An examination of fixed and mobile broadband internet speeds in the Caribbean region for the month of December 2021.
Here in the Caribbean region, as in many developing countries, we tend to be plagued with internet connectivity challenges, and many of us avail ourselves of online internet speed testing platforms to determine the quality of service we are experiencing, especially with respect to upload and download speeds. However, there is also occasions when, relatively speaking, we seem to be enjoying higher transmission speeds than normal, and so we seek confirmation on those very same speed testing platforms.
Having said this, these platforms are able to collate a considerable amount of data that is useful in helping individuals, organisations, and even countries, gauge the performance of their networks, and if appropriate, to begin to determine whether service improvement or remediation is needed. In this article, we highlight the fixed and mobile broadband internet speeds in select Caribbean countries in December 2021.
Methodology
The data used for this assessment was sourced from Ookla, which produces the popular broadband Speedtest, and also produces a monthly Global Index, based on the speed test results recorded. The index focusses on transmissions speeds for fixed and mobile broadband services, and for each service reports the upload and download speeds, along with the transmission latency.
For the month of December 2021, the Global Index included the fixed broadband results for 178 countries, and the mobile broadband results for 138 countries. With respect to Caribbean countries, fixed broadband results for 16 countries, and mobile broadband results for seven countries were included.
With respect to the measurements reported, and against which countries were ranked, it is the median download speed, instead of the arithmetic mean (more commonly referred to as the ‘average’) speeds, as had previously been the case. Switching to the median speed – when recording both the upload and download speeds – and according to Ookla may “best reflect the speeds a user is likely to achieve in a market”.
It is also important to note that in order for a country’s speed test results to be included in the Global Index, countries must have at least 300 unique user results for mobile or fixed broadband to be ranked in either category. Hence, and in other words, if that threshold is not satisfied, countries are excluded.
Fixed broadband speeds
For the month of December 2021, and to some degree, the results were a bit surprising. Based on previous test results, some of the countries that typically are more highly listed, such as Barbados, Grenada and Saint Kitts and Nevis, were not in the usual positions relative to the other countries on the list.
Barbados is usually the highest ranked Caribbean country, but in December, it was second to Trinidad and Tobago. Further, Dominica is a bit of a surprise, in being the third highest ranked. Saint Kitts and Nevis or Grenada would usually have secured that slot.
In relation to fixed broadband download speed, it ranged from around 74 Mbps (Mega bit per second) in Trinidad and Tobago, to just under 2 Mbps in Cuba. However, the median download speed across the Caribbean countries listed is 33.98 Mbps, whilst the average or arithmetic mean is 36.58 Mbps.
On the other hand, fixed broadband upload speeds ranged between 51 Mbps in Dominica and less than 1 Mbps in Cuba. The median download speed for the reported countries is 10.1 Mbps, whilst the average is 16.2 Mbps.
Mobile broadband speeds
The countries for which mobile broadband speed test results were reported were considerably less than for fixed broadband. However, these results have been included for completeness, and has been represented graphically as Exhibit 3.
Similar to the fixed broadband results, there is surprise in the ranking, and consequently the transmission speeds. Usually, Suriname is not as highly ranked, and tends to be in the latter half or the last third of most rankings for broadband internet service. However, and in December 2021, it beat Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and even Jamaica.
For the countries included, the download speed ranged from nearly 33 Mbps in Suriname, to just under 14 Mbps in Haiti. However, the median download speed across the Caribbean countries listed is 27.22 Mbps, whilst the average is 24.25 Mbps.
With regard to upload speeds, they were between just over 16 Mbps in Suriname (once again) and less than 6 Mbps in the Dominican Republic. The median download speed across the reported countries is 7.96 Mbps, whilst the average is 8.93 Mbps.
Discussion of the exercise
It has been a while since we examined the results of broadband speed tests, and it is interesting to get a sense of how Caribbean countries have been performing, and to compare them against select results globally.
As reflected in Exhibit 4, the Caribbean countries are considerably behind the top-ranked countries. Moreover, it could be argued that the gap is insurmountable, as the figures reported reflects the median results, which essentially is the midpoint out of all the speed test results recorded during the reporting period. Hence, users in-country would also be enjoying considerably higher speeds than the median figure stated.
It is also worth mentioning that the change from the arithmetic mean (or average) to the median is a valuable one. When the mean is calculated, it can be skewed by very high or very low scores, as was the case for some of the median and mean figures for fixed broadband and mobile broadband speeds that were stated in earlier sections. In using the middle scores, it eliminates the impact of outliers, and is likely to be a more accurate reflection of the transmission speeds users enjoy.
Image credit: Lars Plougmann (flickr)
