Azlan Othman
Brunei is placed in the top 10 for the fastest mobile network speeds on a global basis with a median download speed of 102.06 Mbps on mobile networks, according to new figures from Ookla.
Qatar took the top spot in mobile network speeds, as local operators pouring investment into improving 5G reach and speeds driven both by an eager transition to 5G as well as the desire to showcase their capabilities on the global stage with Qatar’s role as host of last year’s FIFA World Cup.
The other nine countries with the fastest mobile network speeds on a global basis were the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Norway, South Korea, Denmark, China, the Netherlands, Macau, Bulgaria and Brunei Darussalam.
Internet connectivity continues to speed ahead for people around the world, especially as countries prioritise and improve mobile and fixed broadband networks.
That’s nowhere more apparent than on the Speedtest Global Index, which tracks countries’ Internet speeds and the overall global median internet speeds.
Last year, Ookla took a look at the state of the Internet speeds over the years, and they were back to see how most of 2022 fared from November 2021 to November 2022, and what countries made the top 10 fastest mobile and fixed broadband lists.
Meanwhile, the competition for the fastest fixed broadband was neck-and-neck on the Speedtest Global Index during 2022, with Chile (216.23 Mbps) taking top honours and China (214.23 Mbps) and Singapore (214.23 Mbps) a hair behind.
Over the course of the year, the top 10 countries for fastest fixed broadband remained relatively the same while each country jostled up and down the list for fixed broadband superiority. Only Spain was replaced from the top 10 with the UAE taking its place. Notably, China jumped four places from sixth to second, improving its median download speed from 146.62 Mbps in 2021 to 214.58 Mbps in 2022.
Romania’s 10th place finish in 2022 would have earned fourth place in 2021, showing how fast these countries are all prioritising improved fixed broadband speeds.
On average, global mobile network download speeds increased 16.8 per cent between November 2021 and November 2022, while fixed broadband speeds jumped 28 per cent on a global basis.
Global upload speeds saw a nine-per-cent increase on mobile networks and at least 30-per-cent increase on wireline networks.
Latency remained the same on fixed broadband networks at 10 milliseconds (ms), while it ticked down slightly on mobile networks from 29 ms in 2021 to 28 ms in 2022, Ookla said.
