OpenSignal, the UK-based private firm which tests the network speed and reliability across the globe earlier this year rated Bharti Airtel as India's fastest LTE network. In the same report, OpenSignal stated that the download and upload speeds of the newcomer Reliance Jio are nowhere close to the speeds of Bharti Airtel.
Back then, Airtel registered an average 4G download speed of 11.53 Mbps, while Reliance Jio settled down with an average speed of 3.9 Mbps. However, OpenSignal now admits that Reliance Jio' speeds have increased after the operator becoming paid.
In a blog post released earlier today, OpenSignal said that the average download speed of Reliance Jio is up from 3.9 Mbps to 5.8 Mbps, which is almost a 50% increase.
"After an uptick in February, Jio’s speeds levelled out at around 4.2 Mbps between the test periods ending in March and April. But as soon as Jio’s free data offer concluded on April 1, we started recording a steady rise in average 4G speed all the way till the end of July. In the last six months, Jio’s typical 4G download has ballooned from 3.9 Mbps to 5.8 Mbps — that’s almost a 50% increase in speed, which is frankly astonishing," said OpenSignal in its blog post.
Having said that, the reason for the sudden rise in speeds might be due to various factors says OpenSignal.
It could be that Jio has upgraded its network, adding capacity to feed its customers’ unquenchable thirst for data. It could be that customers started fleeing once the free data promotion ended, though a Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey found that most of Jio’s customers weren’t likely to jump ship. Or it could be that the customers are reining in their data uses now that they actually have to pay for the megabytes and gigabytes they consume. Chances are, it’s a combination of multiple factors. The bottom line is the typical mobile data experience on Jio’s network has improved dramatically in a relatively short period of time.
OpenSignal concluded that there might be more improvement in Jio' network speeds. Also, in a recent peak analysis report of India, OpenSignal commented that the LTE network systems of Jio are better than any other operator in the country.
The research firm also revealed that it will release its second State of Mobile Networks report for India very soon. For now, OpenSignal says that Reliance Jio is increasing with every passing month, which would be a worry for incumbent telecom operators.
