'Remarkable' 5G adoption drives India's global speed ranking 72 places higher

The mobile download speeds in India have seen significant boost with launch of 5G services, and the country has climbed 72 places higher to clinch 47th spot in Speedtest Global Index, according to Ookla.

This puts India not only ahead of its neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but also some G20 countries, such as Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th place), and South Africa (48th place).

India's speed performance has seen a 3.59 times increase since the introduction of 5G, with median download speeds improving to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023, from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022.

"This improvement has led to India's rise in the Speedtest Global Index, moving up 72 places, from 119th place to the 47th position," it said.

The 5G deployments have led to an improved overall user experience across all telecom circles with operators investing in backhaul infrastructure.

The launch of 5G technology by operators like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel has led to a substantial increase in 5G subscribers, and operators still have ambitious roll-out plans, with the deployment of a significant number of 5G base stations across the country.

In fact, 5G has not only brought faster speeds but also higher customer satisfaction, as indicated by the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which shows that 5G users in India consistently rate their network operators more positively compared to 4G users.

"Additionally, 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services have been introduced to provide broadband connectivity in areas where laying fiber is costly or impractical," it said.