Jio 5G network records top median speed of about 600 mbps, Airtel 516 mbps: Ookla

Telecom major Jio's 5G network has shown top median download speed of close to 600 megabit per second, while Bharti Airtel's network has posted top speed of about 516 mbps, broadband speed research firm Ookla said in a report on Tuesday.

The report, based on the data collected from Speedtest Intelligence, showed 5G speed variation between low double-digits (16.27 Mbps) to 809.94 Mbps, which the firm said is indication of ongoing network calibration for the 5G service.

While the 5G services were officially launched on October 1, Ookla has taken measurements since June 2022.

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"In Delhi, Airtel reached nearly 200 Mbps median download speed at 197.98 Mbps while Jio almost broke 600 Mbps (598.58 Mbps) in June 2022," the report said.

This means a two-hour high definition movie which is generally around 6 GB file size can be downloaded in 1 minute 25 seconds and a 4K movie in about 3 minutes at a top speed of 600 mbps.

Bharti Airtel has started rolling out 5G services in eight cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi. Jio has started beta trials in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi.

Airtel's network showed top median speed of 516.57 mbps in Varanasi.

In Kolkata, operators' median download speeds varied the most since June 2022 -- Airtel's median download speed was 33.83 Mbps compared to Jio's 482.02 Mbps.

In Mumbai, Airtel reached 271.07 Mbps median download speed as against Jio's 515.38 Mbps.

In Varanasi, Jio and Airtel achieved closer parity, with Airtel achieving a 5G median download speed at 516.57 Mbps while Jio's network recorded median download speed of 485.22 Mbps since June 2022.

The 5G services will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years -- Jio promises to do that by December 2023 and Bharti Airtel by March 2024.

According to the Speedtest Global Index, India ranked 117th in the world for mobile download speed at 13.52 Mbps in August 2022.

The Ookla report said the new 5G results show that 5G speeds are far superior than India's existing network.

It added that there is a need to approach these early results with caution, and 5G devices are already showing they can achieve much faster speeds, at least under artificial controlled testing circumstances.

Among Speedtest users, Jio recorded the largest increase in 5G-capable devices (67.4 per cent), followed by Airtel (61.6 per cent), and Vi India (56 per cent), the report said.