our poor data speeds: Jio the double edged sword

--===============3614384850521766706==
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="001a114a81c0d9f25105516edbaf"

--001a114a81c0d9f25105516edbaf
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

india-gii has existed for almost 25 years now, and in this time one
complaint has remained....
Arun Mehta
____
4G download speed in India three times below global average

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/59043822.cms
the average download speed =E2=80=94 at 5.1Mbps =E2=80=94 is less than a th=
ird of the
global average and only marginally higher than the global 3G speed of 4.4
Mbps. And guess what? Average 3G download speeds across the country are
less than 1 Mbps, which could go down to as low as 10 Kbps for some 3G
subscribers, according to the telecom regulator.

According to a report by OpenSignal, download speeds in India have dropped
more than one megabit per second in the last six months as traffic has
surged, mainly on the back of Reliance Jio Infocomm=E2=80=99s free services=
. Rivals
such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have also slashed prices
and offered freebies, further adding to demand for data services.
OpenSignal is a London-headquartered company that specialises in wireless
coverage mapping.

In fact, India =E2=80=94 ranked 74th=E2=80=94 came below the likes of Pakis=
tan and Sri
Lanka and just ahead of Costa Rica in terms of speed. Singapore scored the
highest in 4G speed while South Korea scored highest in 4G availability.
The global average 4G download speed was 16.2 Mbps.
...
India had 217.95 million data subscribers at the end of 2016 while average
data usage has risen from 236 MB a month in September to 884 MB in December
2016, Trai data showed. The regulator had raised the minimum level of
broadband download speed to 2 Mbps on January 1, 2015, from 512 kbps
earlier.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio has helped India make a big leap in terms of
global 4G availability rankings, with users able to find a signal 81.6% of
the time in the first quarter ended March, up from 71.6% in the third
quarter of 2016. Jio=E2=80=99s 4G availability was at more than 90%, while =
the
other major operators all fell below 60% in the tests conducted by
OpenSignal. Still, the score was high enough to rank India at 15 among 75
countries in the State of LTE report.

=E2=80=9CMost of that improvement can be attributed to a single operator: R=
eliance
Jio,=E2=80=9D OpenSignal said. =E2=80=9CIndia shot up our LTE availability =
rankings,
reflecting a rare instance in which a single operator can have an outsized
impact on a mobile market in just a short time.=E2=80=9D

However, OpenSignal termed Jio=E2=80=99s success as =E2=80=9Ca double-edged=
 sword=E2=80=9D, saying
that the onslaught of data usage which Jio=E2=80=99s launch generated has t=
axed its
network capacity, which has driven down 4G speeds.

Analysts said the mobile data explosion driven by the Jio launch and
freebies or promotional offers by incumbent telcos, is putting huge
pressure on mobile network infrastructure, especially in urban areas,
leading to a capacity crunch which results in low speeds. Typically, 10% of
sites account for 50 % of data traffic.

According to Motilal Oswal analysts, circle-wise data indicates that 18-20%
of overall consumption happens in major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai
against 10% in so-called C circles. Thus, despite pan-India data capacity
at 8-10x consumption, telcos need to add capacity in top-tier cities.

OpenSignal said it collected information from consumer smartphones and
under normal usage conditions compared with drive-test data, which attempts
to simulate what a user might experience by using the same devices to
measure network performance in a small number of locations.

--001a114a81c0d9f25105516edbaf
Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<div dir=3D"ltr">india-gii has existed for almost 25 years now, and in this=
 time one complaint has remained....<br>Arun Mehta<br>____<br>4G download s=
peed in India three times below global average<br><br><a href=3D"http://eco=
nomictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/59043822.cms">http://economictimes.in=
diatimes.com/articleshow/59043822.cms</a><br>the average download speed =E2=
=80=94 at 5.1Mbps =E2=80=94 is less than a third of the global average and =
only marginally higher than the global 3G speed of 4.4 Mbps. And guess what=
? Average 3G download speeds across the country are less than 1 Mbps, which=
 could go down to as low as 10 Kbps for some 3G subscribers, according to t=
he telecom regulator.<br><br>According to a report by OpenSignal, download =
speeds in India have dropped more than one megabit per second in the last s=
ix months as traffic has surged, mainly on the back of Reliance Jio Infocom=
m=E2=80=99s free services. Rivals such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea =
Cellular have also slashed prices and offered freebies, further adding to d=
emand for data services. OpenSignal is a London-headquartered company that =
specialises in wireless coverage mapping.<br><br>In fact, India =E2=80=94 r=
anked 74th=E2=80=94 came below the likes of Pakistan and Sri Lanka and just=
 ahead of Costa Rica in terms of speed. Singapore scored the highest in 4G =
speed while South Korea scored highest in 4G availability. The global avera=
ge 4G download speed was 16.2 Mbps.<br>...<br>India had 217.95 million data=
 subscribers at the end of 2016 while average data usage has risen from 236=
 MB a month in September to 884 MB in December 2016, Trai data showed. The =
regulator had raised the minimum level of broadband download speed to 2 Mbp=
s on January 1, 2015, from 512 kbps earlier.<br><br>The Mukesh Ambani-owned=
 Jio has helped India make a big leap in terms of global 4G availability ra=
nkings, with users able to find a signal 81.6% of the time in the first qua=
rter ended March, up from 71.6% in the third quarter of 2016. Jio=E2=80=99s=
 4G availability was at more than 90%, while the other major operators all =
fell below 60% in the tests conducted by OpenSignal. Still, the score was h=
igh enough to rank India at 15 among 75 countries in the State of LTE repor=
t.<br><br>=E2=80=9CMost of that improvement can be attributed to a single o=
perator: Reliance Jio,=E2=80=9D OpenSignal said. =E2=80=9CIndia shot up our=
 LTE availability rankings, reflecting a rare instance in which a single op=
erator can have an outsized impact on a mobile market in just a short time.=
=E2=80=9D<br><br>However, OpenSignal termed Jio=E2=80=99s success as =E2=80=
=9Ca double-edged sword=E2=80=9D, saying that the onslaught of data usage w=
hich Jio=E2=80=99s launch generated has taxed its network capacity, which h=
as driven down 4G speeds.<br><br>Analysts said the mobile data explosion dr=
iven by the Jio launch and freebies or promotional offers by incumbent telc=
os, is putting huge pressure on mobile network infrastructure, especially i=
n urban areas, leading to a capacity crunch which results in low speeds. Ty=
pically, 10% of sites account for 50 % of data traffic.<br><br>According to=
 Motilal Oswal analysts, circle-wise data indicates that 18-20% of overall =
consumption happens in major cities such as Delhi and Mumbai against 10% in=
 so-called C circles. Thus, despite pan-India data capacity at 8-10x consum=
ption, telcos need to add capacity in top-tier cities.<br><br>OpenSignal sa=
id it collected information from consumer smartphones and under normal usag=
e conditions compared with drive-test data, which attempts to simulate what=
 a user might experience by using the same devices to measure network perfo=
rmance in a small number of locations.</div>

--001a114a81c0d9f25105516edbaf--


--===============3614384850521766706==
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: inline

X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KSW5kaWEtZ2lp
IG1haWxpbmcgbGlzdApJbmRpYS1naWlAbGlzdHMuaW5kaWEtZ2lpLm9yZwpodHRwczovL2xpc3Rz
LmluZGlhLWdpaS5vcmcvbWFpbG1hbi9saXN0aW5mby9pbmRpYS1naWkK

--===============3614384850521766706==--