Nigeria’s Internet speed ranks low amid rising 3G, 4G subscriptions

The Internet speed in Nigeria has remained slow despite recording increasing subscriptions to third generation of wireless technology, 3G and fourth generation of wireless technology, 4G in the past one year.

Nigeria ranked 107th in mobile Internet download speed as of February 2019, down one place from its 106th position in January, the latest data from the Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index showed.

In February 2019, the average mobile Internet download speed was 12.22 megabits per second down from 12.76 mbps in January.

The index, which compared Internet speed data from around the world on a monthly basis, stated that the global average for mobile Internet download speed for the 136 countries examined in February was 25.27mbps while 10.05mbps was the global average upload speed attained.

The report indicated that Nigeria’s average mobile Internet download speed in January was the highest in one year while the lowest Internet speed at 9.50mbps was recorded in March last year.

Ookla’s Global Index indicated that the country had not exceeded the 102th Internet speed ranking in the past one year despite rising 3G and 4G subscriptions.

Industry data from Nigerian Communications Commission indicated that about 23.02 million new 3G and 4G subscriptions were added by telecoms operators in 11 months since March 2018.

As of January this year, the country had 61.73 million new 3G and 4G subscriptions.

Also, Ookla index showed that the country’s ranking for fixed broadband download speed also dropped by six places from 133th position in January to 139th position globally in February this year.

In the fixed broadband category, Nigeria recorded 10.47 mbps average download speed and 8.83 mbps upload speed in February this year.

The global average for fixed broadband download speed for the 177 countries examined was 55.58mbps while it recorded 27.64mbps for the upload speed.

As per the February Speedtest Global Index, Norway clinched the top position in the mobile broadband category globally with an average download speed of 67.34mbps while Canada came second with 67.14mbps.

Singapore ranked highest for fixed broadband with a 195.36mbps average download and 198.94mbps upload speed.

The Nigerian Communications Commission data indicated that the number of active subscribers to Internet services in the country increased to 113.9 million in January 2019.

This is an indication that the country gained 2,242,688 new Internet users between December 2018 and January 2019, recording a two per cent rise in subscribers under the Global System for Mobile communication category.

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