SK Telecom, Global No. 2
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] South Korea firmly maintained its position as the world's number one in mobile internet speed. Among domestic mobile carriers, SK Telecom's internet speed ranked second fastest globally.
According to the October report from Ookla, the operator of the internet speed measurement site "Speedtest," South Korea's average mobile download speed in September was 121 Mbps, ranking first among 140 countries surveyed. The speed increased by about 10% compared to the August result of 113.01 Mbps, maintaining the top position for two consecutive months. This is approximately 3.4 times faster than the global average mobile download speed of 36.96 Mbps.
Ookla analyzed that South Korea's high ranking is due to the effects of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication. In the survey conducted in May last year, South Korea recorded 76.74 Mbps, surpassing Norway, which had held the top spot for nearly a year, to become number one worldwide. Although the speed was only 54.89 Mbps in March last year, it rose to 63.81 Mbps in April when 5G services began. The global ranking also jumped from 6th place in March to first place within two months.
In the "Speedtest Awards" selected by Ookla for global telecom operators in the second and third quarters of this year, Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates ranked first. SK Telecom was the only Korean company to rank second.
Meanwhile, in this survey, China ranked second with an average mobile download speed of 113.35 Mbps. The United Arab Emirates was third with 111.13 Mbps, Qatar fourth with 88.08 Mbps, and Saudi Arabia fifth with 77.55 Mbps. The United States ranked 33rd with 47.13 Mbps, and Japan was 58th with 35.53 Mbps.
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