In September 2021, UK telecoms provider, Cable, published the average broadband Internet download speeds for over 200 countries worldwide. The results for 30 Caribbean countries were included, which we discuss.
On 14 September 2021, United Kingdom triple play telecoms service provider, Cable, published the results of a global broadband speed assessment, which featured 224 countries, including 30 from the Caribbean/Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region. The download speeds tests were recorded over a 12-month period, ending 30 June 2021, and currently are the most comprehensive set of results that are publicly available.
Methodology
Similar to previous years, and over a period of 12 months up to 30 June 2021, broadband speed test results were collected from a broad range of resources, including regulators and speed test providers that measure and collate broadband speed test results. The results were compiled and presented by Cable.
Similar to previous exercises, the download speeds recorded are those available to a device via a router, and so represent actual (or realistic) speeds experienced by the user – via Wi-Fi, Ethernet connection, or other means. For each country, download speed tests had to be recorded from at least 100 unique Internet Protocol addresses. Additionally, test results were excluded if, among other things, the speed test exercises were unduly long or short, if little data was actually transferred, or if a connection between the server and client was not properly established (Source: Cable).
We again have extracted the test results for the Caribbean countries included in the global league tables. For the 2021 assessment, 30 countries and/or island groups were included, as reflected Exhibit 1.
In the sections that follow, we
- present the average broadband speeds recorded for Caribbean countries over a 12-month period, ending 30 June 2021 results; and
- briefly compare the 2021 results with those recorded in 2020.
2021 test results
For the Caribbean countries examined, typical download speeds ranged from a low of 2.92 Mbps in Cuba, to 71.47 Mbps in the Cayman Islands, as reflected in Exhibit 2. Across the region, the average download speed was 23.97 Mbps.
Among the countries with the fastest download speeds and in addition to the Cayman Islands, were the Aruba, with an average download speed of 70.66 Mbps, and Barbados, with 55.92 Mbps. At the other end of the spectrum, and in addition to Cuba, were Sint Maarten, with an average download speed of 6.15 Mbps, and Suriname, with 7.44 Mbps.
Comparing 2021 and 2020 test results
In comparing the speed test results recorded in 2020 and in 2021, it can be readily observed that in 10 countries, the average download speeds decreased over the 12-month period under review, as shown in Exhibit 3. However, in 2021, the download speed averaged across the sample group increased by 11%, or around 2.5 Mbps, from the averaged regional speed of 21.52 Mbps, which was recorded in 2020.
Exhibit 4 shows the change in the average per country download speeds recorded in 2020 and 2021 as a percentage. The smallest increase in download speed was recorded in the Bahamas, at 4.41%, which was followed by Jamaica and Dominican Republic, at 4.75% and 11.01%, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, the greatest increase in download speed was recorded in Saint Martin, at 117.42%, which was followed by Haiti, at 110.69%, Guyana, at 108.83%.
Among the countries that recorded a decrease in average download speeds over the period under review, the smallest decrease were recorded in the Turks and Caicos Islands (0.55%), Barbados (1.73%) and Curaçao (3.30%). On the other hand, the greatest decrease in average download speeds were recorded in Grenada (46.98%), Aruba (21.32%) and Puerto Rico (15.36%).
Some parting thoughts…
As has been the general trend year on year, download speeds have been increasing across the Caribbean region. However, it was surprising that for a third of the countries examined, a decline in the average download speed between 2020 and 2021 had been recorded. In our previous review, which compared the results of 2019 and 2020, it was only one country, Sint Maarten, that had recorded a drop in download speed.
Although a precise reason for the drop in speed may not be readily available or known, a consideration may be that the speeds offered in 2020 were an anomaly, based on the unique circumstances of the pandemic, but they could not be sustained at the rates payable. Hence, as the network infrastructure was improved, those higher speeds were no longer necessary to try to offset the surge in demand that occurred.
Having said this, it is also important to keep in mind that people tend to run broadband speed tests when they are dissatisfied with the speeds they are experiencing, which is a point that Cable highlights in their discussion of the exercise. Hence typically, the download speeds that people are experiencing are likely to be higher than these results suggest.
Image credits: Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)
