KARACHI: Pakistan has one of the slowest internet in the world despite improvement in average mobile and fixed broadband speeds in October, according to global speed test data.

Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for October showed that for fixed broadband — wired connections to your homes or offices — Pakistan ranked 141 out of 158 nations with a median speed of 15.6mbps.

In terms of mobile data, the country ranked 100 out of 111 countries with a median speed of 20.61mbps.

Compared to the previous month, Pakistan maintained the same ranking for mobile data speed, but improved by two points — from 143 to 141 — for fixed broadband.

In September, the average speed for fixed broadband and mobile data was 15.58mbps and 20.02mbps, respectively.

Karachi and Lahore, the two biggest cities in Pakistan, had the fastest internet speeds in the entire country.

Lahore stood at 138 among 158 cities worldwide, with a median mobile data speed of 24.38mbps. Karachi was 144th with 20.97mbps. Karachi was 171 among 205 cities for fixed broadband with a median speed of 19.28mbps. Lahore was at 179 with 15.98mbps.

Overall, the country with the fastest mobile data was the United Arab Emirates (428.53mbps) and for fixed broadband, Singapore (316.99mbps).

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The fastest city for mobile data was Abu Dhabi and for fixed broadband, Valparaíso, Chile.

For the last few months, users across Pakistan have experienced sluggish speeds, difficulty downloading media on WhatsApp, and intermittent connectivity issues.

The frequent internet disruptions were coupled with limited access to virtual private networks used by many Pakistanis to access X, among other restricted websites. Since July, the country has improved its ranking for fixed broadband speed from 145 to 141 and mobile data from 101 to 100.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024