Jio Fastest in Broadband Speeds, Vi in Mobile Data: Ookla Q4 2020 Report

Jio is the fastest broadband network provider in India with highest ratings in Q4 2020, according to network speed tracker Ookla’s latest findings. Vi (Vodafone India) had the fastest mean mobile download speeds during Q4 2020 as it increased its download speed performance lead over Airtel from Q3, Ookla added. Among all the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, India is the fastest when it comes to fixed broadband connection, but in mobile speeds, the country lags behind, it said.

Ookla’s latest report for Q4 2020 highlights broadband and mobile network performance by varied operators in the region. The report says that Jio had the fastest mean download speed over fixed broadband with 3.7 rating and the only positive NPS (Net Promoter Score) — a measure of customer satisfaction. ACT was second, Airtel third and Excitel came fourth. BSNL had the slowest mean download speed over fixed broadband during the same period, although Hathway had the lowest rating and the lowest NPS. Among SAARC countries, India had the fastest mean download speeds over fixed broadband through 2020, with strong improvements in India from Q2 2020 onwards thanks to robust fiber line deployment.

Coming to mobile data, Vi had the fastest mean mobile download speeds during Q4 2020. Airtel came in second with similar rating of 3.1, but lower NPS score. Jio was third with a rating of 2.9. It is worth noting that the NPS scores of none of the three telecom providers were positive. Among the SAARC countries, India was the third slowest in mean mobile download speeds throughout 2020. Maldives was the only SAARC country with active 5G during 2020. Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan were very closely grouped for second, third, fourth and fifth fastest during Q4 2020. Afghanistan had the slowest mean mobile download speeds among SAARC countries throughout 2020.

The report also details the country’s 5G rollout roadmap, stating that Airtel’s commercial 5G network is ready to roll out services once spectrum is allocated in late 2021 or early 2022. It even conducted successful trials in Hyderabad. Vi India will wait for the 5G spectrum auction in the 3.3 GHz – 3.6 GHz band and Jio has also been getting ready to roll out its home-grown O-RAN 5G network. The report however cautions that LTE and 5G technologies won’t be able to deliver the ultra-fast speeds and low latency promised by the emerging technologies if sufficient wireless spectrum is not made available.