The latest LTE network testing numbers from OpenSignal showed South Korea remained world’s fastest, with the U.S. wallowing at one-third the speed.
South Korea again came out on top in terms of cellular network data speeds among 87 countries included in the latest worldwide network testing conducted by OpenSignal.
The latest findings showed South Korean mobile customers experiencing average network speeds of 37.5 megabits per second, with various iterations of LTE technology most likely supporting those speeds. The country – along with Singapore – topped OpenSignal’s previous network testing, though with an average speed of 45 Mbps.
Cellular customers in Norway recorded the second highest average speeds at 34.77 Mbps, followed by Hungary at 31.04 Mbps, Singapore at 30.05 Mbps and Australia at 26.25 Mbps.
In terms of North America, Canada was No. 12 on the list with an average speed of 20.26 Mbps, the United States was No. 36 at 12.48 Mbps and Mexico was No. 49 with an average speed of 9.91 Mbps. For the U.S., the latest results were down from the 13.03 Mbps speeds recorded in the previous testing period.
OpenSignal noted its numbers are based on data recorded from smartphones that had downloaded the OpenSignal application and run over a three-month period beginning last November. The company noted the results included more than 19.2 billion data points from nearly 1.1 million users and involved both indoor and outdoor usage.
“For our Global State of Mobile Networks report, OpenSignal looked not at 4G or 3G speed individually, but rather at the aggregate speed our users experienced across all of a country’s mobile data networks,” the company explained. “We feel that measurement paints a more holistic picture of the typical mobile data experience as it factors in not only the performance of different types of networks, but the amount of access customers have to each of them.”
OpenSignal earlier this month released more detailed U.S. numbers, with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US easily outpacing rivals AT&T Mobility and Sprint. The testing found a near statistical tie between Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US in terms of average LTE download speeds, with both carriers coming in at just below 17 Mbps.
However, when taking into account 3G network performance, T-Mobile US pulled ahead with its HSPA-based network scoring 4 Mbps in average download speeds compared with just 850 kilobits per second from Verizon Wireless’ CDMA2000 1x EV-DO 3G network.
AT&T Mobility came in at No. 3 in terms of LTE network speeds in the latest test, with the carrier posting an average download speed of 13.86 Mbps, while its HSPA-based 3G network was No. 2 with a speed of 3.04 Mbps. Sprint was a distant No. 4 in LTE network speed at 8.99 Mbps and just slightly ahead of Verizon Wireless in 3G network speeds at 970 kbps.
In terms of what OpenSignal calls “network availability,” Verizon Wireless again came out on top of the reports LTE rankings with the application showing LTE network availability at 88.17%. T-Mobile US was a close second at 86.6%, followed by AT&T Mobility at 82.23% and Sprint a distant No. 4 at 76.81%.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter.
