India is Making up for Slow 4G Speed in Other Ways

4G internet speed has increased thanks to Jio and Airtel, but were are still far from matching global standards.

4G speed in India is slow, but things are slowly getting better. (Photo: The Quint)

A recent report says that India’s 4G network base is growing at a frenetic pace (thanks to free Jio 4G over the past year), but the internet speed still lags behind Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

However, when you put that in geographic as well as economic terms, India’s state of 4G penetration is not only more significant, but is also making faster inroads.

The lack of 4G speed can be attributed to coverage issues in the country, which, neither of Airtel, Vodafone, or Idea have been able to fix.

Yes, India’s speeds are nowhere close to what users in South Korea or Singapore get, but with India’s population, garnering average speed of 5.1Mbps is not a total disaster.

Data prices have drastically come down, and over the next 6 months or so, we’ll see the trigger effect of it.

Most internet-based companies (re: Uber, Swiggy) are focusing on India, and not Pakistan, even though it offers faster internet speed.

At the end of the day, what matters is, how many users are actually on the internet, and this is where India clearly surpasses other nations.

India’s 4G availability is high, even when compared to developed countries such as the UK and Canada. (Photo Courtesy: Open Signal)

5Mbps might rank as one of the lowest, but things are getting better. (Photo Courtesy: Open Signal)

The switch from 3G to 4G in the country is happening much faster than how we moved from 2G to 3G.

Moreover, from 2Mbps, internet speed has quickly moved to 5Mbps. Most industry experts believe that a faster transition to speeds higher than 10Mbps is on the cards.

So, cheer up folks, it’s not all dull and gloom with internet in India.