India’s 5G Data Speeds Ranked 14th in the World, Leading to Increased Video Streaming and Gaming Activity among Users
India launched its 5G network in October 2022, and more than 12 months later, the country’s 5G network deployment, expansion and overall download speeds have picked up. According to the latest industry report, India is now ranked 14th globally with a median 5G speed of 301 Mbps in Q4 2023. The report published via Ookla also talks about the increased availability of 5G, which is now more than 50 percent in a short time.
5G in India: How it compares to 4G data for users
The 5G download speed of 301 Mbps clearly raises it above the ranks offered by the supported devices of the 4G network. In comparison, the median 4G speed was 16.05 Mbps, which is a whopping 18 times lower than what a 5G user was getting during that period. More importantly, download speeds on 5G networks were 6 times faster than 4G LTE, which is a better way to measure network performance.
A global ranking of 14 means that India’s 5G speeds are below the following countries:
– United Arab Emirates
– Qatar
– South Korea
– Malaysia
– Brazil
– Dominican Republic
– Bahrain
– Kuwait
– Macau
– Singapore
– Saudi Arabia
– New Zealand
– Bulgaria
5G availability in India is now over 50 percent, and it helps that most phones launch with 5G as the default option. People are still only using 4G phones which are expected to upgrade as the prices of 5G phones come down in India and we are already seeing a change with more expected in 2024.
Once you get high 5G median speeds, the demand for video streaming will immediately increase. The report clearly sees the data transmission of India’s 5G networks helping more content viewing on the go and people enjoying games without quality degradation. Video start times for people using 5G networks have dropped from 1.99 seconds for 4G LTE to 1.14 seconds. Median latency has also been improved, allowing you to enjoy smooth gaming on the 5G network.
Jio and Airtel are in line with their 5G services and Vodafone Idea is still in the planning stage to roll out 5G in the country. 5G data services have been available at no extra cost, which may eventually change, and telcos are hoping that those high 5G speeds will entice people to pay more out of pocket when that day comes in the near future.
