U.S. Ranks 55th in LTE Download Speeds

Think the U.S. dominates the rest of the world when information technology comes to LTE speeds? Think again.

According to a new report from wireless testing house OpenSignal, U.South. LTE networks, while reliable and widely available, "can't match the speed offered by nigh of the earth'south 4G operators." Meanwhile, smaller countries — such as New Zealand and Romania — have congenital 4G networks of "breathtaking quickness but with limited availability," OpenSignal said in its latest Country of LTE report, released Th.

So, which countries have the best LTE service? South korea and Singapore, according to OpenSignal. Both have "gear up themselves apart from the master body of global operators, providing both superior coverage and speed."

In Singapore, the country with the fastest LTE, average download speeds accept reached an impressive 37Mbps. The U.Southward. ranks 55th, with average download speeds of just 10Mbps.

When information technology comes to LTE availability, Republic of korea takes the crown, offering its 4G customers an LTE signal 97 per centum of the time. And while the U.S. may not have the fastest LTE, it shines in terms of coverage. The U.Southward. is at present office of an elite group of merely eight countries that tin provide an LTE bespeak more than than 80 percent of the fourth dimension.

"That the U.Southward. achieved this feat is all the more impressive in light of its geography," OpenSignal said. "Information technology's much easier (and cheaper) to build a highly available network in a more densely packed country similar South korea or in a city-state similar Singapore than in a country spread across a continent."

Overall, OpenSignal said at that place is "a lot of good to report" virtually the current state of LTE effectually the world.

"A year ago a 20Mbps mobile network was a very rare thing, simply considering of new network upgrades and new LTE-Avant-garde technology, networks averaging download speeds of 20Mbps or more are now becoming quite mutual around the globe," the company said. The average LTE speed globally is now 13.5Mbps, up virtually 1Mbps since OpenSignal'southward concluding study just four months ago.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.

About Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag'due south skilful on fettle and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nearly 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fitness trackers, centre rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength preparation machines, treadmills, and more. Angela as well tests smart habitation devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, only to proper noun a few.