the percentage of users on 5G-capable devices that spend most of the time with access to 5G networks. 5G Availability across Ireland was 11.7% in Q3-Q4 2021. eir is a clear winner with 26.6%, ahead of 3 (8.2%) and Vodafone (6.4%). 

eir’s €1 billion national investment programme includes roll outs for fiber broadband and 5G networks, as well as the expansion of 4G LTE networks. The operator has expanded the 5G Availability of its 5G NSA (Non-Standalone) network by using spectrum in the 1800 MHz and 3.5 GHz. In October 2021, eir announced that its 5G network was available to more than 70% of the Irish population (across 336 towns and cities), and increased this to 430 towns and cities during Q4 2021. 

Vodafone, has also expanded 5G to its prepaid customer base and introduced a 5G broadband option in 2021, utilizing Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) in the 2.1 GHz band in partnership with Ericsson. 

The Irish Government looks to 5G to help it to realize its digital transformation ambitions, and to position Ireland as a prime destination for international businesses. While it’s still early days in terms of 5G adoption in the market, the Irish mobile operators are actively expanding 5G network speeds and coverage. Learn more about how Speedtest Intelligence can help you benchmark your 5G performance against competitors.

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

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 14, 2022

Hong Kong & Macau: Migration to Faster Fiber Services Driving Performance Gains

Global Speeds
讀中文

Operators in Hong Kong and Macau are continuing to drive migration of their customer bases from legacy fixed-line technologies to faster fiber and cable connections. Both markets are heavily saturated and connection growth remains low, with Hong Kong adding an additional 50,000 broadband subscribers to reach 2.92 million in total in the 10 months ended October 2021, while Macau saw fixed broadband subscribers grow by 4,000 to reach 206,000 during 2021.

The regulators in both markets provide detailed broadband subscription statistics. In Hong Kong, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) tracks broadband adoption by advertised speed and technology mix. It recorded 85.4% of broadband subscribers on packages with a maximum download speed equal to or greater than 100 Mbps, and 80.3% fiber to the home/building (FTTH/B) as of October 2021. Of these, over half subscribe to broadband packages offering speeds of at least 1 Gbps. In Macau, the Macau Post and Telecommunications (CTT) tracks broadband adoption by technology, with 97.8% of Macau broadband subscribers using fiber at the end of 2021.

Global city ranking leaves room for improvement

We used Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data to rank the broadband performance of select cities globally. Across all cities with a minimum of 10,000 samples in Q4 2021, Hong Kong ranked 20 on median Wi-Fi download speeds with 184.80 Mbps, while Macau ranked 74 with a download speed of 129.90 Mbps. Despite strong download performance, median Wi-Fi upload speeds in Hong Kong lagged behind download performance, at 125.70 Mbps, while Macau recorded a more symmetrical median upload speed of 105.70 Mbps. Greater penetration of fiber in broadband access networks provides operators with the ability to offer more symmetrical upload and download speeds.

hong kong and macau performance versus other major global cities

Hong Kong: China Mobile Hong Kong leads on download performance

We examined fixed Wi-Fi performance in Hong Kong, excluding any 5G fixed-wireless internet connections from the analysis. Operators in Hong Kong offer a range of broadband packages based on network speeds, e.g. HGC offers subscriptions with download speeds ranging from 6 Mbps to 2.2 Gbps. Availability of higher speed subscription tiers depends on the operator’s footprint and whether fiber connectivity is to the premises (FTTP) or to the building (FTTB), with some buildings utilizing copper as part of the last mile. Migrating Hong Kong’s remaining FTTP connections (19.3% of total) to FTTH (61.0% of total) would help boost median speeds. China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) has gone one step further in a bid to boost home fiber speeds, launching a fiber to the room (FTTR) service in September 2021, which deploys optical cables within a house/apartment.

Hong Kong Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Performance

Our examination of fixed broadband Wi-Fi performance in Hong Kong shows CMHK, which obtained in excess of 3% of overall samples to be considered in this analysis in Q3 2021, in first place in Q4 2021, with a median download speed of 251.73 Mbps, followed by Netvigator with 216.06 Mbps. While operators continue to market broadband based primarily on download speeds, upload speeds continue to grow in importance given the increased prevalence of remote working and growth in demand for services such as video calling and online gaming. Netvigator led the market based on median upload speeds in Q4 2021, recording 174.72 Mbps, followed by CMHK and HKBN. Looking at the distribution of Wi-Fi samples between 5 GHz, which offers higher capacity than lower frequency bands, Netvigator and HKBN led the market based on percentage of 5 GHz samples, with 75.3% and 74.1% respectively.

Hong Kong: 5Ghz Share of Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Samples

Macau: CTM outstrips MTEL on overall performance

Macau lags Hong Kong on fixed Wi-Fi performance for both median download and upload speeds, despite the regulator CTT reporting widespread adoption of fiber in the market. Operators MTEL and CTM offer a range of fiber broadband plans for residential users, segmented by download speed. As of February 2022, MTEL offers packages ranging from 25 Mbps to 600 Mbps, while CTM offers a wider range of speeds, from 50 Mbps to its headline speed of 10 Gbps, introduced in September 2020.

Macau Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Performance

Speedtest Intelligence performance data for Macau during 2021 aligns with CTM’s focus on providing higher broadband speed tiers in the market. CTM maintained a significant performance gap over MTEL, recording a median download speed of 131.80 Mbps in Q4 2021, compared to MTEL with 72.26 Mbps. Upload performance between the two operators shows a similar picture, with CTM recording a median speed of 107.39 Mbps in Q4 2021, over double that of MTEL which recorded 52.26 Mbps. Looking at the distribution of Wi-Fi samples between 5 GHz and other bands, MTEL recorded a greater proportion of samples using 5 GHz than CTM.

Macau: 5 Ghz Share of Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Samples

In order to maintain or improve their position among top-performing cities globally, operators in Hong Kong and Macau need to drive greater availability of higher-speed broadband services, while encouraging existing customers to upgrade to faster speeds. For Hong Kong in particular, improving the penetration of routers which support 5 GHz Wi-Fi could help those operators which currently lag the market on overall performance. We’ll continue monitoring how fixed broadband performs across major cities like Hong Kong and Macau. If you want to learn more about Speedtest Intelligence, please inquire here.

 

香港和澳門：轉移到更快速的光纖服務將有助提升性能

香港及澳門的營辦商正在不斷向客戶進行推廣，希望他們轉用更快速的光纖及電纜網絡接駁，以取代傳統固網技術。但這兩個市場都已經嚴重飽和，網絡接駁增長仍然很低；2021 年的 前10 個月內，香港增加了 50,000 名寬頻用戶，總數達到 292 萬；而澳門的固網寬頻用戶在 2021 年增加 了4,000個，總數達到 206,000個。

兩個市場的監管機構均提供了詳細的寬頻訂閱統計數據。香港的通訊事務管理局（OFCA）透過營辦商宣傳的網速及技術追蹤寬頻用量：截至 2021 年 10 月，85.4% 的寬頻用戶使用最大下載速度等於或大於 100 Mbps 的服務計劃，80.3% 的寬頻用戶使用「光纖到戶 」（FTTH）／「光纖到樓」（FTTB），其中超過一半人訂閱網速至少為 1 Gbps 的服務計劃。澳門郵電 （CTT）則透過技術來追蹤寬頻用量：截至 2021 年底，97.8% 的澳門寬頻用戶使用光纖。

全球城市排名顯示仍有進步空間

hong kong and macau performance versus other major global cities

香港：中國移動香港的下載表現領先

我們測試了香港的固網 Wi-Fi 性能，但並不包括任何 5G 固網無線互聯網接駁。香港營辦商提供大量不同網速的寬頻計劃，例如HGC環電提供下載速度由6 Mbps至 2.2 Gbps的寬頻計劃。寬頻速度取決於營辦商的網絡覆蓋範圍，以及是使用「光纖到樓」（FTTP/FTTB）技術，而某些大廈在最後一英里會使用銅線接入。將香港剩餘的 FTTP接駁（佔總數的 19.3%）轉移為到 FTTH接駁（佔總數的 61.0%）將有助提升速度中位數。中國移動香港（CMHK）在2021年9月推出了FTTR (Fiber to the Room)技術，實現光纖接入房屋／單位內部，令家居光纖寬頻的網速又向前邁進了一步。

Hong Kong Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Performance

我們對香港固網寬頻 Wi-Fi 性能的測試顯示，中國移動香港在2021年第三季才開始成為Top Providers（獲得超過3%的總體樣本），因此在2021年第三季前無數據顯示。在 2021 年第四季度，中國移動香港以 251.73 Mbps 的下載速度中位數位居第一，而網上行則以216.06 Mbps排名第二。雖然營辦商繼續主要以下載速度來推銷其寬頻計劃，但鑑於遠程工作的日益普及，以及視像通話及網上遊戲等服務的需求增加，上載速度的重要性亦不斷上升。根據 2021 年第四季的上載速度中位數資料，網上行以174.72 Mbps領先市場，其次是中國移動香港及香港寬頻。根據5 GHz（比低頻段擁有更廣的覆蓋範圍與更強的穿透能力） Wi-Fi熱點分佈的樣本，網上行及香港寬頻以 5 GHz 樣本百分比領先市場，分別為 75.3% 和 74.1%。

Hong Kong: 5Ghz Share of Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Samples

澳門：澳門電訊的整體表現比MTel 電信更出色

儘管監管機構澳門郵電的報告顯示該市場廣泛採用光纖技術，但其固網 Wi-Fi 的下上載速度均落後於香港。營辦商MTel 電信有限公司及澳門電訊為住宅用戶提供一系列不同下載速度的光纖寬頻計劃。2022 年 2 月，MTel 電信有限公司提供下載速度由25 Mbps 至 600 Mbps的寬頻計劃，而澳門電訊則提供50 Mbps至10 Gbps（於2020年9月推出的主打）的寬頻計劃，速度範圍更廣泛。

Macau Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Performance

Speedtest Intelligence 的2021年澳門網路連接速度表現數據反映了澳門電訊致力於向市場提供更快速的寬頻服務。在2021 年第四季，澳門電訊的下載速度中位數為131.80 Mbps，其性能遠超只有72.26 Mbps的MTel 電信；而兩者的上載速度中位數差距亦很大，澳門電訊的上載速度中位數為107.39 Mbps，比只有52.26 Mbps 的 MTel 電信快兩倍。如比較5 GHz及其他頻段Wi-Fi熱點分佈的樣本，MTel 電信5 GHz Wi-Fi熱點分佈的樣本百分比較澳門電訊高。

Macau: 5 Ghz Share of Fixed Wi-Fi Operator Samples

如要保持或提高在全球表現最好城市中的排名，港澳兩地的營辦商需要提供更高的高速寬頻服務可及性，同時鼓勵現有客戶升級到更快速的寬頻計劃。特別是香港，如果支援 5 GHz Wi-Fi的設備可以更滲透市場，便可以幫助那些目前在整體性能方面落後於市場的營辦商。我們將繼續監測固網寬頻在香港和澳門等主要城市的表現。如果您想了解更多有關Speedtest Intelligence的資訊，請到此處查詢。

 

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

Mark Giles

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 9, 2022

Ookla at MWC: the Analyst Take

Global Speeds

Two years after its cancellation in 2020, Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona returned to its original timeslot. The war in Ukraine cast a shadow over the event, with many speakers condemning the ongoing military action and calling for peace. Despite this, the show must be deemed a success, with in excess of 60,000 attendees, pointing to strong desire from industry players to meet, do business, and talk about the future of the industry. MWC 2022’s overall theme was “Connectivity Unleashed”, and looked to showcase how mobile connectivity is transforming industries and wider society. 

Our recent article, 5G Come of Age: Five Predictions for 2022, outlined our view on the major trends which would drive industry debate at MWC. A number of these were front and center of the show, including a major focus across the ecosystem on reducing the environmental impact of 5G, and on network deployment models (including private networks). The surprise was that there was little to no discussion of 6G, with much of the network technology debate centered on improvements to 5G. However, the mantle of longer-term technology “hot topic” has clearly shifted from 6G to the Metaverse. While still an emerging topic, there was clear excitement at the emergence of a true B2C use case for high-capacity, low-latency 5G networks.

All in all, it was great to be back. By convening players from across the industry, MWC helps drive industry debate more than any other telecom conference, while allowing those who follow the industry closely the opportunity to test viewpoints and assumptions, and also to take stock. We’ve summarized our key takeaways below. 

The race to Net Zero

Telecoms was one of the first industries to commit to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. Not surprisingly, it was a clear discussion topic and there were many sustainability related propositions on display. In fact, energy-efficiency KPIs are built into 5G and future 6G standards under IMT-2020 specifications. Asian operators that have already seen large 5G network build ups have shared their perspective on how decarbonisation efforts are not limited to network equipment, operations and data centers but also include office buildings. KT mentioned that it has decreased total power consumption 13%-23% from its 5G network radio units, achieving financial savings of 6.8 billion won (US$5.6 million) and removing 26,000 tonnes of CO2. 

Allison Kirkby, president and CEO of Telia shared how IoT can uncover sustainability and how going one step further and creating a circular economy can have further benefits. Telia’s data mapping project, which utilizes collated and anonymized data proved to be an effective tool to monitor the pandemic and can also be used to design efficient transport routes, therefore reducing emissions. 

Network equipment vendors also came with products that address sustainability goals. Nokia introduced its Liquid Cooling AirScale portfolio that reduced the energy required to cool a base station; while Ericsson announced seven new RAN products and solutions reducing power consumption by 25%. 

Open-RAN makes inroads

Open-RAN’s poster child, Rakuten Mobile, has discussed how its desire to “democratize wireless connectivity” led it down the Open-RAN path. Rakuten has announced that its subsidiary Rakuten Symphony and Cisco are joining focus and signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a joint go to market offer combining Cisco mobile routing switching and automation portfolio and Rakuten’s Open-RAN, orchestration and full suite of Symworld application. It has also announced the acquisition of U.S.-based cloud native networking specialist Robin.io, an “application store for kubernetes.” 

There is, for sure, a lot of excitement about Open-RAN especially in Europe and we have discussed the current status of Open-RAN in our latest research. However, while Open-RAN is a great example of industry collaboration, there are still challenges that need to be addressed, such as integration and security, as pointed out by Fujitsu’s SVP, Greg Manganello. Open-RAN is also not the only way ahead, Neil McRae, MD of Architecture and Strategy and chief architect at BT Group, reminded the audiences that there are different paths operators can take to drive down costs and improve performance. 

Metaverse: Excitement but challenges aplenty

MWC has always been a forward-looking conference, but this year’s event was a little different. Instead of looking ahead to the next generation of network tech (6G), it was the Metaverse which permeated headlines, show media and many company booths. Examples at the booths we visited ranged from re-badged VR experiences (akin to those demoed at previous MWCs) to examples of volumetric video. Really these served to highlight that the concept of Metaverse is still in its early days. What’s refreshing for the industry is that with the Metaverse we are moving from what was hitherto a product push of new technology (5G/AR/VR etc), to an emerging set of use cases (both consumer and enterprise) which will then drive discussion of their technology requirements.

On Monday, February 27, Meta released a statement from its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that “creating a true sense of presence in virtual worlds delivered to smart glasses and VR headsets will require massive advances in connectivity, bigger than any of the step changes we’ve seen before.” Some of these requirements will be met by continued advances in 5G, but will also inevitably feed into how 6G networks are framed. For network operators however, a familiar issue looms large — that of the business model to support the level of network investment Meta is calling for. Only a few weeks before MWC began, the CEOs of Europe’s largest operator groups (Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone) released a statement calling the current situation unsustainable, and that “as things stand, network operators are in no position to negotiate fair terms with these giant platforms due to their strong market positions, asymmetric bargaining power and the lack of a level regulatory playing field.” 

While it’s early days, it will be interesting to see how the concept of the Metaverse shapes 5G and future network technology, but also more importantly how the industry solves this perennial business model dilemma.

Growing interest in private 5G networks

As 5G use cases came to the fore, so did the private 5G networks. A range of operators and vendors showcased their private networks offering at the show. Orange, Vodafone, Telstra, Verizon, and AT&T were just some of the telcos who were showcasing and discussing private 5G pointing to the importance of private networks as a way to address  enterprises’ needs. Vendors made a slew of announcements and partnerships. Qualcomm and Microsoft partnered up to deliver an End to End (E2E) private 5G solution consisting of Qualcomm’s 5G hardware with Azure Private MEC. Cisco announced its Private 5G as-a-Service that combines 5G, IoT, and Wi-Fi under one umbrella and introduces Open-RAN via a collaboration with JMA and Airspan. HPE combined a private 5G network with its Aruba WiFi networks promoted as ​​“5G in a box.” 

New devices announced despite chip shortages

MWC used to be very much a smartphone show. It is so much more now, with a range of connected devices from large (think cars) to small (sensors) on the show. Device OEMs Qualcomm, Oppo, Samsung, and others, had a few announcements such as Oppo’s Air Glass wearables, Nokia’s C-series, and Lenovo’s new ThinkPad x13. However, the connectivity that permeates every aspect of society heavily relies on chipsets. Most blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the disruption of the supply chains and the resultant chipset shortages, but Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon believes that this was unavoidable due to a growing number of connected devices. In his keynote speech, he welcomed the state involvement in the shape of the European Chips Act but also the Chips for America act as a way to increase the Western world manufacturing capacity. Qualcomm is still experiencing “more demand than supply” but it foresees this to lessen towards the end of the year.

Please get in touch if you’d like to speak to us about any of these industry trends.

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

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 14, 2022

How Batelco Uses Crowdsourced Network Intelligence to Continuously Improve Bahrain’s Top-Rated Mobile Network [Case Study]

Global Speeds

With digital transformation at the forefront of national policy and real estate development booming, Bahrain’s mobile operators have needed to expand their networks for fast, reliable connectivity throughout the Kingdom. To continue to provide the best network performance and coverage, Bahrain-based mobile operator Batelco determined that existing methods for evaluating and validating network performance would need to be modernized in order to scale with the nation’s developments.

Batelco’s mission is to serve and inspire customers by building, operating and investing in digital services, forefront technology, and connectivity. To that end, Batelco uses Ookla Cell Analytics™ to gain insights on customer network experience, indoor and outdoor RF conditions, and where to prioritize network investments.

Situation

Traditional methods for evaluating network performance and customer experience — such as on-site visits, customer surveys, and walk tests — can be time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, it simply isn’t possible to walk-test certain locations, such as private homes and businesses. As Bahrain’s demand for high-speed mobile coverage increased, it became clear that Batelco needed a scalable, data-driven method to determine where to invest in network improvements — and to identify areas where low-cost network optimizations would immediately improve the customer network experience.

Read the full case study

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

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 17, 2022

Illustrating the Worldwide State of 5G (Poster Download)

Global Speeds

Our recent report showed that the expansion of 5G was accompanied by some slowing in global average speeds, yet we cannot overstate how impressive the expansion of 5G truly is. It’s so impressive, in fact, that only a map can do it justice. We’ve created a downloadable poster to show how far 5G has come and to highlight some of the countries with exceptional 5G performance. 

This poster maps 5G coverage, highlights the countries with the fastest 5G, and charts the world capitals with the fastest 5G speeds. Download Ookla’s State of 5G Worldwide poster here to see the global state of 5G. It works as a desktop background or you can hang it on your wall. 

If you’re at Mobile World Congress this year, stop by Stand 2I28 in Hall 2, to pick up a poster in person and say hello.

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

Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| December 3, 2019

An Analysis of Internet Speeds and 4G in North Africa

Global Speeds

Lire en français read in arabic

Mobile and fixed broadband speeds in North Africa currently lag behind much of the world, though that may soon change. To better understand the current and future states of the internet in North Africa, we examined Speedtest® data from Q2-Q3 2019 in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Our analysis includes data on download speeds, 4G Availability and Time Spent on various mobile technologies. We’ve also included data on internet speeds in some of the largest cities in the region.

Internet-Speeds-in-North-Africa-ENG-1

Morocco leads fixed broadband download speeds, Egypt most improved

As of October 2019, countries in North Africa ranked no higher than 123rd in the world for fixed broadband speeds on the Speedtest Global IndexTM. Morocco had the fastest mean download speed over fixed broadband in North Africa during Q2-Q3 2019 at 15.38 Mbps, 69.0% faster than second-place Egypt’s 9.10 Mbps. Libya was third fastest at 8.92 Mbps, Tunisia fourth at 8.64 Mbps and Algeria fifth at 4.55 Mbps.

However, Egypt saw the most improvement in fixed broadband download speed with a remarkable 55.5% increase during Q2-Q3 2019. All four of the major ISPs in Egypt saw increased speeds during this period with mean download speeds rising 59.2% for WE Internet, 55.4% for Orange, 21.7% for Etisalat and 17.1% for Vodafone.

Libya showed the second highest improvement in fixed broadband download speed in North Africa during this period with a 29.9% gain. Morocco’s download speed went up 27.2% and Tunisia 10.8%. Mean download speed over fixed broadband declined 6.2% during Q2-Q3 2019 in Algeria.

Morocco has the fastest mean download speed on mobile and it’s improving rapidly

North Africa’s fastest country, Morocco, ranked 54th on the Speedtest Global Index in October 2019. Morocco’s mean download speed over mobile during Q2-Q3 2019 was 27.01 Mbps. Tunisia was second at 24.50 Mbps, Egypt third at 16.86 Mbps, and Algeria and Libya virtually tied at 9.63 Mbps and 9.62 Mbps, respectively.

Morocco showed the greatest improvement in mean mobile download speed among countries in North Africa during Q2-Q3 2019 with a 24.5% increase. All three of the major providers saw advances in speed during this period with Maroc Telecom seeing a 40.1% rise in mean download speed, inwi gained 11.9% and Orange 5.5%. Algeria had the second highest gain in mean download speed at 20.5%, Tunisia third at 12.1% and Libya fourth at 8.6%. Mean download speed over mobile decreased 3.4% in Egypt during Q2-Q3 2019.

4G Availability varies widely among countries in North Africa

4G Availability in North Africa
Speedtest® Data | Q2-Q3 2019
Country 4G Availability
Morocco 83.3%
Tunisia 64.4%
Egypt 60.9%
Algeria 45.5%
Libya 15.6%

Morocco had the highest 4G Availability in North Africa during Q2-Q3 2019, with consumers able to access 4G LTE in 83.3% of surveyed locations. Tunisia had the second highest 4G Availability at 64.4%, Egypt third at 60.9%, Algeria fourth at 45.5% and Libya fifth at 15.6%.

Only two countries show majority of Time Spent on 4G

Time-Spent-Per-Mobile-Technology-in-North-Africa-ENG

We used Speedtest data on Time Spent to measure how often, on average, consumers were able to connect to various technologies in North Africa during Q2-Q3 2019. Morocco had the highest Time Spent on 4G at 59.7%, followed by Tunisia (53.4%), Egypt (41.1%), Algeria (39.8%) and Libya (13.3%). Libya had the highest Time Spent on 3G at 40.2%, followed by Algeria (35.5%), Egypt (27.0%), Tunisia (26.1%) and Morocco (21.1%). Libya had the highest Time Spent on 2G at 25.1%, distantly followed by Algeria (8.8%), Egypt (6.0%), Tunisia (4.3%) and Morocco (3.7%).

Libya had the highest Time Spent with no coverage at 17.6%, followed closely by Egypt (17.5%), Morocco (13.9%), Tunisia (13.5%) and Algeria (13.2%).

Rabat shows fastest mean fixed broadband and mobile download speeds

-revised-2--Ookla_North-Africa_Internet-Speeds_1219_en

Looking at some of the largest cities in North Africa we found that the Moroccan cities of Rabat and Casablanca had the fastest mean download speeds over fixed broadband during Q2-Q3 2019. Tripoli, Libya was third. On the other end of the spectrum, Oran, Algeria had the slowest mean download over fixed broadband during Q2-Q3 2019. Data for the province of Algiers, Algeria revealed that to be the second slowest location on the list for download speed over fixed broadband. Sfax, Tunisia was the third slowest.

On the mobile side, Rabat and Casablanca again ranked first and second for mean download speed during Q2-Q3 2019. Sfax was third. Oran and Algiers showed the slowest and second slowest, respectively, mean download speeds over mobile during Q2-Q3 2019 of all the locations on this list. Tripoli was the third slowest.

The rollouts of fiber and 5G have the potential to radically improve internet speeds and availability across North Africa. The gains in speeds we saw in many North African countries during Q2-Q3 2019 could revolutionize consumers’ internet experience if they continue. If you’re an internet provider or mobile operator who would like more information on how our data can help you improve your network, contact us.

Analyse des débits Internet et de la 4G en Afrique du Nord

Actuellement, la vitesse des connexions haut débit fixes et mobiles en Afrique du Nord est bien en deçà de celle enregistrée dans une grande partie du monde, même si cela devrait bientôt changer. Pour mieux comprendre la situation actuelle et future d’Internet en Afrique du Nord, nous avons étudié les données Speedtest® entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019 en Algérie, en Égypte, en Libye, au Maroc et en Tunisie. Notre analyse inclut des informations sur les vitesses de téléchargement, la disponibilité de la 4G et le temps passé sur diverses technologies mobiles. Nous avons également ajouté des données sur les débits Internet de quelques-unes des plus grandes villes de la région.

Internet-Speeds-in-North-Africa-FR

Le Maroc est premier en matière de vitesse de téléchargement haut débit fixe, et l’Égypte enregistre la plus importante progression

En octobre 2019, les pays d’Afrique du Nord atteignaient seulement la 123e place mondiale du classement Speedtest Global IndexTM s’intéressant aux vitesses de téléchargement haut débit fixe. Dans la région Afrique du Nord et entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019, c’est le Maroc qui affichait la vitesse de téléchargement moyenne la plus rapide pour le haut débit fixe avec une valeur de 15,38 Mbits/s. L’Internet du pays est donc 69,0 % plus rapide qu’en Égypte, qui occupait la 2e place avec une vitesse de 9,10 Mbits/s. La Libye se classait 3e avec une vitesse de 8,92 Mbits/s, suivie par la Tunisie et l’Algérie avec une vitesse de 8,64 Mbits/s et 4,55 Mbits/s, respectivement.

Toutefois, c’est l’Égypte qui a le plus progressé en matière de vitesse de téléchargement haut débit fixe avec une augmentation incroyable de 55,5 % entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019. Les quatre principaux fournisseurs d’accès à Internet en Égypte ont enregistré des débits plus élevés au cours de cette période avec des vitesses de téléchargement moyennes augmentant de 59,2 % pour WE Internet, 55,4 % pour Orange, 21,7 % pour Etisalat et 17,1 % pour Vodafone.

La Libye est le deuxième pays en Afrique du Nord dont la vitesse de téléchargement haut débit fixe s’est nettement améliorée avec une hausse de 29,9 %. La vitesse de téléchargement a augmenté de 27,2 % pour le Maroc et de 10,8 % pour la Tunisie. Pour le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019, la vitesse de téléchargement moyenne pour le haut débit fixe a diminué de 6,2 % en Algérie.

Le Maroc affiche la vitesse de téléchargement moyenne sur mobile la plus rapide et progresse vite

Le Maroc, pays avec le débit Internet le plus rapide d’Afrique du Nord, était classé 54e du Speedtest Global Index en octobre 2019. La vitesse de téléchargement moyenne sur mobile du Maroc entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019 était de 27,01 Mbits/s. Après le Maroc, la Tunisie était 2e avec une vitesse de 24,50 Mbits/s, l’Égypte 3e avec une vitesse de 16,86 Mbits/s, tandis que l’Algérie et la Libye étaient pratiquement ex aequo avec une vitesse de 9,63 Mbits/s et 9,62 Mbits/s respectivement.

Entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019, le Maroc a enregistré la progression la plus importante en termes de vitesse de téléchargement moyenne sur mobile par rapport aux autres pays d’Afrique du Nord, avec une hausse de 24,5 %. Les trois principaux fournisseurs ont constaté des progrès en termes de vitesse pendant cette période : Maroc Telecom a rapporté une augmentation de 40,1 % pour la vitesse de téléchargement moyenne, tandis qu’inwi et Orange ont fait part d’une hausse de 11,9 % et 5,5 %, respectivement. La deuxième augmentation la plus importante en matière de vitesse de téléchargement moyenne a été enregistrée en Algérie avec une valeur de 20,5 %, suivie par la Tunisie (12,1 %) et la Libye (8,6 %). La vitesse de téléchargement moyenne sur mobile a diminué de 3,4 % en Égypte au cours de la même période.

La disponibilité de la 4G est très variable entre les pays d’Afrique du Nord

Disponibilité de la 4G en Afrique du Nord
Données Speedtest® | 2e et 3e trimestres 2019
Pays Disponibilité de la 4G
Maroc 83,3%
Tunisie 64,4%
Égypte 60,9%
Algérie 45,5%
Libye 15,6%

Entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019, c’est au Maroc que la 4G était la plus disponible : les utilisateurs pouvaient accéder à la 4G LTE dans 83,3 % des emplacements étudiés. La Tunisie se classait 2e avec une disponibilité de la 4G égale à 64,4 %, l’Égypte était 3e avec 60,9 %, l’Algérie 4e avec 45,5 % et la Libye 5e avec 15,6 %.

Seuls deux pays affichent une majorité de temps passé sur la 4G

Time-Spent-Per-Mobile-Technology-in-North-Africa-FR

Nous avons exploité les données Speedtest relatives au temps passé pour mesurer la fréquence moyenne à laquelle les utilisateurs pouvaient se connecter à diverses technologies en Afrique du Nord entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019. Le temps passé sur la 4G était plus important au Maroc avec 59,7 %, suivi par la Tunisie (53,4 %), l’Égypte (41,1 %), l’Algérie (39,8 %) et la Libye (13,3 %). Le temps passé sur la 3G était plus important en Libye avec 40,2 %, suivie par l’Algérie (35,5 %), l’Égypte (27,0 %), la Tunisie (26,1 %) et le Maroc (21,1 %). Le temps passé sur la 2G était plus important en Libye avec 25,1 %, suivie de très loin par l’Algérie (8,8 %), l’Égypte (6,0 %), la Tunisie (4,3 %) et le Maroc (3,7 %).

Le temps passé sans couverture était plus important en Libye avec 17,6 %, suivie par l’Égypte (17,5 %), le Maroc (13,9 %), la Tunisie (13,5 %) et l’Algérie (13,2 %).

Rabat enregistre les vitesses de téléchargement haut débit fixe et mobile moyennes les plus rapides

-revised-2--Ookla_North-Africa_Internet-Speeds_1219_fr

En étudiant certaines des plus grandes villes d’Afrique du Nord, nous avons constaté que Rabat et Casablanca (Maroc) présentaient les vitesses de téléchargement haut débit fixe moyennes les plus rapides entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019. Tripoli (Libye) arrivait en 3e place. Si l’on s’intéresse aux autres extrêmes, c’est Oran (Algérie) qui présentait la vitesse de téléchargement haut débit fixe moyenne la plus lente pour la même période. Les données de la province d’Alger (Algérie) ont révélé que celle-ci était la deuxième ville avec la vitesse de téléchargement haut débit fixe la plus lente. Sfax (Tunisie) était la 3e ville avec la vitesse la plus lente.

Côté mobile, les villes de Rabat et de Casablanca se classaient encore 1re et 2e, respectivement, pour la vitesse de téléchargement moyenne la plus rapide entre le 2e et 3e trimestre 2019. Sfax atteignait la 3e place. Oran et Alger occupaient respectivement la 1re et la 2e place de la liste en matière de vitesses de téléchargement sur mobile moyennes les plus lentes pendant cette période. Tripoli était la 3e ville avec la vitesse la plus lente.

Les déploiements de la fibre et de la 5G ont le potentiel d’améliorer de façon notable la disponibilité et les débits Internet dans toute l’Afrique du Nord. Les augmentations de débits que nous avons constatées dans de nombreux pays de cette région entre le 2e et le 3e trimestre 2019 peuvent, si elles continuent, révolutionner l’expérience Internet des utilisateurs. Si vous êtes un fournisseur d’accès à Internet ou un opérateur mobile et que vous souhaitez plus d’informations sur comment nos données peuvent améliorer votre réseau, contactez-nous.

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
| November 24, 2019

Exploring Fixed Broadband and Mobile Network Performance in Ukraine

Global Speeds

Читати звіт українською мовою | Читать отчет на русском

As Ukraine emerged from the recession of 2016, both regulators and service providers committed to bringing high-speed internet services to more of the population and positioning the country as a seat for innovation. With recent LTE deployments from the mobile operators and fixed broadband providers building out fiber offerings, consumers in Ukraine are experiencing unprecedented access to faster internet — and the market is more competitive than ever. The mobile broadband market is currently dominated by three main competitors — Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine (owned by MTS) and lifecell (owned by Turkcell) — and the fixed broadband market is highly saturated, with hundreds of ISPs operating at the national, regional and local level. In this report, Ookla checked in to see how fixed broadband speed, mobile speed and 4G Availability have looked over the last two quarters in Ukraine.

Our analysis includes performance data from 1,805,450 consumer-initiated tests taken with Speedtest® and coverage data from over 623 million coverage scans on 372,690 devices during Q2-Q3 2019. The data in this analysis does not represent Crimea.

To see Ukraine’s fastest fixed broadband providers, fastest mobile providers and which providers offer the best speeds and 4G Availability in some of Ukraine’s largest cities, download the full report.

Mobile and fixed broadband speeds are increasing at the country level

Comparing-DL-Speeds-for-Ukraine-Fixed-Mobile

Both mobile and fixed broadband speeds saw incremental improvement at the country level during Q2-Q3 2019 in Ukraine. Average download speeds on fixed broadband increased by 10.4% during that time period to a peak of 49.99 Mbps in September. Mobile speeds were also on the rise, increasing 14.8% to 21.40 Mbps in September. As more of the country gains access to LTE service, we expect to see a continued trend of improvement in average mobile speeds.

New LTE deployments are bringing faster speeds to more of the country

The development of LTE networks has been a key priority for operators in Ukraine over the last year. NCCIR allocated new spectrum and 4G licenses to Kyivstar, lifecell and Vodafone Ukraine at the beginning of 2018 with an agreement that they would provide LTE coverage to at least 90% of the population of each regional center within 12 months, and to 90% of the population of each town with more than 10,000 residents within 42 months.

As a result of new 4G deployments, we’ve seen rapid growth in LTE coverage over the last year in Ukraine and Speedtest data reveals the country’s 4G Availability was 34.8% during Q2-Q3 2019.

Ookla_Ukraine_progression_Map_2018q1-2019q3_en

While less than 1% of the country had access to LTE service at the beginning of 2018, by the end of Q3 2019, the three largest mobile operators reported nearly 36.2% of land area in Ukraine was covered, as illustrated above.

To see Speedtest measurements of 4G Availability and speed by operator, download the full report.

Mobile speeds and 4G Availability are higher in urban areas than the country average, but fixed broadband speeds varied

-EN--4G-Avail-ukraine

While some cities experienced fixed broadband speeds that were lower than the national average of 49.99 Mbps, Kiev (66.50 Mbps), Kharkiv (62.99 Mbps) and Mariupol (56.00 Mbps) all saw speeds that were significantly higher. The slowest speeds on our list were measured in Kryvyi Rih (41.78 Mbps), Mykolaiv (37.64 Mbps) and Vinnytsia (36.48 Mbps).

Mobile download speeds — which include all cellular technologies, not just 4G — were generally equal to or greater than the national average in the cities we looked at. Mykolaiv saw the fastest mobile download speeds, with an average of 25.38 Mbps, followed by Mariupol (23.50 Mbps) and Kharkiv (22.16 Mbps). The lowest speeds on this list were measured in Kiev (19.53 Mbps) and Zaporizhia (17.83 Mbps).

4G Availability is significantly higher in many of Ukraine’s cities than the overall country average of 34.8%, perhaps because of the operators’ commitment to bring LTE service to major population centers first. The capital, Kiev, had the best 4G Availability (72.1%) during Q2-Q3 2019, followed by Lviv (71.6%) and Kharkiv (70.8%). The other cities we measured showed a range between 65.5% and 69.8%, with the exception of Kryvyi Rih (58.7%), where there was somewhat less 4G Availability.

To see the fastest mobile and fixed broadband providers in each city, download the full report.

Editor’s note: The maps in this article were updated on November 25 to include Crimea.

Дослідження продуктивності мереж стаціонарного широкосмугового та мобільного Інтернету в Україні

Після того як Україна вийшла з економічної кризи 2016 року, регулятивні органи та постачальники послуг поставили собі за мету забезпечити надання послуг швидкісного Інтернету більшій кількості населення та позиціонувати Україну як країну, сприятливу для інновацій. Завдяки нещодавнім розгортанням LTE мобільними операторами та створенню оптоволоконних мереж постачальниками стаціонарного широкосмугового Інтернету споживачі в Україні мають безпрецедентний доступ до швидкого Інтернету, а конкуренція на ринку стала як ніколи високою. Зараз на ринку домінують три основні конкуренти: Київстар, Vodafone Україна (власником є компанія МТС) і lifecell (власником є компанія Turkcell). Ринок стаціонарного широкосмугового Інтернету дуже насичений: тут є сотні постачальників інтернет-послуг, які працюють на національному, регіональному та місцевому рівнях. У цьому звіті Ookla наведено результати перевірки швидкості стаціонарного широкосмугового та мобільного Інтернету, а також показника 4G Availability (доступність 4G) протягом останніх двох кварталів в Україні.

Ми проаналізували дані щодо продуктивності, отримані за результатами 1 805 450 тестів, проведених споживачами з використанням технологій Speedtest®, а також дані про покриття за результатами 623 мільйонів відповідних перевірок на 372 690 пристроях протягом II та III кварталів 2019 р. Дані в цьому аналізі не представляють Крим.

Щоб дізнатися, які постачальники послуг стаціонарного широкосмугового та мобільного Інтернету в Україні пропонують найшвидший доступ до Інтернету, а також про постачальників, які пропонують найшвидший доступ до мережі Інтернет і мають найкращий показник 4G Availability у великих містах України, завантажте повну версію звіту.

Швидкість мобільного та стаціонарного широкосмугового Інтернету збільшується по всій країні

-UA--Comparing-DL-Speeds-for-Ukraine-Fixed-Mobile

Швидкість мобільного та стаціонарного Інтернету в Україні поступово зростала протягом II і III кварталів 2019 р. Упродовж цього періоду середня швидкість завантаження стаціонарного широкосмугового Інтернету збільшилася на 10,4% до максимального значення 49,99 Мбіт/с у вересні. Швидкість мобільного Інтернету також збільшувалася: вона зросла на 14,8% й у вересні склала 21,4 Мбіт/с. Оскільки в Україні розповсюджується послуга LTE, ми очікуємо, що середня швидкість мобільного Інтернету буде безперервно зростати.

Нові розгортання LTE роблять швидший Інтернет доступнішим для більшої кількості людей

За останній рік розгортання мереж LTE було ключовим пріоритетом для операторів України. Національна комісія, що здійснює державне регулювання у сфері зв’язку та інформатизації, надала новий діапазон і ліцензії на 4G компаніям Київстар, lifecell і Vodafone Україна на початку 2018 року з домовленістю, що вони забезпечать покриття LTE принаймні для 90% населення кожного регіонального центру протягом 12 місяців і для 90% населення кожного міста, кількість жителів якого перевищує 10 000, протягом 42 місяців.

У результаті нових розгортань 4G за останній рік покриття LTE в Україні швидко зростало, а дані Speedtest свідчать про те, що показник 4G Availability протягом II та III кварталів 2019 року складав 34,8%.

Ookla_Ukraine_progression_Map_2018q1-2019q3_ua

На початку 2018 року територія, на якій були доступні послуги LTE, не перевищувала 1% площі країни. Однак наприкінці III кварталу 2019 року три найбільших оператори мобільного зв’язку повідомили, що покриття вже охопило майже 36,2% материкової території України, як показано вище.

Щоб дізнатися про виконані за допомогою Speedtest вимірювання показника 4G Availability та швидкості Інтернету, який надають оператори, завантажте повну версію звіту.

У середньому швидкість мобільного Інтернету та показник 4G Availability в міських регіонах вище, ніж у середньому по країні, однак показники швидкості стаціонарного Інтернету різняться

-UA--4G-Avail-Ukraine

Хоча в деяких містах швидкість стаціонарного Інтернету нижче середнього показника по країні, який дорівнює 49,99 Мбіт/с, у Києві (66,50 Мбіт/с), Харкові (62,99 Мбіт/с) і Маріуполі (56,00 Мбіт/с) швидкість Інтернету була набагато вищою. Найнижчі швидкості в містах із нашого списку були зафіксовані в Кривому Розі (41,78 Мбіт/с), Миколаєві (37,64 Мбіт/с) і Вінниці (36,48 Мбіт/с).

Швидкість завантаження в мобільних мережах (включно з усіма стільниковими мережами, а не лише 4G) зазвичай дорівнювала середньому національному показнику або перевищувала його в містах, у яких виконувалося вимірювання. У Миколаєві було зафіксовано найвищу швидкість завантаження: середній показник склав 25,38 Мбіт/с. На другому місці був Маріуполь із показником 23,50 Мбіт/с, а на третьому — Харків (22,16 Мбіт/с). Найнижчі швидкості серед міст із цього списку було зафіксовано в Києві (19,53 Мбіт/с) і Запоріжжі (17,83 Мбіт/с).

У багатьох містах України показник 4G Availability значно вищий, ніж середній показник по країні (34,8%). Імовірно, причина полягає в тому, що оператори намагаються вводити послугу LTE спочатку у великих містах. У столиці України, Києві, зафіксовано найвищий показник 4G Availability (72,1%) протягом II та III кварталів 2019 року. Друге місце за цим показником посідає Львів (71,6%), а третє — Харків (70,8%). В інших містах, у яких виконувалися вимірювання, діапазон показників склав від 65,5% до 69,8%, за винятком Кривого Рогу (58,7%), де показник 4G Availability був трохи нижчим.

Щоб дізнатися про постачальників найшвидшого мобільного та стаціонарного Інтернету в кожному місті, завантажте повну версію звіту.

Примітка редактора: Карти в цій статті були оновлені 25 листопада, щоб включити Крим.

Анализ скорости сетей мобильного и фиксированного широкополосного доступа в Интернет в Украине

После экономического спада 2016 года регулирующие органы и поставщики услуг в Украине поставили перед собой цель сделать высокоскоростной Интернет более доступным для населения и улучшить условия для внедрения инноваций в стране. Благодаря развертыванию сетей LTE операторами мобильной связи и созданию оптоволоконных сетей поставщиками фиксированного широкополосного доступа (ШПД) быстрый Интернет стал доступен для беспрецедентного количества украинских потребителей. При этом конкуренция на рынке интернет-услуг стала как никогда высокой. Ведущее положение на рынке мобильного широкополосного Интернета в настоящее время занимают три оператора: Киевстар, Vodafone Украина (принадлежит МТС) и lifecell (принадлежит Turkcell). А на рынке услуг фиксированного ШПД действуют сотни национальных, региональных и местных поставщиков. В рамках данного отчета компания Ookla рассматривает показатели скорости фиксированного ШПД и мобильного Интернета, а также 4G Availability (доступность 4G) в Украине за последние два квартала.

Наш анализ включает в себя данные о скорости за второй и третий кварталы 2019 г., полученные в результате проведения 1 805 450 потребительских тестов (с помощью Speedtest®), и данные охвата, полученные в ходе выполнения 623 млн проверок на 372 690 устройствах. Данные в этом анализе не представляют Крым.

Чтобы узнать больше о работающих в Украине поставщиках с самой высокой скоростью фиксированного ШПД и мобильного Интернета, а также ознакомиться с данными о скорости и показателями 4G Availability в некоторых из крупнейших городов Украины, скачайте полный отчет.

Скорость фиксированного ШПД и мобильного Интернета увеличивается по всей стране

-RU--Comparing-DL-Speeds-for-Ukraine-Fixed-Mobile

В течение второго и третьего кварталов 2019 г. скорость мобильного Интернета и фиксированного ШПД немного увеличилась по всей Украине. За этот период средняя скорость скачивания с фиксированным ШПД увеличилась на 10,4% и в сентябре достигла самого высокого значения — 49,99 Мбит/с. Скорость мобильного Интернета также возросла на 14,8% — до 21,40 Мбит/с в сентябре. Так как доступ к услугам LTE получает все больше украинцев, мы ожидаем, что средняя скорость мобильного Интернета продолжит увеличиваться.

Развертывание новых сетей LTE помогает увеличить скорость Интернета по стране

За последний год развертывание сетей LTE стало одним из главных приоритетов для операторов в Украине. В начале 2018 г. НКРСИ предоставила лицензии на новые частоты и 4G операторам Киевстар, lifecell и Vodafone Украина с обязательством, что они обеспечат охват сетями LTE по меньшей мере 90% населения в каждом региональном центре в течение 12 месяцев и до 90% населения в каждом городе с населением более 10 000 жителей в течение 42 месяцев.

Новые развертывания 4G значительно расширили охват LTE в Украине за последний год, и данные Speedtest показывают, что показатель 4G Availability в стране в течение второго и третьего кварталов 2019 г. составил 34,8%.

Ookla_Ukraine_progression_Map_2018q1-2019q3_ru

Хотя в начале 2018 года территория, на которой были доступны услуги LTE, составляла менее 1% площади страны, к концу третьего квартала 2019 г. три крупнейших мобильных оператора сообщили, что наземное покрытие обеспечено для 36,2% территории Украины, как показано выше.

Чтобы ознакомиться с данными Speedtest о показателе 4G Availability и скоростях по каждому оператору, скачайте полный отчет.

Скорость мобильного Интернета и показатель 4G Availability в городских районах выше, чем в среднем по стране, но скорость фиксированного ШПД варьировалась.

-RU--4G-Avail-ukraine

Хотя в некоторых городах скорость фиксированного ШПД была ниже, чем в среднем по стране (49,99 Мбит/с), она была значительно выше в Киеве (66,50 Мбит/с), Харькове (62,99 Мбит/с) и Мариуполе (56,00 Мбит/с). Самая низкая скорость была зарегистрирована нами в Кривом Роге (41,78 Мбит/с), Николаеве (37,64 Мбит/с) и Виннице (36,48 Мбит/с).

Скорость скачивания с мобильным Интернетом (учитывались все сотовые технологии, а не только 4G) в оцененных нами городах в целом находилась на уровне среднего значения по стране или превышала его. В Николаеве скорость скачивания с мобильным Интернетом была самой высокой — в среднем 25,38 Мбит/с. Второе место по этому показателю занял Мариуполь (23,50 Мбит/с), а третье — Харьков (22,16 Мбит/с). Самая низкая скорость зарегистрирована в Киеве (19,53 Мбит/с) и Запорожье (17,83 Мбит/с).

Показатель 4G Availability во многих городах Украины значительно выше, чем в среднем по стране (34,8%). Возможно, это связано с тем, что операторы стремятся обеспечить доступность услуг LTE в первую очередь в крупных населенных пунктах. Во втором и третьем кварталах 2019 г. столица Украины, город Киев, имела высокий показатель 4G Availability (72,1%). Второе место по этому показателю занял Львов (71,6%), а третье — Харьков (70,8%). В других городах, по которым были получены данные, этот показатель составил от 65,5% до 69,8%, за исключением Кривого Рога (58,7%), в котором показатель 4G Availability был ниже.

Чтобы ознакомиться с данными о поставщиках самого быстрого мобильного Интернета и фиксированного ШПД в каждом городе, скачайте полный отчет.

Примечание редактора: карты в этой статье были обновлены 25 ноября и теперь включают Крым.

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

Elizabeth Crouch

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

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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

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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.

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Isla McKetta