Driven by 5G Commercialization
Experts attributed it to commercialization of the fifth generation (5G) networks.
South Korea clinched the top position in the mobile broadband category globally with an average download speed of 76.74mbps in May, according to a recent report by Ookla which operates “Speedtest” internet speed measurement service on July 14.
Norway, which maintained its top place since August last year, slipped to second for the first time in nine months with 67.93mbps. The data stated that the global average for mobile Internet download speed for the 140 countries examined in May was 27.22mbps.
South Korea ranked sixth in March with 54.89mbps but it saw its mobile Internet speed increase 16 percent to 63.81mbps in April, moving up to the third spot, and then rise 20.2 percent further in a month to the first place. The country now has 79.7 percent faster mobile Internet speed compared to a year earlier when it came in 14th place.
Experts say it is largely due to the fact that the country has started 5G services for the first time in the world in April. Isla McKetta, the head of Content at Ookla, said, “5G put South Korea at number one in terms of mobile speed. South Korea is introducing the 5G network at a very fast pace.”
Meanwhile, Ookla is a Seattle-based company that measures the speed of networks worldwide. It operates over 7,000 measurement servers in more than 190 countries, including two in Seoul, South Korea.