Nigeria ranks 150th in global internet speed – Survey

Nigeria emerged 150th among countries of the world ranked for their internet speed, a new survey has shown.

The West African nation also recorded a download speed of 9.70 megabits per second (mbps) for fixed broadband.

The new survey, named 2022 Speedtest Global Index and published by US-based internet speed analysis firm, Ookla, noted that MTN Nigeria controlled 38.9 per cent of mobile subscribers in Nigeria as of the second quarter of 2022.

Recording 74.1 million users on its subscriber list for the period, the wireless operator was 61 per cent bigger in terms of clientele than closest rival, Airtel Nigeria, which had 46 million users altogether signed up to its network by the end of June.

Airtel Nigeria, however, outpaced MTN in mobile performance. It had median download speeds of 30.35 Mbps and median upload speeds of 10.28 Mbps relative to MTN’s 26.30 Mbps download and 9.13 Mbps upload).

These speeds are expected to grow in response to significant network infrastructure investments made by both firms, totalling N208.5 billion ($502 million), the report said.

An improvement in 4G availability is part of the outcomes of that spending. MTN had 83.8 per cent of 4G availability in Q2 2022 compared to Airtel’s 77.9 per cent.

Other African nations

The report rated the continent’s leading internet provider South Africa 96th with an average mobile internet download speed of 36.11 Mbps. That fell below the global benchmark broadband download speed of 69.14 Mbps.

Egypt, ranking 83rd on the list, had a speed of 45.46 Mbps followed by Gabon and Burkina Faso.

Over 40 countries have yet to lay the foundation for the creation of 5G spectrums, even though over 13 countries are already conducting trials.

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Such limitations could stand in the way of an inclusive global digital economy, which needs dependable and quick internet access to speed up growth that could easily reach the underserved, the report noted.

Since South African carriers had 5G networks installed, they were able to outperform other operators, demonstrating the influence that 5G has on overall performance, according to the analysis by Sylwia Kechiche, principal industry analyst, enterprise at Ookla.

The analyst said despite difficulties with load shedding, MTN South Africa was far ahead of the other providers with a median download speed of 65.95 Mbps, followed by Vodacom South Africa with a median download speed of 48.70 Mbps.

She added that Safaricom Kenya was the quickest operator among the evaluated operators if we take 5G out of the picture.

No signal and no access to mobile internet were the two most frequently reported problems, the study said.