At the time when 5G trials and optic-based broadband are promised by telecom giants in the country, a report from speed testing platform Ookla reveals the abysmal scenario of India's 4G internet connectivity.

India may have succeeded in making 4G available in more areas but that hasn't helped the problem of videos buffering and pausing on 4G connections.

According to a ETimes report, the average 4G LTE data speed in India has remained constant for more than a year at about 6.1Mbps, much less than the global average of about 17Mbps.

This makes the country one of the slowest among 124 countries on the list in terms of 4G speeds.

India ranks 109th in the list of 124 countries. The average download speed on 4G connections in India is less than what phone users in neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka get.

The average 4G download speeds of Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka are 13.56 Mbps, 15.56 Mbps, and 13.95 Mbps, respectively.

In India, the average speed is 9.12 Mbps. According to Ookla report, the growth of smartphone users and an increase in the number of mobile internet users in India could be one of the reasons for the slow internet connection in India.

When there are more people on the mobile internet, the telecom networks get congestion and that leads to poor speed.

Spectrum allocation could also be a reason for the poor 4G speed in India. "The spectrum per operator in India is low compared to other countries, which leads to low spectrum per subscriber, therefore slow 4G network speeds, Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, was cited as saying.

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