Nigeria’s internet download speed ranks one of slowest in the world

Nigeria’s internet download speed has gone from bad to worse as a report from the UK-based price comparison website, Cable, revealed that the country’s internet download speed is one of the slowest in the world. According to the report, Nigeria’s internet download speed is ranked 176th of 207 countries measured globally.

The report further shows that it takes an average of over 7 hours (7:18) to download an HD movie of 5GB in Nigeria. This means that Nigeria’s internet download speed has deteriorated in the past two years from 95th in 2017 to 176th in 2019.

Top ten countries: Taiwan has the fastest internet download speed in the world. In Taiwan, an HD movie of 5GB takes 8:02 minutes to download.

According to the report, the economy of Taiwan relies heavily on digital infrastructure, while the country itself occupies a relatively small space compared to many others. Taiwan was ranked 3rd in 2017 and moved first in 2019.

It was however revealed that smaller countries have the advantage of the relative ease of delivering the high-speed connection. Other countries in the top ten fastest internet download speed for an HD movie of 5GB include:

• 1st Taiwan     – 8.02 minutes
• 2nd Singapore – 9.38 minutes
• 3rd Jersey       – 10.07 minutes
• 4th Sweden     – 12.22 minutes
• 5th Denmark   – 13.53 minutes
• 6th Japan        – 15.58 minutes
• 7th Luxembourg – 16.23 minutes
• 8th Netherlands – 16.59 minutes
• 9th Switzerland  – 17.34 minutes
• 10th Norway      – 17.45 minutes

Top 10 slowest internet download speed: Yemen records the slowest internet mobile download in the world. It takes an average of 30 hours for internet users in Yemen to download an HD movie of 5GB. Other countries in the top ten slowest internet download speed for an HD movie of 5GB include:

• 198th Djibouti          – 12.53 hours
• 199th São Tomé and Príncipe – 13.08 hours
• 200th Somalia         – 13.17 hours
• 201st Ethiopia         – 14.10 hours
• 202nd Niger            – 16.05 hours
• 203rd Turkmenistan – 16:10 hours
• 204th Mauritania     – 19:22 hours
• 205th Equatorial Guinea – 22:22 hours
• 206th DR of Timor-Leste – 25:24 hours
• 207th Yemen            – 30:01 hours

Further Breakdown: According to the report, last year, the five fastest countries that had download speeds around 88 times faster than the five slowest and that gap is further widening. The latest statistics suggest that the top five are 125 times faster than the five slowest. Taiwan tops the table at 85.02Mbps, compared to Yemen, which is 224 times slower at just 0.38Mbps.

• As already presented, downloading an HD movie of 5GB in size would take eight minutes and two seconds at the average speed experienced in table-topper Taiwan, while it would take over 30 hours in last-placed Yemen.
• 37 of the top 50 fastest-performing countries are located in Europe, with ten in Asia & Pacific, two in North America, and just one in Africa.
• By contrast, 25 of the 50 slowest-performing countries are located in Africa, 12 in the Arab States with ten in Asia & Pacific, and three in South/Latin America.

[READ ASLO: A quick look at how Nigerians used the POS in 2018]

Some downsides: Slow internet speed can affect both individuals and businesses and result in I.T infrastructural decay in the country.

• NCC report shows about 119.5 users are subscribed to mobile internet subscribers in Nigeria.
• According to a report by Financial Times, poor internet connections are costing the UK economy up to £11bn a year, with 42 percent of small to medium-sized businesses reporting problems with connectivity.
• Slow internet access puts individuals and businesses at great disadvantage positions.
• Despite the tremendous potential and impact of the Internet, Nigerians and their businesses are still made bear the cost and curse at the moment.

Bottom line: An earlier report shows that Nigerian telecom companies supposedly offer some of the cheapest mobile data subscription rates in Africa. Also, it has been revealed that there is a growing broadband penetration in Nigeria. Despite having five mobile internet data providers (MTN, Glo, 9mobile, Airtel and Visafone), internet downloads speed in Nigeria still ranks among the slowest in the world.

The rising population and internet users in the country can not be ruled out as factors contributing to this, as the report shows countries with lower populations enjoy faster internet.

However, this calls for telecoms service providers in Nigeria to deliver improved services to serve the teeming population, while its regulator (the NCC) needs to be more proactive in ensuring consumers get value for money.

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