«Vodafone Ukraine» has overtaken «Kyivstar» to become the leader in terms of mobile Internet speed in Ukraine in Q3-Q4 2023, testifies updated Speed Score rating from Ookla (developer of Speedtest).
The rating was last updated before the war in Q3-Q4 2021, when experts recognized «Kyivstar» as the best mobile Internet provider in terms of speed and coverage. In the new study, Ookla analyzed nearly 800 thousand (765,993) individual tests conducted by subscribers using Speedtest during Q3-Q4 2023. It is worth noting that the largest share of measurements was made by «Kyivstar» — 361.4 thousand against 221.6 thousand for Vodafone, which could potentially affect the overall results. On the other hand, this is a very generalized rating, just like all the others (let’s hear your «bearded» jokes about the «average temperature in the ward» — we know you want to).
According to the results, Vodafone became the leader of the new Speed Score rating with a rating of 33.33 and 29.32 Mbps for download and 11.87 Mbps for upload. Kyivstar» took second place, and lifecell finished third. Interestingly, the top five smartphones in terms of the number of tests conducted are represented by iPhone, which is in line with our recent extensive analysis «What is happening to the smartphone market in Ukraine».
If we directly compare the average speed (download/upload) and delay in signal transmission, we get the following:
● Vodafone Ukraine: 29.32 Mbps (download), 11.87 Mbps (upload), 32 ms (latency);
● Kyivstar: 23.08 Mbps (download), 11.86 Mbps (upload), 31 ms (latency);
● lifecell: 22.94 Mbps (download), 7.98 Mbps (upload), 36 ms (latency);
The study also has separate regional rankings for Kyiv and two regions — Lviv and Dnipro oblasts. As you can see in the image below, Vodafone is also the leader in all three.
Speed Score — an index of the speed of downloading (80% of the total score) and uploading data (20%) in each provider’s network. For the analysis, Ookla specialists use the results of speed measurement tests on the operators’ networks, and it is «modern devices» that support the latest technologies and are able to connect to the fastest networks (read: 4G). Ookla uses a special scale with percentiles, selecting speeds at 10%, 50% (median), and 90% to estimate minimum, average, and maximum speeds. A weighted average is then calculated using a 1:8:1 formula, with the median being the most weighted, to reflect the most typical experience of the network’s subscribers. More details on the index methodology (for those interested) — on the Speedtest website.