Keeping up with the latest communication technology has placed the United States at the forefront of the latest products and services when compared to other countries around the world. However, the current trend of rapid adoption of new standards and massive investments from governments and enterprises has left the US lacking in some sectors. The latest research shows that the US does not have the fastest LTE infrastructure in the world and interestingly is not even in the top three, despite having the most developed LTE infrastructure in the world. Currently the US is ranked eight in speed while seven other countries have faster LTE networks according to OpenSignal‘s report on 4G speeds from around the world. Sweden topped the ranking with average download speeds of 22.1 Mbps. The country also holds the title of being the first country to launch a 4G network. U.K. based OpenSignal ranked Hong Kong second while Denmark, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Germany came in consecutive spots in terms of LTE network speeds. Even though the US was the second country int he world to launch LTE networks, it came in a disappointing eight thanks to average download speeds of 22.1 Mbps.
The US probably got lower points on network-testing firm OpenSignal’s study because of wireless providers in the US utilizing specific configurations. Globally most carriers are using the 40 MHz spectrum run their LTE networks. In the US providers have to deal with smaller spectrum ranges and major company’s like Verizon and AT&T ended up using the 20 MHz to laucnh their 4G network. Sprint and MetroPCS have it even worse with 10 MHz which means that since they are using only 25% of the spectrum they can deliver 25% of the bandwidth.
OpenSignal has office in the British capital and Laguna Hills, California where it gathers data through crowdsourcing efforts. Millions of users download the company’s Android app to their smartphone which records data and sends back to OpenSignal. OpenSignal does have competitors like Seattle based RootMetrics which also provides professional testing.
OpenSignal does not do the professional testing but both company’s have developed enough reach where they can show very detailed maps of cellular networks. Both firms cover many different cities around the world and OpenSignal has recently added Wi-Fi testing to its services.
The OpenSignal reports most important aspect may not be the actual speeds of networks but the expansion of LTE around the world. The penetration of the technology globally was tracked by OpenSignal in 62 countries
Source: GigaOm
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