Report: Singapore Has The Fastest Mobile Download Speeds

Recently this week, OpenSignal has released its latest report on mobile coverage across the globe, and it has named Singapore as the country with the fastest mobile download speeds in the world (no surprise there, considering how Singaporeans can’t last a day without mobile data). Not far behind is South Korea, which is home to mobile giants such as Samsung and LG. Completing the top five are Norway, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

With an average mobile download speed for 4G LTE of 46.6 mbps, Singapore enjoys a fair lead over South Korea, whose 45.9 mbps average mobile download speed is quite impressive in its own right. The three European countries who make up the rest of the top five had average mobile download speeds of 42.02 mbps (for Norway), 42 mbps (for Hungary), and 38.91 mbps (for the Netherlands). 

Wait, what about the United States? Its average mobile download speed according to OpenSignal’s latest report is at 13.98 mbps, which is unfortunately not good enough to crack the top 50. Still, mobile users based in America can count themselves lucky because the country has an LTE accessibility score of $86.94 percent, which is the fifth best in the world.

In completing its newest report, OpenSignal took the time to gather some 50 billion measurements from around 3.8 million mobile devices from the start of July until the end of September of this year. Looking at the bigger picture, the report stated that the whole planet achieved an average mobile download speed of 16.6 mbps, which is an improvement over the 16.2 mbps average mobile download speed recorded six months ago.

OpenSignal also pointed out that while growth in LTE download speeds have slowed since its last report released back in June earlier this year, overall access has improved across the globe. A big reason behind this is effort of various mobile operators, especially those based in developing countries, in getting 3G users to start transitioning to 4G networks.

OpenSignal’s latest report also sheds some insights into the coming 5G era. The company is predicting that it is only a matter of time before a country breaches the 50 mbps mark in terms of average mobile download speeds. 50 mbps remains a tricky speed to achieve these days mainly because of the limitations of today’s 4G LTE technology. But with 5G networks just around the corner, average mobile speeds could go up significantly in the next couple of years.