Vietnam's mobile internet rises 15 places in world rankings

The January Internet rankings released by Ookla, the company behind the Speedtest tool, show that mobile Internet speeds in Vietnam increased by 54%, from 86.96 Mbps in December 2024 to 134.19 Mbps. This is the highest level in Vietnam according to Ookla statistics, nearly double that of September 2024.

This result brings Vietnam's ranking in the mobile broadband category to 22nd, after France and Finland, and about 3 Mbps behind the top 20.

Not only Vietnam, the average speed of mobile Internet in the world also fluctuated strongly, with an increase of more than 40%, from 62.79 to 91.24 Mbps. Ookla has not explained this unusual change, but displayed the status line "updated according to new chipset", indicating that the tool may have adjusted the calculation method.

In addition to Vietnam, some other countries also witnessed strong increases such as Malaysia rising 9 places to 11th in the world, Brazil rising 33 places to 6th, Nigeria rising 23 places, while some markets such as Switzerland and Sweden fell 11 and 13 places respectively.

The commercialization and increasing popularity of 5G networks are believed to be the reason for the sharp increase in Internet speed in Vietnam. Since September 2024, when the new generation of mobile connections began to be deployed, the Internet speed chart has shown signs of progress after many years of stagnation. ReplyVnExpressIn October 2024, after Viettel's 5G network launched, an Ookla representative said that 5G in Vietnam reached an average of more than 300 Mbps, nearly 6 times the average speed of 4G in the country.

Up to now, network operators have continuously increased the number of users as well as optimized infrastructure. VNPT's participation in the 5G network on the 3,700-3,800 MHz band in December also theoretically helped to significantly increase network speed. According to the test at that time, Vinaphone's 5G speed reached 1.5-1.9 Gbps many times, 20 times higher than the 4G network.

According to Ookla statistics, the country with the highest mobile Internet speed is the UAE with 545.94 Mbps, and fixed Internet is Singapore with 336.45 Mbps.

Meanwhile, according to statistics from Vietnam's i-Speed ​​tool, mobile Internet speed increased but not dramatically, around 70 Mbps. Representatives of both sides have not commented on this difference. However, the results also show that the two network operators deploying 5G have download speeds of 70-76 Mbps, while MobiFone is around 43 Mbps.

As of early February, Viettel announced that it had about 5.5 million 5G network users, while Vinaphone said it had about 3 million users. Both have 5G stations present in 63 provinces and cities, but most are concentrated in central, densely populated areas.

On March 1, the Prime Minister issued Directive 05 on solutions to promote economic growth, stating that economic growth must rely on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, high-quality human resources, and increased labor productivity. "The Ministry of Science and Technology promotes the commercialization of 5G, researches 6G technology; develops telecommunications satellites and upgrades the national telecommunications backbone infrastructure. Promotes investment and development of high-speed fixed broadband infrastructure," the directive stated.

Resolution No. 193 of the National Assembly on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, issued on February 19, mentioned financial support for businesses to quickly deploy 5G. Telecommunications businesses that quickly deploy 5G infrastructure and have at least 20,000 transmission stations accepted and put into use from the effective date of the Resolution to December 31, 2025 will be supported with 15% of the equipment costs for the stations.