For the Best Mobile Video Performance, Head to the Czech Republic
For years now, South Korea has had the fastest internet speeds for both desktop and mobile connections, so it stands to reason that that country would have the best mobile video performance, right? No, it's not even in the top ten.
According to the inaugural State of Mobile Video Report created by London-based mobile network measurement specialist Open Signal, the best mobile video performance is found in the Czech Republic. It turns out that powerful mobile connectivity doesn't automatically lead to a strong mobile video experience.
"The Czech Republic has a lot of things going for it. It has one the highest levels of 4G availability in the world, meaning customers are much more likely to receive a consistent 4G connection when streaming video (rather than be shunted down to 3G)," explains Open Signal CEO Brendan Gill. "The country's overall download speeds aren't the fastest in the world, but at 28.8 Mbps, its average speeds are certainly fast enough to support almost every video resolution. But there are likely more subtle factors at play, such as low latency and connection resiliency, that help boost the overall video experience."
As for South Korea, it has the fastest download speeds, yes, but achieving a fast video load time depends on having a responsive network experience, Gill says. And to avoid stalling, having consistent speed is more important than having high peak speeds.
Open Signal tested conditions in 69 counties and ranked them. No country got an Excellent rating, which Gill predicts won't happen until 5G brings lower latency. Europe had 8 countries in the top 10, while countries in the Americas did poorly The U.S. ranked 59 out of 69.
"In the U.S., operator policies are clearly a factor in the country's lower score," Gill says. "All the major operators embraced unlimited data plans last year, but they all placed restrictions on many of their plans to help manage the deluge of traffic that accompanies high video consumption. Many U.S. customers on unlimited plans are limited in the bandwidth their video connections have available, which can impact the speed at which videos load and make videos which exceed this threshold more susceptible to experiencing stalling."
Visit Open Signal to read the full report (no registration required).
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