4G nation by 2018? India ranks 109th in mobile internet speed globally

India is set to become 4G power in 2018, but what about the internet speed?

India ranks 109 in mobile internet speed, 76 for fixed broadband speed: Ookla’s latest Speedtest Global Index. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

India may be on course to become a 4G powerhouse in 2018 but the country is still way behind the global standards when it comes to internet speeds. In terms of mobile internet speed, India ranks 109th, and 76th for fixed broadband speed globally, said Ookla in its Speedtest Global Index for November.

As of November, Norway ranks first in the world for mobile internet with an average download speed of 62.66 Mbps. Singapore takes the top spot for fixed broadband with a 153.85 Mbps average download.

"At the start of 2017, the average mobile download speed in India was 7.65 Mbps. Heading into the end of the year, average mobile download speed is 8.80 Mbps as of November. That's a 15 per cent increase," a statement said here on Monday.

"While mobile speeds increased modestly, fixed broadband speeds increased dramatically. Average fixed broadband download speed in January was 12.12 Mbps. As of November, it's at 18.82 Mbps, a close to 50 per cent jump," it added.

"Both mobile and fixed broadband internet in India are getting faster, that's good news for all Indian consumers no matter which operator or plan they use to access the internet. India still has a long way to go to catch up with countries that have top speeds around the world, however, we at Ookla are highly optimistic about the capacity for growth that is available in the Indian market and look forward to watching how the market grows in this coming new year," said Doug Suttles, Co-Founder and General Manager at Ookla.

Ookla analyses the performance of the internet in every country based on consumer-initiated tests taken by real people using Speedtest.

"Over 17 billion tests have been taken with Speedtest to date. From our observations in these markets, there are a handful of factors that consistently tend to drive advances in internet speeds and performance. These factors also apply to growth in India," the statement said.

It said the first and foremost factor is sufficient infrastructure. The strength and quality of networks is the baseline foundation required for faster speeds. Another key element in growth is competition. When operators compete to provide the fastest speeds and the best plans for consumers, they incentivise each other to offer progressively better options.

And a third factor in improving speeds is the consideration of new technologies that may boost network performance.