India ranks first in broadband speeds among SAARC countries; 6th in mobile speeds: Ookla Q4 2020 Report


three girls chatting with their smartphones

The Internet is an important tool in our modern connected world, however the quality of Internet service provided is widely different from country to country. OOKLA, the developers of Speedtest.net has released a new report that details India’s position in Internet speeds relative to other SAARC countries, along with the information from the various service providers in India.

When it comes to fixed broadband connections, India is leading among all the SAARC countries, with a mean download speed of a little over 50Mbps. This lead was extended during the second half of 2020, as the Government of India pushed forward in many schemes such as the Digital India initiative and the Smart Cities Mission.

For mobile speeds however, India is quite behind at 6th place, behind the Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. India is still very much behind when it comes to 5G adoption, especially when compared to the Maldives, who already has active 5G networks.

Among the various broadband service providers, Reliance’s Jio ranked the top, with a mean download speed of nearly 80Mbps. It’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) was also high, recorded at 9.98, followed by ACT, who had an NPS of -5.63.

Among the major 4G mobile providers, Vi India ranked No.1, followed by Airtel and then Jio. Airtel is expected to deploy their 5G networks once spectrum is rolled out sometime during late 2021 or early 2022. Jio and Vi India are also ready for 5G deployment, and they are currently waiting for spectrum rollout.

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