The telecoms industry continues to watch SpaceX Starlink’s expansion and performance closely, as the number of subscribers to its broadband service grows and other satellite providers enter the fray. While median download performance remains a key benchmark, we see strong demand to understand how Starlink is balancing net new additions with its network capacity as the service scales, and how LEO NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) performance stacks up against the competition, particularly in rural locations.
Key takeaways
Starlink isn’t shooting for the stars, but is successfully managing to balance capacity and demand. Starlink median download performance in the U.S. was 64.54 Mbps in Q3 2023, a marginal decline quarter on quarter, though Starlink did show strong increases in September, October and November.
Starlink’s U.S. LEO broadband performance eclipses that of GEO satellite internet providers. Starlink offers a significant boost on GEO satellite broadband speeds, but its multi-server latency is where Starlink really shines, eclipsing the performance of GEO satellite services in the U.S.
Starlink’s performance in rural U.S. locations orbits at a similar level to the competition. While it can’t match leading cable or fiber providers on median speeds or multi-server latency, Starlink offers a very viable alternative in locations where cable and fiber access networks aren’t present. A big part of this is due to a more uniform distribution of download performance across Speedtest samples, compared to FWA and DSL-based services where distance from the cell site or exchange/DSLAM impacts performance.
The constellation of Speedtest Starlink samples highlights significant urban LEO broadband demand. While still skewing towards rural locations if we adjust for population, 16.1% of Speedtest Starlink samples were recorded in urban locations in the U.S. The ability to sign up to Starlink’s “Roam” services which allow users to take Starlink with them (with options for use across the U.S. and internationally) may inflate the number of urban samples, but given their scale, it’s clear that LEO satellite internet is seen as a viable option in many urban U.S. locations.
Starlink continues to balance capacity and demand
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite/NTN service continues to expand at pace, with over 5,000 LEO satellites in orbit, with plans to increase this to 42,000 over the long term, and customer numbers approximately doubling in the first nine months of 2023, exceeding 2 million. Last quarter we covered Starlink’s performance across Europe and Oceania, where in a majority of cases it recorded download performance gains quarter-on-quarter, indicating the capacity it continues to add through new satellite launches is offsetting the demand for bandwidth from net customer additions.
In the U.S. the picture is more mixed. Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data shows Starlink recorded a median download speed of 64.54 Mbps in Q3 2023, a marginal decline quarter-on-quarter, but still an increase over the 53.00 Mbps it recorded in Q3 2022. Median upload performance continues to track upwards, hitting 9.72 Mbps, while median multi-server latency reached a low of 60 ms. Looking at monthly data shows Starlink has increased performance from August this year onwards, following declines in June and July, and recorded a high of 79.04 Mbps in November.
The FCC recently announced that it is seeking input on a planned increase to its definition of broadband/high speed internet, to 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, up from the current 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. At present, this would place Starlink and the technology provided by a number of other broadband providers at risk of missing the grade.
Starlink U.S. Performance
Speedtest Intelligence® | November 2022 – November 2023
LEO satellite broadband eclipses GEO but compares less favorably to terrestrial options
It’s important to consider how far satellite internet has progressed with the arrival of Starlink, and with other LEO satellite providers entering the fray, competition is set to increase. GEO satellite service providers HughesNet and Viasat lag behind most of the market, recording median download speeds in the U.S. of 15.87 Mbps and 34.72 Mbps, respectively, in Q3 2023. Viasat’s download performance placed it alongside AT&T Internet (which comprises a mix of DSL- and FWA-based access technologies, but excludes its fiber service). GEO satellite internet service really suffers on network latency, with median multi-server latency well above 500 ms for both providers. It must be noted that GEO satellite internet service is often priced at a discount to LEO satellite internet, and its performance characteristics lend it to different use cases where low latency isn’t a requirement, in remote locations, or as a back-up service option.
Network Performance for Major Terrestrial and NTN players in the U.S.
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2023
Starlink’s LEO satellite service median download performance improves upon the GEO providers, placing it alongside CenturyLink (which offers DSL and fiber-based broadband), and just behind T-Mobile’s broadband service, which is based on a mix of 4G and 5G Fixed-Wireless Access (FWA). However, despite this improvement, LEO satellite service lags well behind leading terrestrial broadband networks from U.S. cable operators such as Cox, Spectrum (Charter) and Xfinity (Comcast). LEO service does, however, offer a step-change in latency performance over GEO, recording 60 ms in Q3 2023, placing it ahead of T-Mobile (63 ms).
LEO is narrowing the performance gap in rural locations
In rural locations in the U.S., Starlink competes more favorably with its peers, both in terms of median download speeds and when we look at the range of speeds for users experiencing below median performance – indicating more stable performance across its user base.
Starlink’s primary use case is in providing connectivity to more rural locations where it’s either not economically viable for terrestrial networks to be deployed or to be upgraded with the latest technology. Starlink’s performance in rural U.S. locations stacks up even more strongly against the competition, with median download performance of 65.77 Mbps, up on its national median value, placing it almost level with T-Mobile, and ahead of Verizon. When we look at the 25th percentile of its download speed range (speeds that 75% of Starlink Speedtest samples exceed), we see it overtake both T-Mobile and Frontier, indicating its performance is more stable across the lower range of speeds its users experience. It is worth noting that fiber and cable services are not available nationwide, and therefore in many rural locations the choice may often be between a DSL or FWA based internet service, or satellite.
Rural U.S. Network Performance – Major Terrestrial vs NTN players
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2023
Starlink’s appeal is broader, with strong urban-based usage
While perceived primarily as a rural internet service, Ookla Speedtest data shows a considerable proportion of Starlink samples located within urban U.S. locations. Our data for GEO satellite internet providers shows that 0% of HughesNet samples came from urban locations, while Viasat recorded 36.7%. Starlink recorded 16.1% of samples in urban locations.
Rural U.S. Share of Speedtest Samples by ISP
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2023
When you consider that 80% of the US population is based in urban locations (as per the 2020 Census), it’s clear that satellite broadband service still skews towards rural locations, but it also has broad applicability in urban locations. Starlink has added options to its service to allow users to roam (both within a market and internationally), and this portability of its service may explain some of the urban-based Speedtest samples – from rural-based users moving into urban locations, and urban-based users who value the ability to take Starlink with them, and in some cases use it as a redundancy option to their existing broadband subscription.
The scale of the number of samples, however, indicates LEO satellite internet is a viable option for many urban-based U.S. broadband subscribers. If Starlink can continue to balance capacity and demand to drive overall performance gains, while continuing to address the affordability of its service, then this wider addressable market should enable Starlink to sustain the strong subscriber growth it has witnessed to date. We’ll return in Q1 2024 to continue our quarterly NTN analysis. Please contact us if you’d like to know more about Speedtest Intelligence data and insights.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
Ookla® recently commented on the outcome of the 5G spectrum auction and how Indian consumers are ready to upgrade to 5G networks. We now have data from Speedtest Intelligence® to show early 5G performance across select cities as well as an indication of the growth of the number of 5G-capable devices.
Key messages:
5G download speeds reach 500 Mbps on 5G test networks
Almost 600 Mbps median download speed on Jio’s 5G network in Delhi
Consumers are 5G ready
iPhone users have most 5G-capable phones
Airtel and Jio turned 5G on
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G services in select Indian cities on Saturday, October 1 during India Mobile Congress 2022 in New Delhi. Operators took the opportunity to discuss their 5G plans at the event as well. Bharti Airtel’s chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said 5G services would be available in eight cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Chennai, Nagpur, and Bengaluru from the launch and will expand across India by March 2024.
Reliance Jio, which shook up the Indian telecom industry when it launched 4G, also has ambitious 5G plans. Jio’s 5G beta trial “Jio True 5G for All” launched during Dussehra on October 5 in four Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Varanasi. Jio has rolled out a 5G Standalone (5G SA) network, which doesn’t rely on its existing LTE network and which Jio justifies for using the “true 5G” name. Jio’s “welcome offer” is available to those that receive an invitation. Users can get unlimited 5G data with up to 1 Gbps speeds. Jio plans to gradually expand its 5G footprint to deliver the Jio 5G service across the entire country by December 2023. Jio also is looking to make the services “very affordable,” according to Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani during the IMC event. “it should be affordable for every Indian – right from devices to service.”
Despite financial woes, Vodafone India has also reiterated its commitment to the 5G roll-out but it has not yet provided specific timelines.
5G download speeds reach 500 Mbps on 5G test networks
Speedtest Intelligence shows that operators have been testing their networks before the October 1 launch. We’ve already seen a wide range of 5G download speeds: from low double-digit (16.27 Mbps) to a mindblowing 809.94 Mbps, which points to the fact that the operators are still recalibrating their networks. We expect these speeds to be more stable moving forward as these networks will enter the commercial stage.
Jio’s 5G network showed almost 600 Mbps median download speed in Delhi
We used Speedtest® data to compare median 5G download speeds across four cities both Jio and Airtel built their networks. In the capital city, Delhi, Airtel reached nearly 200 Mbps median download speed at 197.98 Mbps while Jio almost broke 600 Mbps (598.58 Mbps) since June 2022.
In Kolkata, operators’ median download speeds varied the most since June 2022: Airtel’s median download speed was 33.83 Mbps while Jio had a much faster median download speed at 482.02 Mbps.
In Mumbai, one of the most densely populated cities in India, Airtel fell behind Jio once again, reaching 271.07 Mbps median download speed compared to Jio’s 515.38 Mbps median download since June 2022.
In Varanasi, which is considered the Hindu spiritual capital of India, Jio and Airtel achieved closer parity, with Airtel achieving a 5G median download speed at 516.57 Mbps to Jio’s 485.22 Mbps median download speed since June 2022.
The future of mobile internet in India will be much faster than what 4G LTE is achieving
According to the Speedtest Global Index™, India ranked 117th in the world for mobile download speed at 13.52 Mbps in August 2022. These new 5G results show that 5G speeds are far superior than India’s existing network.
While we need to approach these early results with caution, 5G devices are already showing they can achieve much faster speeds, at least under artificial controlled testing circumstances e.g., no network congestion and ideal network coverage.
When we cross reference operators’ 5G speeds versus the frequency band they are using, we see a cautionary tale. During the recent spectrum auction, Jio acquired the most spectrum, especially in the highly sought-after C-band spectrum, and Jio was the only operator that acquired the 700 MHz band. This gives Reliance Jio an advantage compared to providers who have acquired only C-band, especially since the low-band spectrum allows for better indoor signal penetration in urban areas and also better coverage in rural areas.
Using Speedtest Intelligence data we can see that Jio’s 5G performance differs depending on the spectrum band it uses. Jio’s 5G network using the C-band (n=78) results in performance ranging between 606.53 Mbps and 875.26 Mbps median download speed. While 5G networks using the lower – 700 MHz frequency band (n=28) so-called coverage band, gives speeds lower than100 Mbps median download speed, ranging between 78.69 Mbps and 95.13 Mbps. Airtel, on the other hand, achieved speeds from 365.48 Mbps to 716.85 Mbps deploying 5G utilizing only its C-band spectrum holding.
Consumers are 5G ready
Earlier this year, we surveyed Indian consumers and found 89% of Indian smartphone users are ready to upgrade to 5G. Operators have an existing addressable base of devices that they can target from the start, and over the past year the number of 5G-capable devices has been on the rise. Among Speedtest users, Jio saw the largest increase in 5G-capable devices (67.4%), followed by Airtel (61.6%), and Vi India (56%).
Using Speedtest Intelligence data we compared 5G-capable devices across different cities. Hyderabad was the one city where all operators have seen significant growth in terms of 5G-capable devices, with Jio even tripling its install base.
iPhone users have most 5G-capable phones
In our survey, 51% of survey respondents already had smartphones supporting 5G. The top smartphone vendors in the market are Samsung (31%), followed by Xiaomi (23%), Realme, and Vivo. While only one in ten survey respondents had an iPhone, Apple smartphones tend to be more 5G capable. In fact, according to Speedtest Intelligence data, the iPhone 12 5G is the most popular 5G-capable device in the Indian market. Jio will launch an Android-based 5G phone in partnership with Google in 2023, repeating the go-to-market strategy it used when entering the 4G market. In the meantime, Jio is working with smartphone vendors to ensure that consumers can access its 5G SA network.
These are still early days for 5G in India, with most of Jio’s and Airtel’s respective networks still in beta testing. We will continue to monitor 5G performance in India, see how operators scale networks, and assess the real-world performance as more consumers will get online with 5G devices. If you want to learn more, subscribe to Ookla Research™ to be the first to read our analyses.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
5G has been in place in India for over four months and already it’s having a tremendous impact on the state of mobile in the country compared to last October when we commented on initial 5G speeds just after 5G networks launched.
Key takeaways
India’s mobile speeds increased by 115%. India has climbed 49 places on the Speedtest Global Index™since launching 5G, from 118th in September 2022 to 69th in January 2023. Ookla® data shows improvement in LTE speeds for both Jio and Airtel since the launch of 5G services, as all their investments into network modernization are paying off.
Median 5G download speeds are 25 times faster than 4G. 5G performance has increased across early 5G adopters in most of the telecom circles, Kolkata achieved the fastest median 5G download speeds in January 2023 at above 500 Mbps. Jio experienced a top median 5G download speed of 506.25 Mbps in Kolkata, while Airtel of 268.89 Mbps in Delhi.
5G Availability increased 55-fold. Airtel and Jio have ambitious targets in terms of 5G network rollout. From 5G networks’ inception, 5G Availability across 5G-capable devices has steadily increased, reaching 8.0% for Airtel and 5.1% for Jio.
5G is further impacting the competitive landscape. We can see Speedtest® users migrating away from Vi, which has been further stimulated by the operator’s inability to launch 5G.
5G will benefit Digital India
Speedtest Intelligence® data shows that median download speeds across India increased by 115% since before the 5G launch, from a 13.87 Mbps median download speed in September 2022 to 29.85 Mbps in January 2023. As a result, India’s position on the Speedtest Global Index improved by 49 places from 118th in September 2022 to 69th in January 2023. This puts India ahead of some of the G20 countries, such as Mexico, Russia, and Argentina, and its neighbors: Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. India is also catching up with the likes of Turkey (a 30.98 Mbps median download speed/65th place on the Speedtest Global Index), South Africa (34.71 Mbps/58th place), and Brazil (35.85 Mbps/57th place).
There are over half a billion internet users in India, making it the second-largest online market worldwide, just behind China. India has already made significant progress in terms of mobile broadband growth. One of the key reasons behind the acceleration in adoption was the launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015, which made government services digitally available to citizens. Digital India’s goal is to transform India into a digital society and economy. Since its launch, almost 270 million Indians have been connected to the internet via mobile internet. This was enabled by expanding mobile broadband networks, particularly using 4G technology. Now, 5G is stepping in to play a role in enabling digital transformation across multiple sectors of the Indian economy. GSMA Intelligence forecasts that 5G could contribute $455 billion to GDP by 2040.
Median 5G download speed is 25 times that of 4G
When 5G was first launched in October 2022, there was a wide disparity in the early 5G network performance users were experiencing on 5G-capable devices; median 5G download speeds oscillated between 512.57 Mbps (Gujarat) and 19.23 Mbps (Uttar Pradesh West) as the 5G networks build out started. In fact, in nine telecom circles: Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, North East, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh West, the median 5G download speed was below 100 Mbps because networks were very much at the testing stage. Four months on, in January 2023, 5G median download speeds had greatly increased across all of the telecom circles — exceeding 200 Mbps everywhere except Jammu and Kashmir, with Kolkata clocking speeds over 500 Mbps.
5G investment has also propelled an increase in 4G LTE speeds thanks to the modernization of the underlying infrastructure. When we compare 5G and 4G performance in January 2023:
median 5G download speed is 25 times that of 4G LTE (338.12 Mbps vs. 13.30 Mbps), and
median 5G upload speed is 4.5 times 4G LTE (19.65 Mbps vs 3.55 Mbps)
We see improvements in LTE speeds (both for Airtel & Jio) in multiple cities as they are offloading 4G traffic onto their 5G network, therefore reducing 4G network congestion. This has to be caveated by the fact that these are still early days for 5G in India, and 5G performance will most likely decrease once those networks are commercially available.
Jio and Airtel are expanding their 5G networks
Jio’s $25 bn investment seems to be paying off. In January 2023 Jio achieved median 5G download speeds above 400 Mbps across ten telecom circles. Jio’s True 5G network is based on a 5G Standalone (5G SA), which doesn’t rely on a 4G LTE network. While Jio’s initial 5G speeds fluctuated massively – from low single-digit to speeds well above 800 Mbps, which pointed to the operator recalibrating its networks, Jio’s 5G performance has stabilized over the past four months. In January 2023, Jio’s 5G early adopters experienced speeds ranging from 246.49 Mbps median download speed in Himachal Pradesh to 506.25 Mbps in Kolkata.
Airtel looks to 5G to offload capacity from 4G to 5G. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel Limited, mentioned during the latest quarterly results call that “between 25% to 35% of traffic is already getting offloaded on 5G from 4G.” Airtel deployed 5G in a Non-Standalone mode (5G NSA) – the operator stated that commercial trials using NSA give a 30% higher coverage than SA. In January 2023, Airtel’s 5G early adopters experienced speeds ranging from a 78.13 Mbps median download speed in Kolkata to 268.89 Mbps in Delhi.
Operators have already committed a significant amount of capex towards 5G. One of the key challenges Indian telcos face is low ARPU levels, which came in below Rs 200 ($2.41) in Q3 FY 2023 results: Airtel led the pack at Rs 193 ($2.33), Jio followed at Rs 178.2 ($2.15), Vi at Rs 135 ($1.63). Recently, Airtel has removed its based Rs 99 ($1.20) plan across 17 circles, with the new base plan priced at Rs 155 ($1.87). The other two operators have not followed the lead yet. While this could lead to churn, it could help solidify ARPU as Airtel plans to use 5G to migrate customers to higher-value postpaid plans.
Median 5G performance allows us to understand the midpoint of user experience on 5G networks, but it doesn’t paint the full picture. Using Speedtest data we can see that operators have achieved maximum download speeds exceeding 1.6 Gbps – close to speeds that operators in the United States achieved using mmWave spectrum.
Spectrum is not the only factor affecting 5G performance
Operators’ spectrum holding affects their speeds; we have recently commented on the relationship between low- and C-band spectrum and 5G performance. A similar holds true in India. Using Speedtest Intelligence data, we can see that Jio’s 5G performance differs depending on the spectrum band it uses. Jio’s 5G network using the C-band (n=78) results in a 462.60 Mbps median download speed. When Jio’s 5G network uses the lower – 700 MHz frequency band (n=28), the so-called coverage band, the median download speed was 75.70 Mbps. This, however, doesn’t necessarily explain the difference in performance between Jio and Airtel, which also uses the C-band spectrum. Airtel deployed 5G utilizing only its C-band spectrum holding in an NSA (Non-Standalone Mode), and it clocks a median 5G download speed of 277.30 Mbps.
There is another factor at play that can explain the difference in performance between the operators – the type of backhaul network they are using. Indian operators heavily rely on terrestrial wireless backhaul solutions. While fiber penetration in backhaul networks is increasing, according to the DoT, only a third of mobile towers are connected with fiber – versus the National Broadband Mission’s goal of 70% being connected by 2024. The reason why this presents a challenge in the face of 5G rollout is that the capacity per tower site has to increase substantially to accommodate 5G traffic requirements, which in turn requires fiberized backhaul. E-band spectrum, which operators received last year, helps but isn’t enough to support a 5G rollout.
There are various challenges related to laying fiber, including right-of-way (RoW) access and availability of stable power that operators have to overcome. Airtel looks to AI to understand where most of its traffic is located and plans its network roll-out strategy accordingly.
5G Availability in India increased 55 times
Speedtest Intelligence data shows that 5G Availability – the proportion of users with 5G-capable devices that use 5G network – had increased 55 times between September 2022, when 5G Availability stood at 0.1%, and January 2023, when it reached 5.5%. Operators already have an existing base of consumers owning 5G-capable devices. During the latest quarterly call, Airtel shared that about 11% of their smartphones are 5G ready. Airtel users with 5G smartphones can access Airtel 5G Plus services at no additional cost using their existing 4G SIM cards. Airtel is busy carrying out a 5G network rollout, planning to go live in about 300 cities by March 2023 and to cover all urban areas by March 2024.
Jio also has ambitious targets for 5G network deployment, it recently stated that it is on track to complete the pan-India 5G rollout by December 2023, having already deployed over 25,000 sites across 700MHz and 3.5 GHz bands.Jio’s customers can connect to 5G at no additional cost upon receiving the 5G Welcome offer, which is extended to users with 5G-enabled smartphones who subscribe to a plan or Rs239 or higher. The existing 4G SIM will also connect to the 5G network. There is a need to do a software upgrade for older models of smartphones to be able to connect to Jio’s 5G SA network.
During the early days of 5G – in October 2022 – we could see 5G device testing in just over a dozen of cities. Only three cities had a 5G Availability exceeding 2% – namely, the capital, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Siliguri. Fast forward to January 2023, and 5G Availability exceeded 2% across 39 cities where both Jio and Airtel had rolled out their networks. 5G Availability across three cities was above 13%, namely in Cuttack, Chennai, and Noida.
5G will further change the competitive landscape in India
Based on our data, we can infer churn pattern of Speedtest users from January to December 2022, we can see that Vi India has been losing users throughout 2022, following the 5G launch, the disconnections increased significantly. On the other hand, Jio has been adding new users. This has been validated by the latest data released by TRAI, which shows a similar trend: Vodafone Idea had negative 2.5m net additions in December 2022, compared to Reliance Jio (1.7 million net adds) and Bharti Airtel (1.5 million net adds).
We can also gain insights into where consumers move when changing their network providers. Most of Vi’s customers have moved away to Jio (1.88%) and Airtel (1.32%). Jio gained around 1.3% of customers from Airtel & Vi India. In comparison, Airtel has lost 0.53% to Jio but gained 0.63% from Vi over the same period of time.
We will continue to monitor 5G performance in India, see how operators scale networks, and assess the real-world performance as more consumers will get online with 5G devices. If you want to learn more, subscribe to Ookla Research™ to be the first to read our analyses.
Methodology note:
Speedtest® is designed to fully saturate a user’s connection, which uniquely allows us to accurately measure the maximum speeds available. This is especially important for 5G connections, which can be capable of tremendous speeds. Speedtest simultaneously measures download speeds from multiple servers in order to ensure that a connection is being fully utilized.
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.
Tower companies, DAS, neutral hosts, and other infrastructure providers are heavily investing in wireless assets to deliver expansive, uninterrupted connections with lightning-fast speeds to create a more connected world. While this presents wireless infrastructure providers with opportunities for major growth, they need the right data to make the most profitable investment decisions. This type of data includes network performance, user density, data usage, and other indicators to determine the best locations for investments or partnerships.
In the next Ookla® webinar, learn how wireless infrastructure providers can make smarter investments, more informed real estate decisions, and help improve network performance by using crowdsourced network intelligence to prioritize efforts.
Keep reading to learn how wireless infrastructure providers can use these insights, and sign up for the webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 10 a.m. PDT (5 p.m. GMT), for a more in-depth discussion.
1. Make more informed wireless infrastructure planning decisions
When wireless infrastructure providers are ready to invest in new assets, they need an accurate view into the availability of coverage and performance in a given area. An oversaturated, congested network may require different solutions than an underserved area.
This map shows the location of a mobile network operator’s (MNO’s) towers and the corresponding signal strength on that network, allowing infrastructure providers to better understand where to approach the operator for new assets.
2. Better prioritize future deployments and investments
As MNOs prepare for 5G and other new network deployments, infrastructure providers can use crowdsourced data to determine spots of low coverage and performance in both urban and rural areas. This allows infrastructure providers to determine what areas need additional assets to improve connectivity to serve the population, and they can make those determinations based on usage.
As the operator deployed 5G in Las Vegas, infrastructure providers can use this information to put the right assets in place, such as adding DAS, to support a new network.
3. Benchmark the performance, quality, and availability of existing indoor and outdoor networks
Infrastructure providers can also use crowdsourced network intelligence to find potential co-location opportunities and compare operators to find new business opportunities. By analyzing KPIs for all operators in a given area, an infrastructure provider can determine which operators need to improve network coverage, performance, or quality in key locations.
For example, the above image shows areas of poor signal strength for one operator in a city block in Chicago. Comparing this to other operators in the area, an infrastructure provider can identify new sales opportunities down to the individual building level.
4. Identify buildings and areas with high user concentration and data usage, as well as poor network quality, coverage, and performance
By pinpointing congested areas or buildings, wireless infrastructure providers can better plan where to add DAS and other equipment to help offset the network density.
This map shows infrastructure providers where new assets could help with network performance issues related to user density.
5. Drive a more efficient sales process with per-building intelligence
With accurate, detailed insights, the infrastructure provider can export data to pinpoint the exact issues building by building. The provider can then use that data to proactively determine the optimal locations for leasing roof or building space to build new equipment. They can even use that data to identify where operators should lease additional cell sites to improve coverage and performance, which gives them an advantage when starting those business development conversations.
With this data, infrastructure providers can look up the building name and see the individual operator’s performance, and then approach them with the right asset solution.
For more information on how to use crowdsourced data to improve your ROI, join us for the webinar on June 29 at 10 a.m. PDT. Even if you can’t attend at this time, you will receive a video recording after the live event. We look forward to sharing how wireless infrastructure providers are making better investment decisions and answering your questions.
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.
In-market 5G performance varies widely. Reviewing the top 10% and worst 10% of Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® samples reveals significant variance in the consumer experience on today’s 5G networks, with 5G speeds peaking at over 1 Gbps for the top 10% of users in the U.A.E on average, but falling to below 20 Mbps for the lower 10% in Norway, the U.S., Japan, Germany, and Spain.
Median 5G performance is declining in many early launch 5G markets. While understandable as 5G adoption grows and users in more remote locations access 5G, declining median download speeds also point to investment and deployment challenges in some markets. At the same time, many of these markets are facing economic headwinds, placing more emphasis than ever on cost control. As a result, operators must carefully balance network investment priorities.
5G Net Promoter Scores (NPS) significantly higher than 4G LTE in most markets, but waning. With the exception of Sweden and Qatar, all the early launch 5G markets in our analysis saw 5G NPS fall year-over-year. Operators’ 5G NPS still trade at a premium compared to 4G, and while performance is just one part of the equation, operators should take care to build on the positive sentiment that 5G has brought to date.
Despite impressive headline speeds, 5G performance varies a lot
Median 5G performance allows us to gauge the midpoint of user experience on 5G networks, however it doesn’t paint the full picture. While headline 5G speeds impress, Speedtest Intelligence data lays bare the ups and downs of 5G performance for consumers, even in early launch, advanced 5G markets. We recently looked at 5G network performance over high frequency (mmW) bands, painting a view of the true potential of 5G networks. However, if we look at performance on today’s 5G networks, looking beyond the median at the range of performance between users in the top 10% and those in the lower 10%, Speedtest Intelligence data reveals huge variance in the performance users experience.
The U.A.E. was the fastest 5G market in our analysis, based on median download performance of 545.53 Mbps in December 2022, followed by South Korea and Qatar. However, the top 10% of users in the U.A.E. recorded speeds of at least 1,266.49 Mbps on average, while the lowest 10% of users experienced speeds of 127.52 Mbps or slower on average. At the other end of the scale, Spain recorded a median 5G speed of 94.14 Mbps, but also demonstrated wide variance between the top 10% of samples at 537.95 Mbps or faster and the lowest 10% with 10.67 Mbps or less.
Based on many of the marketing messages around 5G, consumers are led to expect a big bang change in performance. However, with 5G operating over a greater range of spectrum bands than previous generations, including high frequency spectrum which has relatively poorer propagation, it’s understandable that 5G performance will vary more than previous generations of mobile network technology.
5G markets set to face performance challenges during 2023
While globally 5G speeds have remained stable, for many of the markets in our analysis, median 5G download speeds have fallen over the past year. The U.S. was the main outlier, recording the strongest uplift in 5G performance as T-Mobile continued to drive home its performance advantage in the market, while Verizon’s performance improved early in 2022 through its deployment of 5G in C-band spectrum. This trend is likely to continue in 2023 in the U.S., as more C-band spectrum is made available. However, the picture remains concerning for a number of other 5G markets, particularly those where median 5G speeds are at the lower end of the spectrum.
In some markets, 5G was initially priced at a premium to 4G, with operators focused on driving incremental returns on the new network technology. However, operators have been increasingly opening up 5G access by removing incremental costs for consumers and adding prepaid plans too. As 5G adoption scales, it places more strain on the new networks. The challenge for many of these markets is that network performance is likely to degrade further unless network densification picks up.
For network operators, this investment imperative is occuring amidst macroeconomic headwinds, which are driving up operating costs and putting pressure on consumer and enterprise spend. In addition, there remain challenges in deploying additional 5G cell sites in dense urban areas where demand is strongest, while in some markets EMF limits and other regulations can limit the deployment of high-capacity 5G sites.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) from Speedtest Intelligence paints a largely positive picture of current 5G networks. NPS is a key performance indicator of customer experience, categorizing users into Detractors (score 0-6), Passives (score 7-8), and Promoters (score 9-10), with the NPS representing the percentage of Promoters minus the percent of Detractors, displayed in the range from -100 to 100. Across the markets we analyzed, 5G users on average rated their network operator with NPS scores that were universally higher than those for 4G LTE users. However, consumer sentiment for users on 5G networks is beginning to shift, with NPS scores falling, coinciding with lower median 5G performance in many of the markets we analyzed.
Declining performance levels will be a factor driving NPS down for some 5G users. It’s also important to remember that as 5G scales in many of these early launch markets, the profile of 5G users is also changing from predominantly urban-based users, to more of a mix of urban, suburban, and rural users, which brings additional coverage and performance challenges for network operators. We plan to examine the relationship between 5G performance and spectrum in an up-coming content piece. Please get in touch if you’d like to learn more about Speedtest Intelligence data.
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5G is coming to Central Asia, begging the question: what is the current performance and availability of mobile networks? In this article, we will examine the state of mobile networks across five countries that comprise the Central Asian region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Central Asia is a region comprising upper-middle and low-income countries, rich in natural resources and sharing a common history. The countries within the region recognize that they have to enable good connectivity to ensure people and the economy can benefit from digital transformation.
Key takeaways
Need for more market reforms. The International Telecommunication Union ICT Regulatory Tracker puts three of the five countries: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as regulated public monopolies (G1). Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have more supportive regulatory environments, but none of the countries is fully transparent. According to the ICT, improved regulatory framework and performance correlate to increases in telecom investment, which positively affects coverage, price competitiveness, adoption levels, and GDP per capita.
Kazakhstan led on median download speeds. Kazakhstan topped the ranks in terms of mobile download speed, while Tele 2 Kazakhstan for median download speed across all Central Asia operators in Q4 2022.
Kyrgyzstan performed well on 4G Availability. Thanks to the supportive regulatory environment, Kyrgyzstan punches above its weight in terms of mobile performance and 4G Availability compared to other, richer neighbors.
Banking on digital transformation. Apart from Turkmenistan, Central Asian countries have initiatives to stimulate mobile adoption and drive digital transformation. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in particular, invest in digital infrastructure to stimulate all facets of the digital economy.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan shined the brightest for mobile across Central Asia
We used Speedtest Intelligence® data to compare performance across Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan had the fastest median mobile download speed at 22.44 Mbps during Q4 2022, and Kyrgyzstan topped the ranks for median upload speed at 9.78 Mbps.
Kyrgyzstan also came first in terms of 4G at 88.8%, up from 81.9% in Q2 2021. Tajikistan made the most progress with regard to 4G Availability — increasing by 12.8 ppt from 59.5% in Q4 2021 to 72.3% in Q4 2022, followed by Uzbekistan, which increased from 67.1% 4G Availability in Q4 2021 to 75.4% in Q4 2022. Turkmenistan had the lowest 4G Availability at 11.6% in Q4 2022, far behind its peers but up from a year prior (6.5% in Q4 2021).
Across Central Asia, where close to half of the population lives in rural areas, it is imperative to make sure that those communities are not left behind when it comes to fast and reliable internet. Speedtest Global Index™ shows that the “stans” still have a way to go to improve their ranking. Governments across Central Asia need to address the root cause of the poor connectivity, which partially stems from the lack of an open and competitive telecom market.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Regulatory Tracker sheds light on where Central Asia sits when it comes to regulatory environment — it provides a composite score derived from a set of 50 indicators across four pillars such as regulatory mandate, regulatory authority, regulatory regimen, and competitive framework, as follows:
G1: Regulated public monopolies — command and control approach
G2: Basic reform — partial liberalization and privatization across the layers
G3: Enabling investment, innovation, and access — dual focus on stimulating competition in service and content delivery, and consumer protection
G4: Integrated regulation — led by economic and social policy goal
The ITU puts three of the five countries: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as regulated public monopolies (G1). Kazakhstan (G2) and Kyrgyzstan (G3) have more supportive regulatory environments, but none of the countries is fully transparent.
Central Asia embraces digitalization to level up
The availability and quality of mobile networks are crucial across Central Asia due to the low proliferation of fixed-line broadband and mobile being the only de-facto connectivity option, especially in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Access to mobile broadband enables a range of services, such as mobile banking and remote education, which are key to digital inclusion and supporting economic growth. All Central Asian countries, bar Turkmenistan, have put strategies in place to stimulate telecom infrastructure and the wider ecosystem.
ITU ranks Kazakhstan’s regulatory status as G2 means that basic reform took place, and the market is partially liberalized and privatized. Through the Digital Kazakhstan program, Kazakhstan set an ambitious goal to ensure 100% country coverage with high-quality internet and 95% home broadband adoption by 2025. Furthermore, in 2020, Beeline, Kcell, and Tele2 agreed to deploy a shared network to support the government’s “250+” project, which aims to extend high-speed internet to all villages of more than 250 residents. Each operator will build and operate the network in one area providing equal access to the shared infrastructure to the other parties. The five-year project will deliver 3G/4G service to 600,000 people in nearly 1,000 rural settlements. Also, the operators offer a special social tariff, “Tugan zher,” for less than 900 tenges ($1.88).
The Kyrgyz Republic, known as Kyrgyzstan, has the highest levels of mobile penetration across Central Asian countries — 159.9% with 2.94 SIMs per unique mobile subscriber, according to GSMA Intelligence. Despite being the second poorest country across CA, Kyrgyzstan came first regarding 4G Availability (the proportion of users of 4G-capable devices who spend most of their time on 4G networks). The National Development Strategy of the Kyrgyz Republic 2018-2040 is one initiative that facilitates digital transformation to hasten the country’s economic development. The State Communications Agency (SCA) stated in its annual report for 2021 that a total of 2,049 settlements across the country were covered by 4G LTE mobile networks at the end of 2021, equivalent to 96% of the country’s 2,130 officially registered cities, towns and villages. 2G mobile network technology extended to 2,088 locations (98%), while 3G networks were present in 2,081 (97%). Overall, 42 settlements (1.9%) were outside mobile network coverage, some due to a lack of power transmission lines.
At the end of 2020, Uzbekistan embarked on a “Digital Uzbekistan 2030” strategy to stimulate the country’s digital transformation across various industries. To achieve this, Uzbekistan is expanding its telecommunication infrastructure to improve communication quality and close the urban-rural divide (50% of the population lives in rural areas) by inking several partnerships. VEON, Beeline Uzbekistan’s parent company, announced in May 2022 that it would invest $250 million over the next five years to develop the communications infrastructure and ecosystem of digital services in Uzbekistan to support Digital Uzbekistan 2030.
Andrzej Malinowski, the CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan, acknowledges that “there is a clear understanding that (mobile) is a driver of the economy and the best way to further improve education level within the country. We want to enable remote education and build an education platform as a social project, make it zero-rated and available to all”.
VEON also announced it would advise and provide digitalization services to the Uzbek government during the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). In September 2022, state-backed Uzbektelecom signed eight contracts with Huawei and ZTE worth $506.8 million. The deal, backed by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MITC), to implement a telecommunication network and infrastructure across the western and eastern regions of the country in two phases to deliver expanded population coverage and QoS. Furthermore, Uzbektelecom has also signed a contract with four Japanese companies — NTT, NEC, Toyota Tsusho, and Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) — to deploy a telecommunications infrastructure development project to provide data center and telecommunication infrastructure to enable “Digital Uzbekistan 2030”.
Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia, with most of the population living in rural areas (72%). Unsurprisingly, the country ranked low on the Speedtest Global Index, taking 132nd place for mobile and 124th for fixed networks. According to the State Communication Service, only one-third of the population (3.3 million) used mobile Internet in Tajikistan in 2021. One of the reasons behind this is the high expense of mobile broadband subscriptions which costs on average 7.5% of monthly GNI per capita, as per data from the ITU, one of the highest in the region. It also has one of the largest (20 percentage points) gender gaps in mobile ownership. Tajikistan outlined its priorities in the National Development Strategy 2030, as it aims to leverage digital technologies to fight poverty, achieve energy independence, boost food security, and create new jobs for the population.
Turkmenistan, known for its autocratic government and large gas reserves, has the least developed telecommunications sector across Central Asia, partially because of the strong government control over most economic activities, including telecommunication which prevents foreign investment. ITU gave the country an overall score of 6.70 in 2022, second worst only to Djibouti. There is only one operator in the country, Altyn Asyr, which operates under the brand name TM Cell after MTS exited the market in 2019. The lack of competition harms telecommunication services’ availability, affordability, and quality. The treatment of MTS doesn’t encourage foreign investment, which the country desperately needs to build telecom infrastructure. In late 2021, Turkmenistan reportedly purchased equipment, software, and technical support from Huawei.
Tele 2 Kazakhstan topped median download speed; Mega Kyrgyzstan uploads
Tele 2 Kazakhstan achieved the fastest median mobile download speed across all of the operators in Central Asia in Q4 2022, of 27.25 Mbps, a slight uptick over Q4 2021 (26.13 Mbps median download speed). The only privately owned company in Kazakhstan, Beeline Kazakhstan, was the second fastest operator in Kazakhstan and third across Central Asia — the operator’s investment into mobile is paying off as it has increased its median download speed from 17.97 Mbps in Q4 2021 to 21.95 Mbps in Q4 2022. The operator reported 7.2 million 4G users in Q3 2022, a 25.5% year-on-year increase, translating into 69% 4G penetration of the total customer base (7 percentage points year over year). Beeline Kazakhstan is already the largest mobile operator in the country, with around 42% market share, and it is also the winner regarding mobile number portability.
Kyrgyz operators performed well on 4G Availability
4G Availability is a function of smartphone availability and affordability and 4G coverage. According to the National Statistics Office, smartphone shipments to Kyrgyzstan reached 968,000 units between January and July 2022, of which the majority (872,000) were from China, with an average price of $69. Affordable smartphone shipments, combined with the operators’ efforts to expand 4G LTE network coverage, resulted in Kyrgyz operators topping the 4G Availability rankings in Central Asia. The top-ranking operator regarding 4G Availability has had an eventful past couple of months. In December 2022, Megacom Kyrgyzstan, run by the state-owned Alfa-Telecom, started its rebranding campaign to MEGA following Megacom ownership transfer to the state-owned Kyrgyzstan State Development Bank. The operator announced that it expanded and upgraded its 2G, 3G, and 4G networks in seven regions and the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. It plans to continue network coverage expansion across remote areas of Kyrgyzstan.
The second operator on the chart, Sky Mobile, operating under the Beeline Kyrgyzstan brand, announced In September 2022 that it has expanded its LTE network by deploying or upgrading 1,000 base stations. Additionally, between November 2021 and May 2022, Beeline Kyrgyzstan offered smartphones in installments for six or twelve months bundled with its mobile service package.
Tele2 and Kcell, controlled by the same company Kazakhtelecom, differ regarding 4G Availability. Kcell reported that the 4G/5G smartphone share of total subscribers was 72.8% in Q2 2022 (3.6% higher than a year prior), while LTE traffic accounted for 78.7% of all traffic. Kcell is actively working on expanding LTE coverage — it has increased from 65.1% in 2020 to 67.5% as of 1H 2022. At the end of end-2022, around Kazhtelecom’s twin subsidiaries: Kcell and Tele2-Altel, operated 14,000 cellular base stations. On the other hand, Beeline Kazakhstan, part of the VEON group, reported that it installed over 4,000 base stations during 2022, taking its total to more than 25,000 base stations. The operator also stated it provides 97% LTE coverage within each area where it has deployed 4G base stations.
Beeline Uzbekistan outperformed other Uzbek operators on 4G Availability; the operator stated that it covered 79% of the population with an LTE network in 2022, a 16% year-over-year increase. In Q3 2022, the operator reported a 40% year-over-year data revenue increase based on strong mobile data usage (+42.2% YoY). 4G users grew by almost 35% during Q3 2022 to 5.2 million, driven by an expanded network rollout and portfolio of digital products. The absence of big tech such as Spotify means Beeline can drive local content. Beeline Uzbekistan follows its parent company’s strategy of offering digital products and bundles, which helps with churn reduction and increased consumer loyalty — 33% of its customers are multiplayer consumers. My Beeline, its locally developed self-service app, had 2.6 million monthly active users (MAUs) — almost a third more than a year ago. Local entertainment platforms such as Beeline TV and Beeline Music had 1.2 million MAUs. Beeline has set up a wholly owned software house called BeeLab, which has been recently awarded a license from the Uzbekistan Central Bank to provide payment services. Beeline Uzbekistan subscribers can pay for a total of 500 services by using the Beepul mobile application. Mr Malinowski recognized a need to build an ecosystem around mobile payment to bring a third of the Uzbek population, currently unbanked, into the economy to enable a cashless society.
Megafon Tajikistan outran other Tajik operators in Q4 2022; its network investment can partially explain this — it announced that the number of 4G base stations increased by nearly 40% during 2022, while it added around 300 4G base stations until November 2022.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, provided a $30 million loan to Tcell, the largest mobile operator in Tajikistan, to support its network expansion and improve connectivity across the country, especially in remote, less-densely populated areas of the country.
Almaty in Kazakhstan took the top spot in terms of mobile download speed
Given that Kazakhstan had the fastest mobile speed amongst its peers, it is not surprising that Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, the country’s former capital, and financial and cultural center of Central Asia, was the top-ranked city in Q4 2022, with a median download speed of 25.78 Mbps and 11.06 Mbps upload speed. Tele2’s median download speed was 30.10 Mbps, just ahead of Beeline with 29.27 Mbps but double that of Kcell (12.39 Mbps download speed).
Despite Kyrgyzstan having the best 4G Availability across neighboring countries, this is not the case when it comes to capital cities; three cities share the honors here: 4G Availability in the Kazakh cities of Almaty and Astana, and the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, exceeded 84%.
4G for all, or 5G for a few?
Across the countries Beeline operates, its strategy is to primarily deploy 4G networks rather than to focus on 5G. This was particularly visible as Beeline didn’t participate in Kazakhstan’s latest 5G spectrum auction. In December 2022, the consortium of mobile operators Mobile Telecom Services (Tele2 and Altel brands) and Kcell (Kcell and Active brand), both controlled by Kazakhtelecom, won two 100 MHz blocks in the 3.6 – 3.7 GHz and 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum band. In December 2022, the Minister of Digital Development announced that 75% of Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent and 60% of regional centers will be covered by 5G networks by 2027. The state-owned operator, Kazakhtelecom, already outlined its plans concerning the 5G services launch, with the first 486 base stations scheduled to be launched in Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent in 2023, ahead of a wider rollout of over 7,000 5G cell sites across the Kcell and Tele2-Altel networks by the end of 2025.
Operators across the rest of Central Asia, apart from Turkmenistan, followed suit. Mobile operators started to deploy and test 5G networks, although with limited geographic reach.
Surprisingly Tajikistan was one of the first countries in Central Asia to launch 5G. MegaFon Tajikistan was the first in Tajikistan to activate a 5G base station in Dushanbe in February 2020, followed by Tcell in August 2020, and ZET Mobile in 2021. Operators in Kyrgyzstan are piloting 5G as well. In September 2022, MegaCom, in partnership with Huawei and the Ministry of Digital Development, launched a 5G showcase zone in Bishkek. Nur Telecom (O!) opened a second demo zone in October 2022 in the city of Osh, in addition to the one in Bishkek.
Central Asian countries understand the benefits digital transformation brings, and some, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have initiatives to stimulate mobile adoption and drive the country’s digital transformation. Others need to take a hard look at the regulatory and competitive landscape to drive telecom market development.
Operators continue to modernize their networks and we are keeping a close eye on how the network deployments are progressing and the network performance end users experience. If you are interested in benchmarking your performance or if you’d like to learn more about internet speeds and performance in other markets around the world visit the Speedtest Global Index.
5G приходит в Центральную Азию, в связи с чем возникает вопрос: какова текущая производительность и доступность мобильных сетей? В этой статье мы рассмотрим состояние мобильных сетей в пяти странах, входящих в регион Центральной Азии: Казахстане, Кыргызстане, Таджикистане, Узбекистане и Туркменистане. Регион Центральной Азии объединяет страны с различным уровнем доходов, включая как высокий, так и низкий, а также обладающие богатыми природными ресурсами и имеющие общую историю. Страны региона признают, что они должны обеспечить хорошую связь, чтобы люди и экономика могли извлечь выгоду из цифровой трансформации.
Основные выводы
Необходимость дополнительных рыночных реформ.ICT Regulatory Tracker Международного союза электросвязи относит три из пяти стран, Таджикистан, Узбекистан и Туркменистан, к регулируемым государственным монополиям (G1). Казахстан и Кыргызстан имеют более благоприятную нормативно-правовую базу, но ни одна из стран не является полностью прозрачной. По данным ICT, улучшенная нормативно-правовая база и эффективность регулирующих органов коррелируют с увеличением инвестиций в телекоммуникации, что положительно влияет на покрытие, ценовую конкурентоспособность, уровень внедрения и ВВП на душу населения.
Казахстан лидирует по средней скорости загрузки. Казахстан возглавил рейтинг по скорости загрузки с мобильных устройств, а Tele 2 Kazakhstan — по средней скорости загрузки среди всех операторов Центральной Азии в четвертом квартале 2022 года.
Кыргызстан показал хорошие результаты по доступности 4G. Благодаря благоприятной нормативно-правовой среде Кыргызстан превосходит своих более богатых соседей с точки зрения скорости и доступности 4G.
Ставка на цифровую трансформацию. Помимо Туркменистана, в странах Центральной Азии есть инициативы по стимулированию внедрения мобильных устройств и цифровой трансформации. Узбекистан и Казахстан, в частности, инвестируют в цифровую инфраструктуру, чтобы стимулировать все аспекты цифровой экономики.
Казахстан и Кыргызстан имеют лучшую мобильную связь в Центральной Азии
Мы воспользовались данными Speedtest Intelligence®, чтобы сравнить скорость в странах Центральной Азии. В четвертом квартале 2022 года у Казахстана была самая высокая средняя скорость загрузки с мобильных устройств — 22,44 Мбит/с, а Кыргызстан возглавил рейтинг по средней скорости передачи — 9,78 Мбит/с.
Кыргызстан также занял первое место по доступности 4G с 88,8 % по сравнению с 81,9 % во втором квартале 2021 года. Таджикистан добился наибольшего прогресса в отношении доступности 4G, показав рост на 12,8 п. п. с 59,5 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 72,3 % в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Далее следует Узбекистан, в котором доступность 4G увеличилась с 67,1 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 75,4% в четвертом квартале 2022 года. В Туркменистане был самый низкий уровень доступности 4G — 11,6 % в четвертом квартале 2022 года, что значительно уступает показателям соседей, но выше, чем годом ранее (6,5 % в четвертом квартале 2021 года).
В Центральной Азии, где почти половина населения проживает в сельской местности, крайне важно, чтобы населению был доступен быстрый и надежный интернет. СогласноSpeedtest Global Index™, «станам» еще есть куда стремиться, чтобы улучшить свой рейтинг. Правительствам стран Центральной Азии необходимо устранить первопричину плохой связи, которая частично связана с отсутствием открытого и конкурентного рынка телекоммуникаций.
ICT Regulatory Tracker Международного союза электросвязи (ITU) проливает свет на положение Центральной Азии в том, что касается регулирования. Трекер предоставляет сводную оценку, полученную из набора 50 показателей по четырем основным элементам, таким как регулирующий мандат, регулирующий орган, режим регулирования и конкурентная среда, как показано ниже.
G1: регулируемые государственные монополии — командно-управленческий подход
G2: базовая реформа — частичная либерализация и многоуровневая приватизация
G3: обеспечение инвестиций, инноваций и доступа — двойной акцент на стимулирование конкуренции в сфере предоставления услуг и контента, а также на защиту прав потребителей
G4: интегрированное регулирование — направленное на достижение целей экономической и социальной политики
ITU относит три из пяти стран, Таджикистан, Узбекистан и Туркменистан, к регулируемым государственным монополиям (G1). Казахстан (G2) и Кыргызстан (G3) имеют более благоприятную нормативно-правовую базу, но ни одна из стран не является полностью прозрачной.
Центральная Азия проводит цифровую трансформацию, чтобы подняться на новый уровень
Доступность и качество мобильных сетей имеют решающее значение в Центральной Азии из-за низкого распространения стационарной широкополосной связи, а мобильная связь является фактически единственным вариантом выхода в сеть, особенно в Таджикистане, Туркменистане и Кыргызстане. Доступ к мобильной широкополосной связи позволяет предоставлять ряд услуг, таких как мобильный банкинг и дистанционное обучение, которые имеют ключевое значение для охвата цифровыми технологиями и поддержки экономического роста. Все страны Центральной Азии, за исключением Туркменистана, разработали стратегии по развитию телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры и расширению экосистемы.
ITU оценивает регулятивный статус Казахстана как G2, что означает, что основные реформы были проведены, а рынок частично либерализован и приватизирован. В рамках программыЦифровой Казахстан, Казахстан поставил перед собой амбициозную цель: к 2025 году на 100 % обеспечить страну качественным интернетом и на 95 % — домашним широкополосным доступом. Кроме того, в 2020 году компании Beeline, Kcell и Tele2 договорились развернуть общую сеть для поддержки государственного проекта «250+», целью которого является распространение высокоскоростного интернета на все села с населением более 250 жителей. Каждый оператор будет строить и эксплуатировать сеть в своей зоне, предоставляя равный доступ к общей инфраструктуре другим сторонам. Пятилетний проект предоставит услуги 3G/4G 600 000 человек почти в 1000 сельских населенных пунктов. Также операторы предлагают специальный социальный тариф «Туган жер» стоимостью менее 900 тенге (1,88 долл. США).
По данным GSMA Intelligence, Кыргызская Республика, известная как Кыргызстан, имеет самый высокий уровень проникновения мобильной связи среди стран Центральной Азии — 159,9 % с 2,94 SIM-карты на одного мобильного абонента. Несмотря на то, что Кыргызстан является второй беднейшей страной в Центральной Азии, он занял первое место по доступности 4G (по доле пользователей устройств с поддержкой 4G, которые проводят большую часть своего времени в сетях 4G).«Национальная стратегия развития Кыргызской Республики на 2018–2040 годы» является одной из инициатив, способствующих цифровой трансформации для ускорения экономического развития страны. Государственное агентство связи (SCA) в своемгодовом отчете за 2021 год сообщило, что на конец 2021 года мобильными сетями 4G LTE было покрыто 2049 населенных пунктов, что соответствует 96 % из 2130 официально зарегистрированных городов, поселков и сел страны. Технология мобильных сетей 2G распространилась на 2088 населенных пунктов (98 %), а сети 3G присутствовали в 2081 (97 %). Всего 42 населенных пункта (1,9 %) оказались вне зоны действия мобильной связи, в том числе из-за отсутствия линий электропередачи.
В конце 2020 года Узбекистан приступил к реализации стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030», направленной на стимулирование цифровой трансформации страны в различных отраслях. Для этого Узбекистан расширяет свою телекоммуникационную инфраструктуру, чтобы улучшить качество связи и сократить разрыв между городом и деревней (50 % населения проживает в сельской местности) путем заключения нескольких партнерств. В мае 2022 года VEON, материнская компания Beeline Uzbekistan, объявила, что в течение следующих пяти лет инвестирует 250 миллионов долларов США в развитие коммуникационной инфраструктуры и экосистемы цифровых услуг в Узбекистане для поддержки стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030».
Анджей Малиновский, генеральный директор Beeline Uzbekistan, признает, что «существует четкое понимание того, что (мобильная связь) является движущей силой экономики и лучшим способом помочь в улучшении уровня образования в стране. Мы хотим обеспечить дистанционное обучение и построить образовательную платформу как социальный проект, сделать ее безналоговой и доступной для всех».
В VEON также объявили, что будут консультировать и предоставлять услуги по цифровой трансформации правительству Узбекистана во время вступления страны во Всемирную торговую организацию (ВТО).В сентябре 2022 года поддерживаемая государством компания «Узбектелеком» подписала восемь контрактов с Huawei и ZTE на сумму 506,8 млн долларов США. Сделка, поддержанная Министерством информационных технологий и связи Узбекистана, предусматривает внедрение телекоммуникационной сети и инфраструктуры в западных и восточных регионах страны в два этапа, чтобы обеспечить расширенное покрытие для населения и высокое качество услуг. Кроме того, «Узбектелеком» также подписал контракт с четырьмя японскими компаниями — NTT, NEC, Toyota Tsusho и Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) — на развертывание проекта развития телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры для предоставления центра обработки данных и телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры и поддержки стратегии «Цифровой Узбекистан — 2030».
Таджикистан — самая бедная страна в Центральной Азии, большая часть населения которой проживает в сельской местности (72 %). Неудивительно, что страна получила низкий рейтинг вSpeedtest Global Index, заняв 132-е место для мобильных и 124-е место для стационарных сетей. По данным Государственной службы связи, в 2021 году в Таджикистане только треть населения (3,3 млн человек) пользовалась мобильным интернетом. Одной из причин этого является высокая стоимость подписки на мобильный широкополосный интернет, которая в среднем составляет 7,5 % от месячного ВНД на душу населения (по данным ITU), что является одним из самых высоких показателей в регионе. В стране также наблюдается один из самых больших (20 процентных пунктов) гендерных разрывов в плане владения мобильными устройствами. Таджикистан обозначил свои приоритеты в Национальной стратегии развития до 2030 года, она направлена на использование цифровых технологий для борьбы с бедностью, достижения энергетической независимости, повышения продовольственной безопасности и создания новых рабочих мест для населения.
Туркменистан, известный своим авторитарным правительством и большими запасами газа, имеет наименее развитый телекоммуникационный сектор в Центральной Азии, отчасти из-за сильного государственного контроля над большей частью экономической деятельности, включая телекоммуникации, что препятствует иностранным инвестициям. Союз ITU дал стране общий балл 6,70 в 2022 году, что является вторым худшим показателем после Джибути. В стране действует только один оператор «Алтын Асыр», который, после того, как компания «МТС» ушла с рынка в 2019 году, работает под торговой маркой TM Cell. Отсутствие конкуренции негативно сказывается на зоне покрытия, доступности и качестве телекоммуникационных услуг. Уход «МТС» не способствует привлечению иностранных инвестиций, в которых страна остро нуждается для создания телекоммуникационной инфраструктуры. Сообщается, что в конце 2021 года Туркменистан приобрел оборудование, программное обеспечение и техническую поддержку у Huawei.
Tele 2 Казахстан лидирует по средней скорости загрузки; Mega Кыргызстан — передачи
Оператор Tele 2 Казахстан показал самую высокую среднюю скорость загрузки мобильного интернета среди всех операторов в Центральной Азии в четвертом квартале 2022 года, которая составила 27,25 Мбит/с, что немного превышает среднюю скорость загрузки за четвертый квартал 2021 года (26,13 Мбит/с). Единственная частная компания в Казахстане, Beeline Казахстан, была вторым самым быстрым оператором в Казахстане и третьим в Центральной Азии — инвестиции оператора в мобильную связь окупаются, поскольку он увеличил среднюю скорость загрузки с 17,97 Мбит/с в четвертом квартале 2021 года до 21,95 Мбит/с в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Оператор сообщил о 7,2 млн пользователей 4G в третьем квартале 2022 года, что на 25,5 % больше, чем в прошлом году, и соответствует 69 % проникновению 4G от общей клиентской базы (7 процентных пунктов в годовом исчислении). Beeline Казахстан уже является крупнейшим оператором мобильной связи в стране с долей рынка около 42 %, а также лидером по переносимости мобильных номеров.
Кыргызские операторы показали хорошие результаты по доступности 4G
Доступность 4G зависит от наличия и доступности смартфонов, а также покрытия 4G. По данным Национального статистического управления, поставки смартфонов в Кыргызстан в период с января по июль 2022 года достигли 968 000 единиц, из которых большая часть (872 000) были из Китая, по средней цене 69 долларов США. Поставки доступных смартфонов в сочетании с усилиями операторов по расширению покрытия сети 4G LTE привели к тому, что кыргызские операторы заняли первое место в рейтинге доступности 4G в Центральной Азии. У оператора, занимающего первое место в отношении доступности 4G, последние пару месяцев были насыщенными событиями. В декабре 2022 года оператор Megacom Кыргызстан, управляемый государственной компанией «Альфа-Телеком», начал ребрендинг в MEGA после передачи права собственности на Megacom государственному банку развития Кыргызстана. Оператор объявил о расширении и модернизации своих сетей 2G, 3G и 4G в семи регионах и столице Кыргызской Республики. Он планирует продолжить расширение покрытия сети в отдаленных районах Кыргызстана.
Второй оператор в таблице, Sky Mobile, работающий под брендом Beeline Кыргызстан, объявил в сентябре 2022 года, что он расширил свою сеть LTE, развернув или модернизировав 1000 базовых станций. Кроме того, в период с ноября 2021 года по май 2022 года Beeline Кыргызстан предлагал смартфоны в рассрочку на шесть или двенадцать месяцев в комплекте с пакетом услуг мобильной связи.
Операторы Tele2 и Kcell, оба контролируемые компанией «Казахтелеком», имеют разные показатели доступности 4G. Kcell сообщает, что доля смартфонов 4G/5G в общем количестве абонентов составила 72,8 % вовтором квартале 2022 г. (на 3,6 % больше, чем годом ранее), в то время как на трафик LTE пришлось 78,7 %. Kcell активно работает над расширением покрытия LTE — оно увеличилось с 65,1 % в 2020 году до 67,5 % по состоянию на 1 полугодие 2022 года. По состоянию на конец 2022 года дочерними компаниями-близнецами «Казтелекома», Kcell и Tele2-Altel, эксплуатировалось 14 000 базовых станций сотовой связи. С другой стороны, оператор Beeline Казахстан, входящий в группу VEON, сообщил, что в течение 2022 года он установил более 4000 базовых станций, в результате чего их общее количество составило более 25 000. Оператор также заявил, что обеспечивает 97 % покрытия LTE в каждой области, где развернуты базовые станции 4G.
Beeline Узбекистан превзошел других узбекских операторов по доступности 4G. Оператор заявил, что в 2022 году он охватил сетью LTE 79 % населения, что на 16 % больше, чем в прошлом году. В третьем квартале 2022 года оператор сообщил об увеличении выручки от передачи данных на 40 % по сравнению с аналогичным периодом прошлого года за счет активного использования мобильных данных (+42,2 % в годовом исчислении). Количество пользователей 4G выросло почти на 35 % в течение третьего квартала 2022 года до 5,2 млн благодаря расширению сети и портфеля цифровых продуктов. Отсутствие крупных брендов, таких как Spotify, означает, что Beeline может продвигать локальный контент. Beeline Узбекистан следует стратегии материнской компании по предложению цифровых продуктов и пакетов, что помогает сократить отток клиентов и повысить лояльность потребителей — 33 % его клиентов используют многопользовательские продукты. My Beeline, местное приложение для самообслуживания, насчитывало 2,6 миллиона активных пользователей в месяц (АПМ) — почти на треть больше, чем год назад. Местные развлекательные платформы, такие как Beeline TV и Beeline Music, насчитывали 1,2 млн АПМ. В Beeline создали собственную компанию по разработке программного обеспечения под названием BeeLab, которая недавно получила лицензию Центрального банка Узбекистана на предоставление платежных услуг. Абоненты Beeline в Узбекистане могут оплатить в общей сложности 500 услуг с помощью мобильного приложения Beepul. Г-н Малиновский признал необходимость создания экосистемы вокруг мобильных платежей, чтобы вовлечь в экономику треть населения Узбекистана, которое в настоящее время не имеет доступа к банковским услугам, и сделать общество безналичным.
Megafon Таджикистан опередил других таджикских операторов в 4 квартале 2022 года; это могут частично объяснить его сетевые инвестиции — оператор объявил, что количество базовых станций 4G увеличилось почти на 40 % в течение 2022 года, а к ноябрю 2022 года было добавлено около 300 базовых станций 4G.
Международная финансовая корпорация (IFC), входящая в состав Всемирного банка, предоставила крупнейшему оператору мобильной связи в Таджикистане, компании Tcell,кредит в размере 30 миллионов долларов для расширения сети и улучшения связи по всей стране, особенно в отдаленных, менее густонаселенных районах страны.
Город Алматы в Казахстане занял первое место по скорости мобильной загрузки
интернета среди соседних стран, неудивительно, что Алматы, крупнейший город Казахстана, бывшая столица страны и финансовый и культурный центр Центральной Азии, занял первое место в четвертом квартале 2022 года. Средняя скорость загрузки составила 25,78 Мбит/с, а передачи — 11,06 Мбит/с. Средняя скорость загрузки у Tele2 составила 30,10 Мбит/с, что чуть больше, чем у Beeline с его 29,27 Мбит/с, но вдвое больше, чем у Kcell (скорость загрузки — 12,39 Мбит/с).
Несмотря на то, что Кыргызстан имеет лучшую доступность 4G среди соседних стран, в столицах ситуация противоположная — здесь доступность 4G в казахстанских городах Алматы и Астана, а также столице Кыргызстана Бишкеке превысила 84%.
4G для всех или 5G для избранных?
Во всех странах, где работает Beeline, его стратегия заключается в том, чтобы в первую очередь развертывать сети 4G, а не фокусироваться на 5G. Это также очевидно ввиду того факта, что Beeline не участвовал в последнем казахстанском аукционе частот 5G. В декабре 2022 года консорциум операторов сотовой связи Mobile Telecom Services (бренды Tele2 и Altel) и Kcell (бренды Kcell и Active), оба подконтрольные «Казахтелеком», выиграл две полосы по 100 МГц в диапазоне частот 3,6–3,7 ГГц и 3,7–3,8 ГГц. Вдекабре 2022 года министр цифрового развития объявил, что 75 % Астаны, Алматы и Шымкента и 60 % областных центров будут покрыты сетями 5G к 2027 году. Государственный оператор «Казахтелеком» уже изложил свои планы по запуску услуг 5G: первые 486 базовых станций планируется запустить в Астане, Алматы и Шымкенте в 2023 году, а позже, к концу 2025 года, — еще более 7000 сотовых вышек 5G в сетях Kcell и Tele2-Altel.
Операторы по всей остальной Центральной Азии, кроме Туркменистана, последовали их примеру. Операторы мобильной связи начали развертывать и тестировать сети 5G, хотя и с ограниченным географическим охватом.
Как ни странно, Таджикистан был одной из первых стран Центральной Азии, запустивших 5G. Первым в Таджикистане в феврале 2020 года «МегаФон Таджикистан» активировал базовую станцию 5G в Душанбе, следом в августе 2020 года Tcell и ZET Mobile. Операторы в Кыргызстане также тестируют 5G. В сентябре 2022 года MegaCom в партнерстве с Huawei и Министерством цифрового развития запустили демонстрационную зону 5G в Бишкеке. «НУР Телеком» (О!) открыл вторую демонстрационную зону в октябре 2022 года в городе Ош, в дополнение к бишкекской.
Страны Центральной Азии осознают преимущества, которые приносит цифровая трансформация, а некоторые, такие как Узбекистан и Казахстан, выдвигают инициативы по внедрению мобильных технологий и цифровой трансформации страны. Другим странам необходимо пересмотреть нормативную и конкурентную среду, чтобы стимулировать развитие рынка телекоммуникаций.
Операторы продолжают модернизировать свои сети, и мы внимательно следим за тем, как продвигается их развертывание и как оценивают их производительность конечные пользователи. Если вы хотите сравнить свои показатели или узнать больше о скорости и производительности интернета на других рынках по всему миру,посетите Speedtest Global Index.
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From a median download speed of 50.23 Mbps in Q1-Q2 2020 to 205.96 Mbps in Q3-Q4 2022 – Chile punches up on fixed line performance. Chile has been the top performing fixed broadband market across Latin America, consistently outperforming other markets in the region. Over the last three years it has also closed the performance gap to other leading markets globally, and during 2022 consistently featured in the top five of Ookla®’s Speedtest Global Index™, where as of January it placed second.
Strong competition the primary driver. Chile’s strong fixed broadband performance — an anomaly in the region — is due primarily to strong competition among Chilean ISPs. Chile has six ISPs with more than 5% market share, all of which are heavily focused on migrating customers to fiber, and five of which recorded median download speeds in excess of 100 Mbps during Q4 2022.
Fixed-line investment focused on driving rapid migration to fiber. Strong competition has promoted heavy fixed-line network investment, with reported data indicating capital intensity ratios in excess of 20% in the market. This has translated into a rapid technology migration, shifting the market from a majority of connections via cable (HFC) at the end of 2019, to fiber now comprising almost two-thirds of connections. Furthermore, it has also seen the formation of a neutral network, On*Net, which offers wholesale fiber access to other ISPs.
Supporting economic growth in the market. Subject to rising inflation and a market overheated following government intervention post the COVID-19 pandemic, Chile’s economy is expected to contract in 2023 before returning to growth in 2024. Despite this, broadband adoption among businesses continues to advance at a rapid pace, a positive sign in helping support the market’s future growth potential. In addition, broadband performance across the entire market is strong, with median download speeds in all Chilean regions in excess of 100 Mbps as of Q4 2022.
Chile punches up on fixed-line performance
Chile has been a regional leader in fixed line performance in Latin America since 2016, and since then has continually widened its advantage over its regional peers. Over the past three years Chile has driven fixed-line performance increases, from a median download speed of 50.23 Mbps in Q1-Q2 2020 to 205.96 Mbps in Q3-Q4 2022. This makes Chile now a clear anomaly among Latin American markets, having closed the performance gap to the top-performing fixed-line markets worldwide during 2022.
Chile’s population is predominantly urban-based, with a rural population of just 12.2% in 2021 according to the World Bank. While connecting rural premises with advanced fixed access networks is more costly and less profitable than in urban environments, the urban nature of Chile is not markedly different compared to its peers in Latin America. Brazil has only a marginally greater rural share of population at 12.7%, while Argentina has a lower share, at only 7.8%.
Speedtest Intelligence® data shows that at a regional level within Chile, ISPs are supporting median download speeds in excess of 100 Mbps across all regions during Q4 2022. Santiago Metropolitan Region is the most populous region in Chile, and recorded a median download speed of 215.73, while the region with the largest rural share of population, Maule, recorded a median download of 189.36 Mbps. The lowest median speed was observed in Aysén, with 117.34 Mbps. This relative equity in fixed line performance across regions echoes a 2020 OECD country report on Chile, which highlighted that while economic disparities between Chile’s regions are above the OECD average, it has shown the largest reduction in regional economic inequality among OECD countries since 2008.
Hyper-competitive fixed broadband market
Of the top eight markets in the Speedtest Global Index, Chile had the greatest concentration of ISPs supporting high-speed broadband services. Speedtest data shows eight ISPs active in the Chilean market with more than 3% share of samples, and of these seven supported median download speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. According to the regulator Subtel, Telefonica led the market with 30.3% market share, ahead of second-placed VTR with 26.2%.
Telefonica also led the market in terms of fiber connections, with a market share of 45.7%, followed by Mundo with 25.0%, which in January 2023 announced that it had completed the migration of its customer base from HFC (hybrid fiber-coaxial cable) to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Other smaller ISPs are actively deploying fiber or looking for alternative solutions to boost their reach. Entel agreed to sell its fiber network to On*Net Fibra, a joint venture between KKR and Telefonica Chile to provide a neutral fiber network in Chile, in October 2022. This will allow Entel to continue provisioning new households over the larger OnNet network. We also see SpaceX’s Starlink active in the market, alongside Hughesnet, although satellite remains a very small but growing technology within the market.
Strong competition driving network investment
Strong competition in Chile’s fixed line market has helped drive network investment, with Chilean ISPs focused on expanding the number of homes passed and migrating to more advanced fiber access. The relatively late launch of 5G networks in the region has enabled operators to focus more heavily on fiber deployment, with a view to increasing fixed broadband adoption and also supporting 5G networks. The first 5G networks in the market launched in December 2021.
While there is limited reported fixed-line financial data in the market, Telefonica Chile has reported capex historically. Its data shows strong early investment in the market, with capital intensity (capex as a share of revenues) well above 20% from 2015 onwards, peaking at 28.8% of revenues in 2018.
Telefonica Chile stopped reporting fixed revenues in 2020, however its fixed capex dipped significantly, highlighting the change in strategy from its parent group to deleverage its Latin American operation. This eventually led to KKR’s acquisition of a 60% share in InfraCom from Telefonica, creating On*Net Fibra, a neutral FTTH network joint-venture, which began offering wholesale services in July 2021. Rival ISP VTR confirms the overall trend of strong fixed-line investment in the country, reporting capital intensity in excess of 20% over the past three years. In addition, Mundo announced in early 2022 that it planned to invest $200 million expanding its fiber infrastructure in Chile, and the ISP is targeting 4.5 million homes passed, by the end of 2023.
Accelerating migration to fiber
As of 2019, a majority of Chilean broadband connections were supported by hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) services, with fiber the second most frequently used technology, followed by ADSL. The transformation of the Chilean fixed broadband market since then has been rapid, with the latest data for September 2022 showing that fiber makes up the majority of broadband connections, with HFC’s share declining strongly, and ADSL’s share dropping below that of wireless broadband connections.
This rapid tech migration has also led to Chile being among the strongest adopters of Wi-Fi 5 and 6 in Latin America, which support faster speeds within business and in the home. In Q4 2022, 71.3% of Chile’s Speedtest samples utilized Wi-Fi 5, with less than 20% utilizing Wi-Fi 4. By contrast, Brazil had 38.2% of samples utilizing Wi-Fi 4, and Argentina 53.4%. Adoption of the newer Wi-Fi 6 routers is slower in Chile compared to international peers, standing at 8.5% as of Q4 2022, however it still leads within Latin America by a significant margin. Within Chile GTD led the pack with 33.5% of samples utilizing Wi-Fi 6 during Q4 2022, followed by WOM with 25.9%, Entel with 21.9% and Telefonica del Sur with 19.4%. By contrast, Claro, Movistar, Mundo and VTR all returned less than 10% in Wi-Fi 6 samples, indicating there is plenty of scope to increase median fixed-line performance yet further in the market. Our analysis of the median download speeds shows a strong correlation with adoption of Wi-Fi routers utilizing 5 GHz spectrum (WiFi 5 and above).
Driving increased fixed broadband adoption
The growth in fixed broadband adoption in Chile was disrupted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and resultant move towards remote working and more people staying at home. Connections growth increased from 5.5% in 2019, to 10.7% in 2020 and 12.8% in 2021, as the importance of home internet connectivity grew.
The initial acceleration in connection growth in 2020 was due to growth in residential fixed broadband adoption, with connections increasing by 13% in 2020 and 12% in 2021. Business fixed broadband connections declined in 2020 as the economy contracted, but rebounded strongly in 2021 on the back of government economic stimuli, increasing 19%, and a further 8% in the first three quarters of 2022, demonstrating the important role of broadband in supporting economic growth in the market.
Chile’s economy is forecast to contract in 2023, as inflation continues to impact the market, and fiscal stimuli following the COVID-19 pandemic are unwound. However, the Chilean Central Bank forecasts that the market will rebound in 2024, with growth ranging from 2.25% – 3.25%. A key component of Chile’s future growth will be the ability of businesses to secure fast and reliable internet connections. From an infrastructure point of view, Chile is very well served in this regard, with a very dynamic fixed infrastructure market, as demonstrated by its operators continuing to push on fiber rollout, the emergence of a neutral fiber network with broad coverage, and even the increasing role of satellite connectivity in the market. Such is the success of its Chilean operation, that Telefonica is using the market as a blueprint for its other operations across Latin America. We’ll continue to monitor the rapid progress of Chile’s fixed broadband market as it continues to vie with other leading markets internationally at the top of Ookla’s Global Index. To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence, please get in touch.
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.
This year’s Hajj, held July 7-12, marked an important proof point in the development of Saudi Arabia’s 5G networks and their ability to support increasing numbers of pilgrims, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. It was the first Hajj to welcome international pilgrims back to Mecca following COVID-19, with one million domestic and international guests allowed to attend. It was also the first stress-test of the nation’s 5G networks, which launched in October 2019. 5G networks are also becoming a central point of innovation for digital services to support the Hajj pilgrim’s experience.
5G network densification driving Saudi Arabia’s performance gains
The first commercial 5G network launched in Saudi Arabia in October 2019. Thanks to early allocation of key spectrum bands for 5G use and strong investment from network operators, Saudi Arabia has rapidly climbed Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index™, moving from 46th place in January 2019 with a median download speed of 22.14 Mbps to 8th place in July 2022 at 96.23 Mbps.
Stc led in terms of 5G base stations (based on reported data), with 6,506 nationally as of December 2021, representing a density of ~5,400 people per 5G base station, putting it on par with operators such as NTT DoCoMo and Deutsche Telekom. According to Speedtest Intelligence®, 5G Availability in the market (the percentage of users with 5G-capable devices who spent a majority of time connected to 5G networks) hit 25% at the end of 2021, supported by the network densification efforts of the nation’s three mobile network operators.
The Saudi Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) announced full ICT readiness for the Hajj in late June. Operators have sought to densify their networks around Mecca and locations specific to the Hajj, with over 5,900 mobile towers operational, including 2,600 5G towers, 41% more than in 2021, according to CST. Given the million pilgrims in attendance in 2022, this equates to a maximum density of 385 people per base station (assuming operators have located equipment on each tower). Operators have also installed over 11,000 Wi-Fi access points, with pilgrims offered two hours of free access per day.
Hajj represents a unique challenge for mobile networks
Hajj takes place over a set number of days each year, in specific locations in and around the city of Mecca. It represents a unique demand on telecom networks, considering the number of visitors and their movement and congregation around various locations integral to the pilgrimage. For example, the journey from Mina to Arafat is 13 km and is undertaken by foot, while pilgrims also congregate in locations such as the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca on the final day.
Pilgrims attending the Hajj typically use mobile networks to keep in touch with family and relatives at home and to document their pilgrimage. With a million people in attendance, the build up to the Hajj and ensuring sufficient network infrastructure is in place has become a major project. The CST works with network operators in the region to ensure sufficient network coverage and capacity before Hajj, while also monitoring performance metrics during Hajj. CST also developed business continuity and recovery plans to ensure the continuity of telecom and ICT services for pilgrims.
5G performance during Hajj 2022
Speedtest Intelligence® data shows that the introduction of 5G has massively boosted network performance in Saudi Arabia. In addition, despite the large number of pilgrims and resultant demand for capacity, the level of network densification at Hajj locations has driven increased performance over and above national levels. During this year’s Hajj, mean download speeds across all technologies in Saudi Arabia clocked in at 187.22 Mbps, while the mean upload speed was 23.89 Mbps. By contrast, the speeds recorded in Medina city were faster, with a mean download speed of 229.33 Mbps and a mean upload speed of 47.68 Mbps.
Operator performance at Hajj locations can vary based on both the network infrastructure deployed and the level of congestion on each network. Speedtest Intelligence data during Hajj 2022 (7-12 July), for the city of Medina showed that stc achieved a median 5G download speed of 470.00 Mbps during Hajj 2022, ahead of Zain with 375.20 Mbps. Mobily led for median 5G upload performance with 40.18 Mps. In Mecca, there was no statistically significant lead for any operator in terms of median 5G download speeds, with Mobily recording 453.00 Mbps and stc 393.73 Mbps, while Mobily led on median 5G upload speed with 54.77 Mbps.
The impressive network speeds available in these locations are helping drive increased data use. Ericsson’sMobility report estimates that global data traffic per user was on average 395 MB per day during 2021, while in GCC States the average was 723 MB. CST reported that daily internet consumption during the Hajj averaged 851 MB per user, an uplift of 142% compared to the average of 352 MB consumed in 2019. Beyond voice calls, video and social media apps including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram were the most heavily used.
The growth in video calls and social media video use necessitates sufficient network capacity to support an optimal video user experience. Speedtest Intelligence data shows that the adaptive average bitrate supported by 5G networks in the country was 3.97 Mbps in July, up from 3.57 Mbps in December 2021. Supporting a higher bitrate allows networks to serve higher definition video content. As a result, 77.2% of users recorded an adaptive primary video resolution of at least 720p, which is generally considered high definition. Mobily and Zain performed similarly in July, recording an adaptive average bitrate of 4.43 Mbps and 4.42 Mbps respectively.
Mobile networks driving digitization of Hajj services
For several years, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has sought to improve the experience and safety of pilgrims visiting the country. Prior to this, managing the Hajj application process, as well as logistics, accommodation, and other important services such as healthcare provision had been a largely manual process, and given the scale of Hajj, subject to errors and delays. The Pilgrim Experience Program was launched in 2019, following a study involving thousands of Muslims worldwide to define their expectations and needs. It seeks to enable new innovations (many supported by mobile network connectivity) designed to enhance the pilgrim’s experience during the Hajj and Umrah (pilgrimage outside of Hajj). Key developments include:
Hajj Smart ID. 2021 saw the introduction of electronic “Hajj cards,” allowing contactless access to all religious sites, accommodation, and transport. These digital passes aimed to facilitate the movement of pilgrims to and from Mecca, reducing waiting times for transport between Mecca and the Holy Sites, while also minimizing the need for human contact (an imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic). This initiative was expanded in 2022 with the introduction of the Hajj Smart ID, enabling pilgrims, Hajj staff, and organizers to access medical services, location data, as well as coordination and communication with the rest of a pilgrim’s group.
Digital Healthcare Services. Healthcare for pilgrims attending Hajj has been a major focus, given the strenuous nature of the pilgrimage and the high temperatures pilgrims are exposed to. The smart bracelet initiative, introduced in 2021, provided pilgrims with a connected wearable health device, which included their personal data as well as health status. The bracelet monitored blood oxygen levels and heart rate in real-time, allowing pilgrims to seek emergency medical or security assistance services. This year, the Saudi Minister of Health launched a “Holodoctor” service in partnership with stc, using 5G connectivity to offer pilgrims medical services via 3D video conference, including inspection, diagnosis, and the disbursement of medicines.
Crowd management. The “Tafweej” program focuses on crowd management for the Hajj, a vital task in light of problems in the past caused by overcrowding which led to fatalities. Organizers have sought to group pilgrims together and schedule movements of these groups using an electronic system that monitors traffic flow at key sites. During 2022’s Hajj, CITC and GPH (General Presidency of Haramain) trialed an indoor smart navigation system to help pilgrims and operations teams navigate the Grand Mosque more efficiently. Stc has also looked to introduce Augmented Reality (AR) services to support this effort, providing virtual guides for Tawaf (the part of Hajj involving circumambulation of the Ka’bah), as well as providing directions and information about the Grand Mosque (Mecca Haram). Saudi Arabia’s Vision’s 2030 goal is to support 30 million pilgrims annually, a huge increase over current levels, and will rely on further innovations built on top of the nation’s rapidly developing 5G networks. Click here to find out more about how Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data can offer competitive network insights and support targeted network investment decisions.
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.
Despite ranking highly in Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index™ based on median download speeds, operators in both Hong Kong (SAR) and Macau (SAR) are focussed on driving greater fixed broadband performance and fiber adoption.
We see greater proliferation of advanced fiber services in both markets to help encourage user adoption of faster fiber services, including flagship 10 Gbps fiber connections, fiber to the room (FTTR) services, and well as the option for subscribers to purchase multiple Gigabit channels which utilize the same connection, allowing them to allocate channels for different activities.
The latest statistics from the regulators in both markets point to further increases in fiber penetration over the course of 2022, reaching a high of 84.6% in Hong Kong, and 98.6% in Macau.
Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data for Q3 2022 shows that China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) led the Hong Kong market with a median download speed of 271.99 Mbps, while CTM led the Macau market with a speed of 160.15 Mbps.
Advancing towards a gigabit digital economy
Ookla recently presented at the Communications Association of Hong Kong’s (CAHK) Symposium 2022, “Challenge and Opportunities for Fiber Gigabit Economy”. Markets like Hong Kong and Macau are advanced in terms of fixed network development and adoption, characterized by low levels of connection growth and strong fiber penetration, and Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index™ ranks Hong Kong 5th and Macau 12th on median fixed download speeds, as of November 2022. The development of fixed broadband networks in Hong Kong and Macau is predominantly driven by market forces, however, the Government of Hong Kong has sought to intervene, by subsidizing the deployment of fiber networks in remote locations, with a view to reducing digital inequality and helping boost the growth of the digital economy.
To track broadband adoption, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) in Hong Kong monitors broadband adoption by advertised speed and technology mix, while the Macau Post and Telecommunications (CTT) monitors broadband adoption by technology. Based on the latest data they provide for 2022:
The number of broadband subscribers in Hong Kong rose by 0.7% during the first eight months of 2022, to reach 2.95 million. Fiber-to-the-Home/Building (FTTH/B) penetration stood at 84.6%, and 87.1% subscribed to packages with a maximum download speed equal to or greater than 100 Mbps.
Macau saw fixed broadband subscribers grow by 1.1% during the first 10 months of 2022, to reach 208,000, with a fiber penetration rate of 98.6%.
Global comparison leaves room for improvement
We used Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence® data to compare broadband performance for Hong Kong and Macau with that of other major cities globally. Hong Kong recorded median Wi-Fi download speeds of 203.46 Mbps in Q3 2022, up from 184.79 Mbps in Q4 2021. Macau, on the other hand, lags behind its peers in terms of its median download speed performance, recording 160.13 Mbps in Q3 2022, up from 136.89 Mbps in Q4 2021. Despite strong download performance, median Wi-Fi upload speeds in Hong Kong lagged behind download performance, at 153.96 Mbps, while Macau recorded a more symmetrical median upload speed of 148.73 Mbps. Greater penetration of fiber in broadband access networks allows providers the ability to offer more symmetrical upload and download speeds.
Hong Kong: China Mobile Hong Kong leads on performance
We examined fixed Wi-Fi performance in Hong Kong, excluding any 5G fixed-wireless internet connections from the analysis. Providers in Hong Kong offer a range of broadband packages based on network speeds, but are also starting to differentiate through additional services such as the provision of fiber to the room and security services. Strong competition continues to drive innovation in the market, with China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK) offering dual Gigabit fiber connections for additional capacity, and NETVIGATOR offering a Multi-Use Broadband Service, which provides bandwidth on multiple channels (up to four), with separate IP addresses, to allow consumers to divide their activities between channels. The availability of higher speed subscription tiers depends on the provider’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 FTTB connections (17.8% of total as of August 2022) to FTTH (66.8% of total) would help boost median speeds.
Our examination of fixed broadband Wi-Fi performance in Hong Kong shows that CMHK was the fastest provider overall during Q3 2022, with a median download speed of 271.99 Mbps, followed by NETVIGATOR with 221.79 Mbps. While providers continue to market broadband based primarily on download speeds, services such as video calling and online gaming demand are driving the importance and growth of upload speeds. CMHK also led the market based on median upload speeds at 213.93 Mbps during Q3 2022, followed by NETVIGATOR 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 the percentage of 5 GHz samples, with 78.2% and 77.9% respectively.
Macau: CTM outstrips MTEL on overall performance
Macau lagged behind Hong Kong on fixed Wi-Fi performance for both median download and upload speeds during Q3 2022, despite the regulator CTT reporting widespread adoption of fiber in the market. Providers CTM and MTEL offer a range of fiber broadband plans for residential users, segmented by speed, with download speeds ranging from 150 Mbps to 10 Gbps for CTM, and from 25 Mbps to 600 Mbps for MTEL.
Speedtest Intelligence performance data for Macau during 2022 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 160.15 Mbps compared to MTEL at 89.63 Mbps during Q3 2022. Upload performance between the two providers showed a similar picture, with CTM recording a median speed of 151.96 Mbps in Q3 2022 — almost double that of MTEL which recorded 77.49 Mbps. Looking at the distribution of Wi-Fi samples between 5 GHz and other bands, CTM outstripped MTEL with a greater proportion of samples using 5 GHz during Q3 2022.
In order to maintain or improve their position among top-performing cities globally, providers in Hong Kong and Macau need to drive greater availability of higher-speed broadband services and newer routers, 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 providers that currently lag behind in 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.
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.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is the first in the Middle East region, and the first to be supported by 5G networks.
It would not have been a surprise to see network performance degrade during the tournament, with over 2.45 million cumulative stadium attendees in a country with a population of just 2.93 million. However, median mobile network download speeds increased substantially in November to reach 263.37 Mbps (based on modern chipsets), up from 190.93 Mbps in October.
Ooredoo and Vodafone’s network investment has helped maintain a consistent user experience for fans, with median internet page load times and video streaming start times well below 2 seconds for 5G users.
The first FIFA World Cup® supported by 5G networks
Awarded in December 2010 to Qatar, this year’s FIFA World Cup is the first to take place in the Middle East, and the first to be supported by commercial 5G networks. Ahead of the event, we outlined the important role of the Qatar Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) and both Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar in driving performance gains in the market. A competitive, pro-investment market environment has paid dividends, coupled with firm commitments from both operators to roll out commercial 5G networks in all densely populated areas and all venues associated with the FIFA World Cup.
As of December 3, 2022, after almost two weeks and 48 games, the FIFA World Cup has seen over 2.45 million cumulative stadium attendees. For a country with a population of 2.93 million, ensuring mobile network performance meets expectations has been no easy feat. Ookla® was keen to understand how Qatari mobile networks were handling the deluge of visitors and additional traffic. According to Speedtest Intelligence®, median download performance in November rose to 263.37 Mbps on modern chipsets across all mobile technologies combined, with median 5G download performance hitting 472.13 Mbps.
Fans visiting Qatar for the World Cup™ have benefitted from the offer of local SIMs from national mobile operators Ooredoo and Vodafone, which include free data. Ooredoo SIMs include 2022 MB of data for free, valid for 3 days, while Vodafone customers have access to 3GB of data for free, valid across 2 days. Encouraging visitors to utilize local SIMs has helped provide superior network performance for fans at the World Cup. In addition, it’s clear that the network enhancements made by Ooredoo and Vodafone, and their live monitoring and optimization of network performance using crowdsourced data, has helped boost overall network performance at the event, despite the deluge of fans and resultant data traffic.
Qatar’s mobile networks driving increased speeds despite the deluge of fans
We used Speedtest Intelligence data to observe performance in the lead up to, and during the FIFA World Cup™. 5G performance increased from a median download of 394.2 Mbps and upload of 19.93 Mbps 10 weeks before the event, while hitting a median download speed of 489.29 Mbps and median upload speed of 38.36 Mbps during the second week of the World Cup™. Ooredoo and Vodafone have played a crucial role in driving increased 5G performance at the World Cup with both mobile network operators neck-and-neck in terms of 5G download performance.
Comparing mobile network performance during the first two weeks of the FIFA World Cup™ to that of other major sporting events in the region and further afield shows just how impressive 5G network performance has been so far, given the number of attendees. While not the fastest sporting event on record, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ ranks highly, well ahead of events such as the French Open and Wimbledon.
Network improvements ensuring consistent quality of experience for World Cup™ fans
Ooredoo, FIFA’s Official Global Connectivity Services Provider for the event, has been very vocal on the improvements it has made to its network and operations. Ooredoo has rolled out additional macro cell sites and small cells to cater to data traffic around the stadiums, and has also deployed over 5,000 cell sites to offer sufficient network coverage across mobile technologies within the stadiums.
Using Speedtest Intelligence data to analyze network performance across Qatar’s World Cup™ stadiums for both Ooredoo and Vodafone combined, we see that Al Janoub Stadium recorded the fastest median 5G download performance at 757.77 Mbps, and that all World Cup™ stadiums recorded median 5G speeds over 400 Mbps. Of the most popular fan sites, the Ras Bufontas and Airport Free Zone recorded the highest 5G performance.
Ooredoo has also implemented a full modernisation of its core network, moving to a cloud-based architecture, while also making improvements to the capacity of its national and international IP transport links to ensure sufficient capacity for fans to better access servers for popular OTT services such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. These network improvements are helping to drive improved customer experience, as reflected in page load times for mobile users at the World Cup™ accessing Facebook, with median page load times for the social network of well under 2 seconds on 4G networks, and below 1.5 seconds with 5G. Video streaming start times, which were 2.3 seconds on 4G networks, improve to 1.7 seconds on 5G networks.
We’ll continue to examine network performance at the FIFA World Cup™, as it moves towards the final game on December 18.
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.
