Vietnam ranks low in mobile Internet speed

OpenSignal’s survey of nearly 823,000 subscribers to 3G and 4G networks via its app showed South Korea topped the list with a speed of 41.34 Mbps, followed by Singapore with 31.19 Mbps, Hungary with 26.15 Mbps, Australia with 25.01 Mbps and Denmark with 23.35 Mbps. Afghanistan was at the bottom with 2.17 Mbps.

According to the survey, Vietnamese spent nearly 54% of their time on the Internet via wifi, ranking 33rd. The top three are the Netherlands, China and New Zealand with over 60%, suggesting that users still prefer wi-fi thanks to its faster speed and lower charge.

The survey showed Vietnam ranked 57th in the availability of 3G and 4G networks with 82% of Internet coverage for users. South Korea took the lead with more than 98%, followed by Japan and Israel with over 95% and Australia and Singapore with over 94%.

The countries with poor 3G and 4G availability include Ukraine (44.81%) and Guyana (36.5%).

This is not the first time Vietnam’s mobile Internet connection speed was slower than other countries. A survey by Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson in nine countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania last year found the average mobile Internet speed of Vietnam was only 160Kbps, 135 times slower than in Singapore and almost four times below Myanmar which is in the same stage of development as Vietnam 20 years ago.

According to the Ericsson report, Singapore recorded the fastest mobile Internet connection with 21,870 Kbps, followed by Australia with 11,190 Kbps and Thailand with 2,380 Kbps. It was 2,340 Kbps in Malaysia and 1,970 Kbps in Indonesia.

Speaking to the Daily, local mobile carriers said the mobile Internet speed was slower than in many other countries but not as slow as indicated in the report. They said Ericsson’s report was based on data of theSpeedtest.net site of Ookla which was doubted for not collecting data at the same points of time or locations. For instance, data might be collected in areas with developed Internet infrastructure in a country but in areas with poor Internet connection in another country.

Network operators attributed the slow mobile Internet connection to the late introduction of 4G technology, which is 10 times faster than 3G. While network carriers worldwide have adopted 4G, the Ministry of Information and Communications has yet to issue any 4G licenses in Vietnam.

They said the Internet speed in Myanmar might be faster than in Vietnam as it is piloting 4G.

Experts expected that Vietnam’s Internet speed for mobile devices could improve when 4G is launched nationwide later this year.