Vi has fastest 4G speeds, but bleeding subscribers: OpenSignal report

Jio continues to lead in both 4G access and 4G coverage

India's three largest mobile operators—Airtel, Jio, and Vi— found themselves in a closely-run race across key performance metrics between June and August, a report from mobile analytics firm OpenSignal said.

London-based OpenSignal rates Indian telecom operators on seven performance metrics. They are video playback, gaming, voice applications, download speeds, upload speeds, 4G availability and 4G coverage.

Vi and Airtel each topped two metrics, while Jio won the rest.

Vi’s 4G networks provided the fastest upload and download speeds, with Airtel and Jio coming a close second and third. Vi users reported download and upload speeds of 12.8 Mbps and 4.3 Mbps. Vi's lead over Airtel dropped from 1.4 Mbps to 0.4 Mbps for downloads and from 0.9 Mbps to 0.5 Mbps for uploads. Airtel's improvement is likely driven by the newly acquired spectrum, the report said.

Airtel’s networks were the best performing when it came to multiplayer gaming and usage of over-the-top (OTT) voice applications such as WhatsApp, the report added.

Jio continued to lead in both 4G access and 4G coverage. The operator also provided the best video playback experience, jumping two places from OpenSignal's March report. Airtel came a close second, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Vi has been losing customers which may have reduced pressure on its network, the report said.