According to the Speedtest Global Index results, mobile internet speed in Qatar was the fastest in the world in November 2022. In Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index Rankings report, Qatar was ranked first in the world in terms of mobile internet speed in November 2022 showing an upwards move for the country. The median download speed in Qatar was 176.18 Mbps while the upload speed was 25.13 Mbps in November last year.
Qatar, which has one of the highest internet penetrations in the world, has improved its performance by two positions in the global ranking index. “Ahead of hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar rocketed to first place on the Speedtest Global Index with a median download speed of 176.18 Mbps in November 2022 from 98.10 Mbps in November 2021,” noted Ookla in its report.
“Next on the list was the UAE at 139.41 Mbps, which had the fastest median download speed in November 2021. Notably, all 10 countries on our November 2022 list had median mobile download speeds greater than 100 Mbps. New to our 2022 list Denmark (113.44 Mbps), Macau (SAR) (106.38 Mbps), and Brunei (102.36 Mbps) replaced Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, and Kuwait from our 2021 list,” it added.
Internet connectivity continues to speed ahead for people around the world, especially as countries prioritise and improve mobile and fixed broadband networks. The Speedtest Global Index, tracks countries’ internet speeds and the overall global median internet speeds.
The Ookla Speed Test Index compares Internet speed data from around the world on a monthly basis. Data for the Index comes from the hundreds of millions of tests taken by real people using Speedtest every month.
A previous report by Ookla noted that comparing mobile network performance during the first two weeks of the FIFA World Cup to that of other major sporting events in the region and further afield shows just how impressive 5G network performance has been so far, given the number of attendees. While not the fastest sporting event on record, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 ranks highly, well ahead of events such as the French Open and Wimbledon.
Using Speedtest Intelligence data to analyse network performance across Qatar’s World Cup stadiums for both Ooredoo and Vodafone combined, we see that Al Janoub Stadium recorded the fastest median 5G download performance at 757.77 Mbps, and that all World Cup stadiums recorded median 5G speeds over 400 Mbps. Of the most popular fan sites, the Ras Bufontas and Airport Free Zone recorded the highest 5G performance.
Fans visiting Qatar for the World Cup have benefitted from the offer of local SIMs from national mobile operators Ooredoo and Vodafone, which included free data. Ooredoo SIMs include 2022 MB of data for free, valid for 3 days, while Vodafone customers have access to 3GB of data for free, valid across 2 days.
Encouraging visitors to utilise local SIMs has helped provide superior network performance for fans at the World Cup.
In addition, it’s clear that the network enhancements made by Ooredoo and Vodafone, and their live monitoring and optimisation of network performance using crowdsourced data, has helped boost overall network performance at the event, despite the deluge of fans and resultant data traffic.
