South Korea has emerged as the leader in mobile communication speed among major countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with its 5G technology also ranked as the fastest globally.
According to OpenSignal, a British market research firm, South Korea recorded the fastest mobile download speed of 140.2 Mbps during October to December last year among 25 countries in the region. This marks an increase from 125.3 Mbps in 2022, accelerating by 14.8 Mbps. Singapore, the second-fastest country in the region, recorded a speed of 71.1 Mbps, almost half of South Korea’s speed.
Following behind were Australia at 58.5 Mbps, Taiwan at 55.7 Mbps, India at 51.5 Mbps, and China at 50.5 Mbps. Japan ranked eighth in the region with a speed of 46.7 Mbps, experiencing a slowdown by 1.2 Mbps.
South Korea also showed significant improvement in mobile communication speed, ranking third in the Asia-Pacific region with an increase of 14.8 Mbps from the previous survey.
India showcased an extraordinary growth in 5G adoption, with speeds tripling from 15.4 Mbps to 51.5 Mbps. Malaysia also saw speeds nearly double from 20.2 Mbps to 38.1 Mbps.
In Europe, Norway (102.3 Mbps), Denmark (98.8 Mbps), the Netherlands (81.7 Mbps), and Finland (71.6 Mbps) boasted the highest communication speeds. Denmark, Finland, and Norway also led in terms of year-over-year speed improvement, with increases of 25.5 Mbps, 17.7 Mbps, and 16.5 Mbps, respectively.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Kuwait (55.1Mbps), Bahrain (54.5Mbps), and Qatar (50.5Mbps) were among the top in mobile communication speed.
Regarding 5G average download speeds, South Korea was the fastest globally at 436.7Mbps, significantly outpacing Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. In the Asia-Pacific, Malaysia (337.7Mbps), Singapore (292.9Mbps), and India (280.7Mbps) followed. In Europe, Denmark (301.8Mbps), Bulgaria (288.9Mbps), and Croatia (274.3Mbps) had the fastest 5G speeds, while in the GCC, Qatar (335.1Mbps), Bahrain (282.5Mbps), and Kuwait (274.6Mbps) led the rankings.
In terms of 5G availability, India had the highest ratio at 44.3%, leading the Asia-Pacific region and other surveyed countries. South Korea followed closely with a 38.3% availability rate, with Singapore (33.3%) and Thailand (24.8%) trailing behind.