India moves up 4 spots in Mobile Download Speeds Global Index: Ookla

India was ranked 188th out of 190 nations in September 2022 with a median mobile download speed of 13.87 Mbps. India now holds the 43rd position (up 4 spots month over month) with a median mobile download speed of 54.05 Mbps, a year after the rollout of 5G networks.

India now holds the 43rd position (up 4 spots month over month) with a median mobile download speed of 54.05 Mbps, a year after the rollout of 5G networks. In the upcoming months, India will only see its ranking rise as 5G expands throughout more areas of the nation. When it comes to median mobile download speeds, India has been moving up the rankings rather quickly in the Ookla's Speedtest Global Index. India was ranked 188th out of 190 nations in September 2022 with a median mobile download speed of 13.87 Mbps.

According to a research by Ookla released earlier this year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the world’s fastest 5G market in the second quarter of 2023. In accordance with Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data, the average download speed for the UAE market was 557.63 Mbps. Due to its ability to provide a median download speed of 680.73 Mbps, Etisalat by e& was able to surpass all other 5G operators in the world.

India is still a long way behind the top-ranked nation on the list, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India still has a sizable gap to close before claiming the top spot. However, providing coverage would present a greater difficulty for a nation like India than simply providing better download speeds.

Due to the country's uneven population distribution, telecoms must invest heavily in infrastructure to provide network coverage, which happens to be among the top obstacles of 5G currently. Once the other telecom providers, such as Vodafone Idea (Vi) and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), also launch their next-generation 5G mobile networks, India will also experience faster median download speeds for mobile devices. While BSNL has already begun rolling out domestic 4G for consumers, Vi is attempting to determine its fundraising strategies in order to develop 5G.

The second quickest 5G market worldwide, behind the United Arab Emirates, was South Korea according to Ookla report. The average download speed in South Korea was 501.56 Mbps. The fastest 5G service in South Korea was provided by SK Telecom, with a median download speed of 531.89 Mbps for its customers. 5G Standalone (SA) is the upcoming technology in the UAE. While 5G SA was launched by Etisalat via e& at MWC 2023, it is now only available to FWA (Fixed-Wireless Access) users.

Considering that the 5G rollout in India is still in progress and that Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel want to provide nationwide coverage by the end of the year, it is understandable why India was unable to crack the top 10. It is important to note that the United Arab Emirates deployed commercial 5G in 2019, which is 4 years earlier than India.