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Thailand and the Philippines have been ranked as the top two countries, respectively, in the world to have witnessed the greatest improvements in 5G mobile data download speeds when compared to 4G performance.
This is according to mobile analytics firm Opensignal, which analysed global 5G data to determine where various nations stood in terms of their 5G network development.
According to the latest data, mobile network users in Thailand saw 5G download speeds that were 13.4 times faster, on average, than the 4G download speeds available in the country — the greatest increase in the world — with the Philippines coming in second with an improvement of 10.1 times 4G speeds. Saudi Arabia came in third.
Opensignal’s research indicated that, in Thailand, the average speed using an active 5G connection from 1 October 2020 to 29 December 2020 was 162.3 Mbps. In the Philippines, the figure was 117.2 Mbps.
Also in the top 10 was Taiwan in fourth position, South Korea in seventh, Australia at number eight and Hong Kong, which was ranked 10.
Credit: Opensignal In terms of 5G video experience, according to Opensignal, the top two places were reversed, with the Philippines seeing a 5G video experience improvement of 40 per cent higher than the 4G video experience in the country.
Thailand came second, with 29 per cent better video experience, and Hong Kong in third place with an improvement of 14 per cent.
In eight of the top ten countries for uplift in 5G video experience over 4G, the increase for 5G over 4G was over 10 per cent.
Thailand also held its own on the global stage in 5G availability when viewed in terms of per cent of time available, coming in at fifth position with a score of 22.3 per cent, just under Taiwan. Kuwait topped that list, followed by South Korea.
In terms of 5G reach (location experience), Thailand also made it into the top 10, coming in at number seven, just above the United Arab Emirates.
“We saw big improvements in 4G technology in its first decade,” Opensignal analysis team lead Ian Fogg said in a statement. “To understand if similar jumps forward are happening with 5G, we need to monitor how the real-world 5G experience is evolving.
“In 2021, more operators hope to launch 5G on additional frequency bands, more operators intend to add extremely fast mmWave-based 5G, and more operators seek to launch newer versions of the 5G standard and offer users a fully 5G experience by shifting from non-standalone access (NSA) to standalone (SA) 5G,” he added.
