Desperately seeking speedy internet: Pakistan ranks 172 globally in download speed

The large, dark circles show regions where download speeds are highest. Screengrab from netindex.com

Looking for fast internet in Pakistan? Well, you may just have to travel a little further afield than you think.

According to a recent report by Net Index, Goth Fazal, a little outside of the Sindh city of Nawabshah and near the Pakistan-India border, boasts the fastest download speeds in Pakistan, edging out major cities such as Lahore and Karachi on the list.

Net Index is owned by Ookla, a broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications company.

According to the data, which was compiled from 1,535 unique IPs in the region, Goth Fazal offers download speed of 2.96 Megabits per second (Mbps), while the national average is 2.31 Mbps, which puts Pakistan at a ranking of 172 out of 186 internationally.

It must be noted though that IPs do not always correspond with their exact location in Pakistan.

Pakistan though fares better than some countries in terms of average internet speeds including Egypt, Cuba, Afghanistan and Equatorial Guinea. However, it pales in comparison to regional countries like India, ranked 130, and Bangladesh, ranked 166.

The top three countries are Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, who boast download speeds of 58.57 Mbps, 40.43 Mbps and 37.52 Mbps respectively.

In the uploading speed index there was better news as Pakistan fares slightly better with a rank of 162 and an average upload speed of 1.10 Mbps.

For the quality index, there was insufficient data and Pakistan, among many other countries, was not included in the list.

Methodology

The report is compiled from millions of internet speed tests and for Pakistan alone, tests from 1,812,486 unique IPs were taken.

Internet users

During his keynote address at Connect Asia Pacific Summit 2013 in Bangkok earlier this month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure comprises 9.8 million internet users, 15.7 million mobile internet users and 2.8 million broadband subscribers.

He also spoke of the government’s commitment to accelerate digitisation of the country. This in turn would enable socio-economic development, create a knowledge-based economy and promote economic growth, he said.