Banglalink provided fastest mobile internet in Q4 2023: Ookla

Banglalink provided the fastest mobile internet in the country during last quarter facilitating a median download speed of 26.74Mbps, said a report by Ookla, a web service that provides free analysis of internet access performance metrics such as connection data rate and latency.

According to the report, Banglalink also recorded the highest consistency of 89.0% and the lowest median latency of 33ms during the October-December period.

Overall, the broadband internet service providers had the highest consistency at 87.5% and the lowest median latency at 5ms in the country, the Ookla report added.

Bangladesh moved to the 111th spot last October among 142 nations on the Speedtest global mobile internet speed index, reflecting a decent improvement from the 126th position a year ago. The country ranked 105th out of 145 countries in November 2023.

"We are delighted to see how the mobile internet is advancing Bangladesh's digital landscape with improved speed and stability. Banglalink is proud to be at the forefront of this advancement with the fastest mobile internet in the country, which we have been able to retain for the last 4 years," Taimur Rahman, chief corporate and regulatory affairs officer at Banglalink, said.

"I also believe that with more affordable spectrum allocation and cost-effective fibre network deployment, the overall internet speed of the country would further increase," he added.

Ookla's monthly survey of 300 unique users found the average mobile internet download speed at 20.66 Mbps and upload speed at 10.06 Mbps. In October 2022, they were at 12.54 Mbps and 8.38 Mbps respectively.

Despite making some advancement on its global rating on mobile internet speed, Bangladesh is still ranked below the 100th spot on Ookla's Speedtest Global Index.

The median download speed in Bangladesh stood at 23Mbps in November, up from 20.66Mbps the previous month. For comparison, the Ookla list topper the UAE had a median download speed of 324.92Mbps, while neighbouring India secured the 18th position with a median download speed of 94.62Mbps.

Bangladesh now has over 131.4 million internet users, according to the latest data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Of them, more than 118.9 million (more than 95% of the total) are mobile internet subscribers, while the rest are broadband users.

Ookla's Speedtest Global Index reflects a positive trend in Bangladeshi internet services as they are getting better even if at a slow rate, said BM Mainul Hossain, a professor at the Institute of Information Technology, University of Dhaka.  

Another positive aspect is that the speed is not getting worse. If the number of users increases and telecom companies do not increase the bandwidth, speeds are supposed to go down. But that is not happening as of now, meaning telecom operators are increasing their bandwidth even if at a snail's pace. 

"Overall, it is still not that satisfactory," said Professor Mainul. "If you want to watch ultra high-definition videos, you will need 25Mbps speed, but we don't have that," he added.