Data discomfort: Why India's data connectivity speeds are falling

India is one of the world’s biggest markets for 5G Internet services, but that has come at the cost of connectivity speed—at least for now

- VERNIKA AWAL

In March 2023, the average speed of 5G Internet connectivity on mobile networks in India was nearly 294 megabits (Mbps) per second. Now, in what happens to be an out-of-turn twist of fate, the speeds have dropped by almost 19% in one year. The result? As of March 2024, the connectivity speed of 5G during the peak hours of content consumption in India fell to 239 Mbps, according to a report published by Internet statistics and services platform OpenSignal in June.

For the record, an average Internet bandwidth of over 200 Mbps cannot be qualified as 'bad' by any metric.

However, a 19% drop within a year signifies a potential thorn in India's push to project itself as a world-leading geography in terms of connectivity.

The figures are not reflected in only one report, either.

Last month, a report by fellow Internet stats platform Ookla underlined a 15% sequential drop in average overall Internet speeds, considering both wired broadband and 4G/5G mobile Internet services between the June and September quarters this year. As per media reports citing Ookla, India's average Internet speeds dropped to 91 Mbps in the recently concluded September quarter-down from 107 Mbps just one quarter ago.

Reports corroborated the 19% drop in 5G speeds as recently as last month, stating that from an average allday speed of 300 Mbps on 5G networks, India's median speed for 5G connectivity has dropped to 243 Mbps.