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Singapore tops 4G speeds worldwide, but falls short on network availability: Report

SINGAPORE — While the Republic has the fastest 4G mobile internet service speed in the world, it falls short on 4G availability, said a report by UK-based wireless technology company OpenSignal.

SINGAPORE — While the Republic has the fastest 4G mobile internet service speed in the world, it falls short on 4G availability, said a report by UK-based wireless technology company OpenSignal.

With an average speed of 44.31 megabits per second (Mbps), Singapore managed to edge out South Korea to claim the top spot for the first time, after average 4G speeds in South Korea fell from 45.8 Mbps to 40 Mbps, said the report on Tuesday (Feb 20). Previously, both nations were tied at first position.

Netherlands and Norway were ranked second (42.12 Mbps) and third (40.44 Mbps) respectively. South Korea dropped to the fourth place.

"While (South Korea's) speed still ranks among the fastest in the world, it may be an indication that South Korea's vaunted LTE-Advanced networks may be showing their first signs of capacity constraints," noted OpenSignal.

The report titled “The State of LTE” added that top 4G speeds have plateaued at around 45 Mbps, "and the Holy Grail of 50 Mbps remains just as elusive".

While top-line speeds may be stagnant, 4G availability among the top countries is steadily rising, it noted. 

“Consumers in five countries had access to an LTE connection more than 90 per cent of the time — up from a mere two countries just three months ago," OpenSignal noted. The five countries are South Korea, Japan, Norway, Hong Kong and the US.

Despite Singapore having the fastest 4G speed in the world, 4G availability in the city state was found to be lacking. It finished in 19th position, lagging behind Asian countries like Hong Kong, Thailand and India.

Rather than measuring geographic coverage, OpenSignal's 4G availability metric tracks the proportion of time users have access to a particular 4G network.

Countries in the region, including Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia fared poorly in terms of 4G speed, at 14.84Mbps, 9.6Mbps, 9.49Mbps and 8.92Mbps respectively.

OpenSignal’s latest global report was published after analysing 50 billion measurements collected in the fourth quarter of 2017 to compare 4G performance in 88 countries.

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