According to the latest data from the popular speed testing platform Ookla, Nepal has topped the rank among SAARC countries in fixed broadband also called fiber internet ahead of India in April 2024. This continues to prove that the country’s status in the fixed line internet is satisfying and also consistently improving. However, the figures indicated dismal performance in mobile broadband among the neighboring countries and globally. Here, we have gathered all the details. Keep reading into these fascinating stats.
Nepal leads SAARC in fiber broadband internet speed rank
In April 2024 data, Nepal beat the likes of India and Bangladesh to stay at the rank in SAARC for the highest speed in fiber broadband internet. According to the official Ookla data, Nepal stood atop with 65.84 Mbps download speed. We need to thank the speed war for this. At the same time, its global rank stood at 88th which is not too bad considering the differences of slim margins and competition from the most affluent countries. India, likewise, came second with 64.45 Mbps download speed. The country’s global standing is 90 two positions below Nepal.
Another SAARC member Bangladesh came third with 46.52 Mbps download speed while it perches at 106th globally. Besides Nepal and India, Bangladesh is another consistent performer in fixed broadband speed rank. Other countries’ performance seems not as encouraging in comparison. Sri Lanka, for example, comes in 4th position with 22.51 Mbps speed. Bhutan, Maldives, and Afghanistan sit at the 6th, 7th, and 8th ranks respectively.
Nepal’s median download speed in April 2024 was 65.84 Mbps while upload stood at 54.83 Mbps with a latency of 5 ms. The improvement in fiber internet and the global ranking owes to increasingly high-speed packages offered by Nepal’s prominent internet service providers (ISPs). Currently, we have up to 2 Gbps internet package courtesy of Vianet.
| Countries | Speed (Mbps) | Rank in SAARC | Global Rank |
| Nepal | 65.84 | 1 | 88 |
| India | 64.45 | 2 | 90 |
| Bangladesh | 46.52 | 3 | 106 |
| Sri Lanka | 22.51 | 4 | 138 |
| Pakistan | 14.85 | 5 | 153 |
| Bhutan | 13.45 | 6 | 160 |
| Maldives | 13.07 | 7 | 161 |
| Afghanistan | 3.44 | 8 | 180 |
Globally, Asian country Singapore remains the best performer in fixed broadband performance with 284.05 Mbps download speed. Hong Kong was at 2nd with 271.29 Mbps speed. South American nation Chile stood third with 270.19 Mbps download speed.
Check out: How to Get Wifi Internet Connection at Home in Nepal?
Nepal leaves more to desire from mobile broadband performance
Unfortunately, the encouraging performance in fiber broadband doesn’t quite translate to mobile speeds for Nepal. As the data highlights, Nepal’s download speed in April 2024 was a paltry 14.08 Mbps and ranked at 6th in SAAR and 131th globally. India though came atop with 104.15 Mbps download speed while it also improved the global ranking climbing to 15th. The country owes strong global performance to the launch of 5G connectivity and enhanced 4G network by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. With 5G, the download speed improves in leaps and bounds and so do the rankings. Also see: The State of 4G Speed in Nepal and its Influencing Factors
Maldives also registers itself strongly with 88.35 Mbps download speed resting at second among SAARC. The island country stands at 32nd globally in fixed broadband speed. Likewise, Bangladesh continues to impress in cellular internet with 23.83 Mbps download speed and perched at 4th. Among the provided data, Ookla recorded a 6.14 Mbps download speed for Afghanistan which still is an improvement from its previous performances which were even below 3 Mbps at some point. There was no data for Bhutan this time.
| Countries | Speed (Mbps) | Rank in SAARC | Global Rank |
| India | 104.15 | 1 | 15 |
| Maldives | 88.35 | 2 | 32 |
| Bangladesh | 23.83 | 3 | 110 |
| Pakistan | 18.56 | 4 | 121 |
| Sri Lanka | 18.53 | 5 | 122 |
| Nepal | 14.08 Mbps | 6 | 131 |
| Afghanistan | 6.14 | 7 | 141 |
| Bhutan | – | 8 | NA |
On the other hand, the mobile broadband had 14.08 Mbps for download and 9.60 Mbps upload speed. The latency was recorded at 23 ms. To get the improvement on this front, Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Ncell should improve the quality of service of their 4G networks. Just like Ntc, Ncell now employs carrier aggregation (CA) on its 4G LTE network so that could bring some improvement in speeds in the coming months.
Globally, Qatar topped the leaderboard in mobile broadband performance ranking with 314.78 Mbps download speed. United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued its position at second with 278.88 Mbps while Kuwait also maintained itself at third with 228.96 Mbps confirming Asian dominance in broadband performance globally.
Check out: How to check internet speed on your PC or mobile?
How much speed do you get on your mobile and home WiFi broadband connection? Are you satisfied or want improvement? You can share in the comments below.
