JAKARTA - Usually internet users rely more on WiFi networks than cellular data. But recent analysis from Opensignal shows that 4G often offers a better experience.
Perhaps this report is quite surprising, 4G networks offer much better download speeds than WiFi for mobile users throughout Indonesia.
Where the data shows the download speed experienced by smartphone users on 4G on average 15.1 Mbps or about 25 percent faster than private WiFi networks, as well as public WiFi, and faster than twice Mifi devices.
"Our users on public WiFi and private WiFi saw a similar experience with statistically tied speeds, just above 12 Mbps. On the other hand, user experience on Mifi and 3G devices averaged 6.8 Mbps and 4.9 Mbps. Speeds slower seen using 3G highlights the importance of continuing to expand 4G availability throughout Indonesia," said Opensignal analyst Hardik Khatri in his research entitled "Indonesian Users Enjoy Faster Download Speeds with 4G than on WiFi."
Khatri said that in January 2021, the number of internet users in Indonesia exceeded 200 million. As a mobile-first market, 195.3 million (or 96.4 percent) of these users access the internet via mobile phones, either on cellular networks or WiFi.
Khatri also compared user download speeds on cellular and WiFi networks in 12 main regions of Indonesia. He found that users enjoyed faster download speeds on the 4G network than on WiFi in each region, but with varying degrees of difference.
“Our users in Western New Guinea observed the most striking difference. They experienced 58 percent faster download speeds on 4G than on WiFi, followed by their counterparts in Kalimantan (53 percent) and East Java (51 percent). Our users in the other six regions saw greater experience differences between 4G and WiFi than those seen nationally, such as Sulawesi (39 percent), Lesser Sunda Island (34 percent), Yogyakarta (32 percent), Central Java (32 percent), Maluku ( 29 percent) and Sumatra (28 percent)," said Khatri.
Khatri added, users in the Lesser Sunda Islands and DKI Jakarta saw the fastest average download speed when connected to 4G with speeds above 18 Mbps. However, users in DKI Jakarta observed the smallest difference in experience between 4G and WiFi (4 percent faster on 4G), followed by Banten (6 percent) and West Java (10 percent).
Meanwhile, the download speeds experienced by users on 3G were lower than those of WiFi in 12 regions. Users experience average download speeds ranging from 4.2 Mbps to 6.5 Mbps.
In this analysis, Khatri also assessed the time spent connecting to WiFi (Time on WiFi) and cellular data services (3G and 4G). He found that, nationally, users spend 92 percent of their time connected to 4G data services (4G Availability) and 96.3 percent of the time connected to 3G or 4G mobile data services (i.e. 3G/4G Availability).
"Our users connect to WiFi only about a third of the time (33.6 percent). As a result, Indonesian users spend 2.9 times more time connected to 3G and 4G cellular networks than WiFi. Of the 12 regions, the highest Time on WiFi is only located in East Java (41.8 percent), and the lowest in Sumatra (26.4 percent)," said Khatri.
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