India’s mobile speeds increased by 115%. India has climbed 49 places on the Speedtest Global Index™ since launching 5G, from 118th in September 2022 to 69th in January 2023. Ookla®data shows improvement in LTE speeds for both Jio and Airtel since the launch of 5G services, as all their investments into network modernization are paying off.
Median 5G download speeds are 25 times faster than 4G. 5G performance has increased across early 5G adopters in most of the telecom circles, Kolkata achieved the fastest median 5G download speeds in January 2023 at above 500 Mbps. Jio experienced a top median 5G download speed of 506.25 Mbps in Kolkata, while Airtel of 268.89 Mbps in Delhi.
5G Availability increased 55-fold. Airtel and Jio have ambitious targets in terms of 5G network rollout. From 5G networks’ inception, 5G Availability across 5G-capable devices has steadily increased, reaching 8.0% for Airtel and 5.1% for Jio.
5G is further impacting the competitive landscape. Speedtest® users migrating away from Vi, which has been further stimulated by the operator’s inability to launch 5G.
Ookla®, the global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights today released its insights on India’s performance post launch of 5G services. According to the insights, the median download speeds across India increased by 115% (from a 13.87 Mbps median download speed in September 2022 to 29.85 Mbps in January 2023). As a result, India’s position on the Speedtest Global Index improved by 49 places from 118th in September 2022 to 69th in January 2023. This puts India ahead of some of the G20 countries, such as Mexico, Russia, and Argentina, and its neighbors: Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. India is also catching up with the likes of Turkey (a 30.98 Mbps median download speed/65th place on the Speedtest Global Index), South Africa (34.71 Mbps/58th place), and Brazil (35.85 Mbps/57th place).
When 5G was first launched in October 2022, there was a wide disparity in the early 5G network performance users were experiencing on 5G-capable devices; median 5G download speeds oscillated between 512.57 Mbps (Gujarat) and 19.23 Mbps (Uttar Pradesh West) as the 5G networks build out started. In fact, in nine telecom circles: Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, North East, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh West, the median 5G download speed was below 100 Mbps because networks were very much at the testing stage. Four months on, in January 2023, 5G median download speeds had greatly increased across all of the telecom circles — exceeding 200 Mbps everywhere except Jammu and Kashmir, with Kolkata clocking speeds over 500 Mbps.
Moreover, 5G investments made by the operators has also propelled an increase in 4G LTE speeds thanks to the modernization of the underlying infrastructure. For instance, median 5G download speed is 25 times that of 4G LTE (338.12 Mbps vs. 13.30 Mbps), and median 5G upload speed is 4.5 times 4G LTE (19.65 Mbps vs 3.55 Mbps). Ookla’s insight report also witnesses the improvements in LTE speeds (both for Airtel & Jio) in multiple cities as they are offloading 4G traffic onto their 5G network, therefore reducing 4G network congestion. This must be caveated by the fact that these are still early days for 5G in India, and 5G performance will most likely decrease once those networks are commercially available.
Comparing the performance of Jio and Airtel, Ookla insight report shows that in January 2023, the early adopters of Jio’s 5G experienced speeds ranging from 246.49 Mbps median download speed in Himachal Pradesh to 506.25 Mbps in Kolkata while the Airtel’s 5G early adopters experienced speeds ranging from a 78.13 Mbps median download speed in Kolkata to 268.89 Mbps in Delhi.
The report also inferred the churn pattern of Speedtest users from January to December 2022, which shows that Vi India has been losing users throughout 2022 and following the 5G launch, the disconnections increased significantly. Most of Vi’s customers have moved away to Jio (1.88%) and Airtel (1.32%). Jio gained around 1.3% of customers from Airtel & Vi India. In comparison, Airtel has lost 0.53% to Jio but gained 0.63% from Vi over the same period.
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About Ookla
Ookla® is a global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights. For almost two decades, Ookla has set the industry standard for both fixed and mobile network testing and analysis. From its world-renowned Speedtest® and Downdetector® platforms to an accompanying and growing suite of end-to-end enterprise solutions, Ookla’s mission is to make the internet better, faster, and more accessible for everyone.
Ookla’s enterprise solutions combine first-party crowdsourced data and scientifically controlled testing with tools that provide actionable insights across a network’s lifecycle and customer experience. Our insights empower operators, businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, and more to analyze, optimize, and publicize networks around the world.
Ookla is part of Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD), a vertically focused digital media and internet company whose portfolio includes leading brands in technology, entertainment, shopping, health, cybersecurity and martech. Ookla’s headquarters is located in Seattle, WA, USA with additional offices around the world.
