A global report published by OpenSignal has stated Pakistan as having an overall average connectivity of 3G and 4G networks at 3.33Mbps, with a network availability 63.47 per cent.

— Courtesy: OpenSignal

In the report, OpenSignal, a wireless network mapping company, outlines the mobile data performance of 95 different countries, including Pakistan.

Titled 'Global State of Mobile Networks', the report ranks the countries in four different categories; availability of 3G and 4G networks, overall speed provided, speed vs. availability and time spent connected to WiFi.

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Overall speed

Defined as the average mobile data connection available to a user, this category measured the overall speed experienced over networks.

South Korea came in at the top with an overall speed of 41.34 Mbps. In comparison, Pakistan clocked in just below Togo with an overall speed of 3.33Mbps.

Availability of mobile networks

The criteria for this category was to see what percentage of the time users could connect to a 3G signal or better. According to the report, "A 3G or better signal is a useful benchmark since consumers can accomplish most basic smartphone tasks on a 3G connection."

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Once again South Korea stands at the top with a network availability of 98.54pc, with Japan coming in second at 95.52pc and Israel coming in third at 95.23pc.

Pakistan, however ranked relatively lower on the index, with a network availability metric of 63.47pc, as compared to Bangladesh with a network availability of 68.71pc.

Speed vs. availability

In an index where speed was plotted against availability, Pakistan was a part of those countries still in the early stages of their LTE developments and completion of 3G network coverage. Countries such as India, Iran and Nepal were also also included in this group.

Time spent on WiFi

In an index which measured user preference of WiFi over mobile data, Netherlands was the clear winner at 70.05pc, with China coming in second at 63.16pc. Pakistan, on the other hand, came in at 34.12pc, with Ethiopia being the last.

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OpenSignal, thanks to the inclusion of the metrics stated above, has been able to publish this report due to this new data collection methodology. According to their report they, "examined 12.3 billion measurements taken by 822,556 OpenSignal users in an 84 day period".

This new report marks a significant milestone as previous ones only took 4G into account, a service that has not yet been launched in most countries.