Reliance Jio recorded almost 600 Mbps median download speed on its 5G network in Delhi while India’s overall 5G speed hit 500 Mbps as the country rolled out 5G services, a report showed on Tuesday.
According to Ookla’s ‘Speedtest Intelligence’ report, telecom operators have been testing their networks and they witnessed a wide range of 5G download speeds — from low double-digit (16.27 Mbps) to 809.94 Mbps.
“This data points to the fact that the operators are still recalibrating their networks. The speeds are expected to be more stable moving forward as these networks will enter the commercial stage,” the report mentioned.
Ookla compared median 5G download speeds across four cities where both Jio and Airtel have built their networks.
In Delhi, Airtel reached nearly 200 Mbps median download speed at 197.98 Mbps while Jio almost broke 600 Mbps (598.58 Mbps).
In Kolkata, operators’ median download speeds varied the most since June. Airtel’s median download speed was 33.83 Mbps while Jio had a faster median download speed of 482.02 Mbps.
In Mumbai, Airtel has reached 271.07 Mbps median download speed compared to Jio’s 515.38 Mbps median download since June.
In Varanasi, Jio and Airtel achieved closer parity, with Airtel achieving a 5G median download speed at 516.57 Mbps to Jio’s 485.22 Mbps median download speed since June 2022.
Bharti Airtel has launched their 5G services in eight cities and Jio’s 5G beta trial “Jio True 5G for All” is now available with select users in four cities a” Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi.
As per Ookla’s recent consumer survey, 89% of Indian smartphone users are ready to upgrade to 5G.
“The new 5G results show that 5G speeds are far superior to India’s existing network. While we need to approach these early results with caution, 5G devices are already showing they can achieve much faster speeds, at least under artificially controlled testing circumstances e.g., no network congestion and ideal network coverage,” the report noted.
According to the Speedtest Global Index, India ranked 117th in the world for mobile download speed at 13.52 Mbps in August.
Hyderabad is where all operators have seen significant growth in terms of 5G-capable devices, with Jio even tripling its install base.
