Ookla, one of the well-recognised speed test service across the globe today released its '2018 Year in Review' report in which it highlighted the improvements took place in both the mobile and fixed-line broadband segments. In the report, Ookla revealed that India saw the greatest improvement in fixed broadband speeds among the world's most populous countries- China, India, United States, Indonesia and Brazil. From November 2017 to December 2018, the average fixed download speed registered in India is 23 Mbps, which is an impressive 50.4% improvement compared to last year. Not only that, on the mobile side of things, India ranked at the bottom of the list, but it showed a 15.2% increase in average download speeds. In addition, the firm also revealed that the gigabit results in India also increased thanks to the several Internet Service Providers which are providing broadband plans up to 1 Gbps in various parts of the country.
India Achieved Average Download Speed of 26.46 Mbps in November 2018
Ookla, which runs Speedtest.net service on web and mobile has taken the speed test results conducted on the portal between December 2017 and November 2018. During the period, average download speed on fixed line was registered as 23 Mbps which is a whopping 50.4% jump compared to last year. As noted, India saw the greatest improvement in download speeds compared to the most populous countries. China registered an improvement of 42.5%, United States- 37.3%, Indonesia- 18.3% and Brazil 39.4%. That being said, in terms of ranking, India is fourth on the most populous countries list as it's ranked at 65th globally, as compared to the United States- 7th, China- 18th, Brazil- 62nd.
In November 2018, India registered the highest average download speed in a single month of 26.46 Mbps. The same goes to upload speed as well which stood at 21.91 Mbps. In November 2017, India was ranked at 69th position, and during the period, it jumped four places to 65.
On top of the list is Singapore which registered an average download speed of 185.25 Mbps in November 2018.
Gigabit Speed Tests in India Saw a Significant Jump
At the start of 2017, we don't know what a gigabit connection actually means, but ACT Fibernet changed that by launching its ACT Giga broadband plan with 1 Gbps speeds in Hyderabad. Later on, the service was expanded to Bengaluru and Chennai, and various other local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) also started providing 1 Gbps connection in New Delhi, Haryana and other parts.
Gigabit is in the news in 2018 as ISPs across the globe started expanding their high-speed networks. Coming to Ookla's report, it looked at the Speedtest results on fixed broadband in excess of 750 Mbps to see which cities are benefitting most. "Comparing locations with 100 or more gigabit-speed results in 2017 with those in 2018, that expansion becomes obvious. In 2017, 60 countries met our gigabit test threshold. In 2018, 16 additional countries joined our gigabit list. We're also seeing that more cities around the world now have access to gigabit speeds," said Ookla in its report.
Ookla also stated that the number of gigabit tests in New Delhi increased from 119-gigabit speed results in 2017 to 20,239 in 2018, that’s a mind-boggling 16,908% increase. Also, in Chennai saw a 7,481% increase (from 763 to 57,840). Earlier this year in Chennai, ACT Fibernet launched the 1 Gbps broadband plan at an affordable price of Rs 2,999, which could be the reason why the results saw an increase. In New Delhi, Spectra and various other local ISPs are delivering 1 Gbps connection at the same aggressive prices, so no wonder, it saw a significant increase.
