India outranks Japan and the UK in terms of global mobile speed: Ookla

According to Ookla, mobile speed performance has improved by 3.59 times since the rollout of 5G, with median download speeds rising from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022 to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023.

According to Ookla, the global provider in internet testing, data, and analysis, India has outperformed industrialized nations like the UK and Japan in terms of mobile speed. With the introduction of 5G services, India's speed performance increased by 3.59 times. Mobile download speeds have increased dramatically thanks to 5G, moving India up 72 spots to position 47 in the Speedtest Global Index, ahead of countries like Brazil, Japan, and the UK.

Along with the G20 nations, including Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th), and South Africa (48th), India also ranks higher than its neighbours Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

According to Ookla, mobile speed performance has improved by 3.59 times since the rollout of 5G, with median download speeds rising from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022 to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023.

As the networks were being built, the median download speeds varied from 512.57 Mbps in Gujarat to 19.23 Mbps in Uttar Pradesh West. In fact, because networks were still in the early stages of testing, the median 5G download speeds in Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, North East, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh West were less than 100 Mbps.

Before this, India increased three spots in rank globally for median mobile speeds, from 59th in April to 56th in May. Median mobile download speeds in India increased from 36.78 Mbps in April to 39.94 Mbps in May.

Through operator investments in backhaul infrastructure, 5G deployments have enhanced overall user experience across all telecom circles. According to a recent research by Ookla, 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.

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.