Internet Speed Drops in India Amidst Coronavirus Lockdown
Apr. 9, 2020Although several streaming platforms haverestricted HD playbackto reduce the network load as a lot of people are staying indoors to reduce the spread of coronavirus, the latest numbers from Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index shows the average download speeds for fixed broadband and mobile connections have dropped in India.
According to Ookla, the averagedownload speed for fixed broadband dropped from 39.65 Mbps in February to 35.98 Mbpsin March. In mobile data, the download speed reduced from 11.83 Mbps to 10.15 Mbps.
Globally, India stands in 71st position in terms of Ookla’s fixed broadband download speeds and 130th in mobile download speeds. The country witnessed a drop in two positions in both of these categories.
In case you’re wondering, Singapore topped the charts with a whopping 197.26 Mbps download speed in fixed broadband whereas the United Arab Emirates (UAE) comes first with 83.52 Mbps download speed in the mobile category.
The global average download speed for mobile and fixed broadband were 30.47 Mbps and 74.64 Mbps in March. To put that in perspective, the average global download speed was 31.61 Mbps and 75.41 Mbps for mobile and fixed broadband respectively in February.
On the positive side of things,mobile operatorsandISPshave introduced work from home plans with extra data benefits to ensure internet connectivity for people who’re staying in and working remotely during this pandemic.
So, have you noticed a decline in network speeds since the beginning of coronavirus lockdown? Let us know in the comments.
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
