SE Asia - Download speeds

Chapter 1 Key findings	Chapter 4 Data usage
Chapter 2 Consistent quality	Chapter 5 Coverage
Chapter 3 Download speeds

Malaysia has a distinct lead over the other countries in this report, with average download speeds that topped 11 Mbps. Even though Malaysia doesn’t appear to have a clear advantage in the amount of time spent on 4G compared to 3G, the speed difference is still significant, indicating that where the LTE network provides coverage, it works well. When comparing only 4G networks, Malaysia’s advantage over other countries grows, with an average download speed of nearly 14 Mbps.

Subscribers in Indonesia and the Philippines saw nearly-identical download speeds just above 8 Mbps, putting the two countries in a virtual tie for download speed. When comparing only 4G speeds, the Philippines ekes out a small lead, but since Filipino mobile users spend more time on 3G than anyone else, the average is diminished slightly.

Thailand has both the slowest 3G and slowest 4G network; but while the average speeds may appear poor, the network is at least consistent, and nonetheless provides sufficient capacity for most subscribers to use the apps and services they value the most.

SE Asia Download Speed by Country

Malaysia

Within Malaysia, Celcom had the fastest network, with average download speeds of nearly 15 Mbps. Maxis was in a close second place, and its average download speed of 13.3 Mbps is nearly indistinguishable from that of Celcom.

There’s more of a drop from second to third place, as DiGi’s subscribers experienced an average download speed of 9.6 Mbps. U Mobile was in last place with an average of just 4.3 Mbps, much closer to Tutela’s threshold of the minimum download speed necessary for an excellent connection.

Indonesia

Telkomsel leads all operators in average download speed for Indonesia, and was the only operator to score an average in the double digits. XL, Smartfren, and Indosat Ooredoo subscribers all saw similar average download speeds of around 6 Mbps, comfortably in excess of Tutela’s excellent quality threshold.

3 was the outlier with its last-place finish; the 4.7 Mbps average was dragged down by a greater reliance than other operators on 3G rather than 4G; that said, 3 had the slowest network on both connection technologies.

Philippines

Customers in the Philippines only have two wireless networks to choose from, and both provide an adequate average download speed, although Smart has a clear edge over Globe.

The average download speed for the Philippines overall is extremely similar to that for Indonesia, but with a different distribution of records. While customers in Indonesia have the choice between a fast network, a slow network, and a series of average networks, customers in the Philippines have a choice of two networks barely separated by 2 Mbps for download speed.

Thailand

TrueMove leads Thailand’s four operators in download speed, with customers recording an average throughput of 7.5 Mbps over combined 3G and 4G connections. However, there wasn’t a significant gap in performance between TrueMove and the competition: TOT was in second with 6.3 Mbps, DTAC was third with 6.0 Mbps, and AIS recorded an average of 4.7 Mbps.

While there’s a difference of less than 3 Mbps between first-place TrueMove and last-place AIS, there is an appreciable gap in consistent quality between TrueMove and AIS. An average download speed of 4.7 Mbps put AIS’s users much closer to the consistent quality threshold than those of other operators, and the difference is visible in the consistent quality scores.

Southeast Asia

Malaysia

Indonesia

Philippines

Thailand