Mobile and fixed-line networks are faster than ever, according to new numbers from Ookla. Despite the challenges of the past year, mobile network speeds in July of 2021 globally are up about 60% compared to July 2020, while wireline network speeds around the world have increased 32%.
This continues a trend of consistently increasing speeds over the last two years, Ookla says — which was only interrupted for two months during February and March of 2020, coinciding with large-scale global shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking further back than 2020, the mean download speed over mobile in July 2021 was 98.9% faster than in July 2019 and 141.4% faster when comparing July 2021 to July 2018, according to Ookla’s figures.
In terms of the top 10 countries with the highest mobile broadband speeds, Ookla reported the following ranking for 2021:
- United Arab Emirates
- South Korea
- Qatar
- China
- Cyprus
- Norway
- Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait
- Australia
- Bulgaria
The U.S., notably, has not yet made that list and Ookla noted that Canada dropped off the list between 2020 to 2021, while Australia slipped from 7th to 9th. “t5G is shifting mobile rankings where even countries with 5G (which few countries had in 2019) need a strong 5G focus to maintain their presence at the top of the list, lest they be outpaced by other countries with larger investments in 5G,” the company noted.
While many of the countries with the fastest 5G speeds are compact geographically, China is a notable standout. Ookla reported that China’s mobile download speed was more than 180% faster than the global average, and in fixed broadband, its speeds were more than 70% faster than the global average.
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