According to the Global State of Mobile Networks report released by Open Signal, mobile networks in South Africa offer the fastest internet speeds across the continent. Open Signal is a company which breaks down performance of mobile networks in 87 countries, based on overall speeds – the report defines overall speed “as the average mobile data connection a user experiences based on both the speeds and availability of a country’s 3G and 4G networks.”
Globally, South Korea leads with typical mobile data download connection of 37.5 megabits per second (Mbps), compared to the fastest mobile connections on the continent at just below 10 Mbps.
Open Signal’s report also tracks the amount of time users spend on WiFi and, in 38 of the countries analyzed, it found smartphone users spent more time connected to WiFi than to mobile networks.
My assumption is that most people are spending more time on Wi-Fi due to costly mobile data charges. However, the report does elaborate that people spending more time on Wi-Fi as opposed to Mobile internet connection, does not mean that the Wi-Fi connection is reliable.
Compared to the rest of the world, the report found that a lower percentage of users accessed the internet via WiFi, in developing countries. Not necessarily because mobile networks offer faster connections but likely because of “less robust broadband infrastructure.”
Related: Tazania offers the cheapest mobile data in Africa.
