Need to pick up pace: Pakistan lags behind in internet speed, shows world index
Ranks 95th out of 115 countries at 3.49 Mbps, far below global average
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s telecom industry moved to the advanced third-generation (3G) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G mobile networks – at least on papers – more than six months ago and the operators had been upgrading their networks for even longer, but the country is nowhere close to the global average of mobile broadband (download) speed.
With an average download speed of 3.49 megabits per second (Mbps), Pakistan ranks 95th in a global index of 115 countries, far below the index’s global average of 10.92 Mbps, reveals Ookla’s Net Index for the month of December 2014.
The fixed line or WiMax operators, too, do not present a good picture, earning the country a low 171st position among 195 countries in the category of broadband or internet service providers (ISPs), according to the report.
Famous for its flagship product Speedtest.net, Ookla is a global broadband testing giant based in the United States. A publication of Oookla, Net Index conducts real-time speed tests of network performance for both internet service providers and mobile broadband carriers across the world. The index calculates these values by aggregating hundreds of thousands of recent survey and test results from their major tool, Ookla Speedtest.
The networks of Warid Telecom, China Mobile Pakistan (Zong), Telenor Pakistan, Mobilink and Ufone showed speeds of 5.19 Mbps, 4.99 Mbps, 3.12 Mbps, 2.63 Mbps and 1.44 Mbps respectively, according to Net Index December, 2014
The index, however, doesn’t mention if each operator offered the same speed at all test locations. For example, Warid Telecom that appeared on top of the list has yet to start its LTE tests in Karachi, an indication that the tests were conducted for locations in Lahore, the operator’s stronghold.
Of the 43 locations covered by the index, Gulberg, Lahore Cantonment, Clifton and Akhtar Colony were among top six, each recording more than 4 Mbps of download speed for mobile Internet – the lowest speed, 1.7 Mbps, was recorded for Rahim Yar Khan.
The category of ISPs, too, showed lower speeds compared to the index’s global average.
The average broadband (download) speed for Pakistan was recorded at 3.3 Mbps for December 2014. Though it is the highest speed recorded by the ISPs in 2014, it remains well below the global average, 21.5 Mbps.
Among the top 20 internet service providers, Multinet showed the highest download speed of 10.88 Mbps followed by Transworld Associates and Cyber Internet Services that showed speeds of 10.35 Mbps and 5.45 Mbps respectively – the local broadband giant Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, which has more than 80% market share, showed 3.63 Mbps of download speed on Ookla’s Speedtest.
The report shows Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad as the top four cities with download speeds of 3.55 Mbps, 3.5 Mbps, 3.03 Mbps and 2.98 Mbps respectively.
The quality of network has been an issue for the bulk of country’s internet users – about 23 million as per official statistics. With hopes to receive high-speed broadband, the internet-hungry consumers had waited eagerly, for years, for the launch of 3G services. But many still complain about the poor quality of service.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the telecom sector’s regulator, has already upgraded its equipment and trained its staff for monitoring the quality of service (QoS) parameters for third-generation (3G) and 4G mobile services. However, it will launch field tests only after the cellular service providers finish the first phase of 3G rollout – the government, in the first phase, had asked the CMOs to complete the rollout of 3G services in big cities within nine months, from the date licences were awarded.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2014.
Pakistan’s telecom industry moved to the advanced third-generation (3G) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G mobile networks – at least on papers – more than six months ago and the operators had been upgrading their networks for even longer, but the country is nowhere close to the global average of mobile broadband (download) speed.
With an average download speed of 3.49 megabits per second (Mbps), Pakistan ranks 95th in a global index of 115 countries, far below the index’s global average of 10.92 Mbps, reveals Ookla’s Net Index for the month of December 2014.
The fixed line or WiMax operators, too, do not present a good picture, earning the country a low 171st position among 195 countries in the category of broadband or internet service providers (ISPs), according to the report.
Famous for its flagship product Speedtest.net, Ookla is a global broadband testing giant based in the United States. A publication of Oookla, Net Index conducts real-time speed tests of network performance for both internet service providers and mobile broadband carriers across the world. The index calculates these values by aggregating hundreds of thousands of recent survey and test results from their major tool, Ookla Speedtest.
The networks of Warid Telecom, China Mobile Pakistan (Zong), Telenor Pakistan, Mobilink and Ufone showed speeds of 5.19 Mbps, 4.99 Mbps, 3.12 Mbps, 2.63 Mbps and 1.44 Mbps respectively, according to Net Index December, 2014
The index, however, doesn’t mention if each operator offered the same speed at all test locations. For example, Warid Telecom that appeared on top of the list has yet to start its LTE tests in Karachi, an indication that the tests were conducted for locations in Lahore, the operator’s stronghold.
Of the 43 locations covered by the index, Gulberg, Lahore Cantonment, Clifton and Akhtar Colony were among top six, each recording more than 4 Mbps of download speed for mobile Internet – the lowest speed, 1.7 Mbps, was recorded for Rahim Yar Khan.
The category of ISPs, too, showed lower speeds compared to the index’s global average.
The average broadband (download) speed for Pakistan was recorded at 3.3 Mbps for December 2014. Though it is the highest speed recorded by the ISPs in 2014, it remains well below the global average, 21.5 Mbps.
Among the top 20 internet service providers, Multinet showed the highest download speed of 10.88 Mbps followed by Transworld Associates and Cyber Internet Services that showed speeds of 10.35 Mbps and 5.45 Mbps respectively – the local broadband giant Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, which has more than 80% market share, showed 3.63 Mbps of download speed on Ookla’s Speedtest.
The report shows Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad as the top four cities with download speeds of 3.55 Mbps, 3.5 Mbps, 3.03 Mbps and 2.98 Mbps respectively.
The quality of network has been an issue for the bulk of country’s internet users – about 23 million as per official statistics. With hopes to receive high-speed broadband, the internet-hungry consumers had waited eagerly, for years, for the launch of 3G services. But many still complain about the poor quality of service.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the telecom sector’s regulator, has already upgraded its equipment and trained its staff for monitoring the quality of service (QoS) parameters for third-generation (3G) and 4G mobile services. However, it will launch field tests only after the cellular service providers finish the first phase of 3G rollout – the government, in the first phase, had asked the CMOs to complete the rollout of 3G services in big cities within nine months, from the date licences were awarded.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2014.