India's LTE internet reach widens but 4G speed slower than Pakistan: Report

In June, the download speed in India was at 9.12 Mbps, slower than neighbouring countries such as Pakistan (14.03 Mbps) and Sri Lanka (16.98) and much slower than global average of 23.54 Mbps

In India, the overall internet penetration might have improved but the mobile internet speed is still sluggish and ranks at the bottom rung when compared with other countries, according to a report by online speed testing platform Ookla. While the global average mobile download internet speed stood at 23.54 Mbps in June, the download speed in India was at 9.12 Mbps, slower than neighbouring countries like Pakistan (14.03 Mbps) and Sri Lanka (16.98).

OpenSignal, an online provider of insights into coverage and performance of mobile operators worldwide, in its April report highlighted that the Indian operators moved their focus on growing 4G reach than injecting more speed into their 4G services. According to the report, the overall 4G availability increased for every major operator in December-February period, and all major 4G providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Jio, crossed the 65 per cent LTE availability threshold in April. However, the 4G download speed of most operators improved marginally and the India’s leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel came out on top with an average download speed on 4G at 9.31 Mbps, close to what Ookla highlighted in its June report.

The growth of smartphone penetration in India and the addition of more internet users on mobile networks is attributed as one of the reasons for slower mobile internet speeds in India, according to a news report in the Economic Times citing OpenSignal analyst Peter Boyland. 

Spectrum allocation is another factor that leads to slower mobile internet speed. “The spectrum per operator in India is low compared to other countries, which leads to low spectrum per subscriber, therefore slow 4G network speeds,” Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, was quoted as saying in the Economic Times report.

The higher latency is also one of the reasons for slower internet speed. Latency is calculated based on the time it takes for a data packet to move between device and internet server. The higher the latency, the more sluggish is the internet experience. The lower the latency, the quicker is the response time and the faster the connection speed that leads to better internet experience and download speeds.

Vodafone had the lowest latency in OpenSignal's measurements, with a response time of 66.4 milliseconds, but that was still relatively high as most operators around the world tend to fall within a range of 30-50 milliseconds.