Ookla: Gigabit speed expectations don't match reality

Ookla's Sylwia Kechiche explains why expected broadband speeds aren't matching up with reality for many European residents.

Kelsey Ziser, Senior Editor

November 1, 2023

At a Glance

Fiber accessibility in Europe (00:28)
Challenges to 4G and 5G performance (04:43)
T-Mobile's median 5G network download speeds inching closer to matching Cox's fixed broadband speeds (06:16)

PARIS – Network X – While nearly 40% of households in France have 1 gigabit network subscriptions, Ookla's data reveals that only about 1% are achieving those speeds, says Sylwia Kechiche, principal analyst of Enterprise for Ookla, a provider of broadband network testing applications.

In this interview, Kechiche explains why expected broadband speeds aren't matching up with reality for many European residents. On the other hand, T-Mobile now has median 5G download speeds that are close to Cox's fixed broadband speeds.

Kechiche discusses what Ookla's data reveals about 5G versus fixed broadband and examines some challenges to improving 5G network performance.

Click on the caption button for a lightly edited transcript.

Read more about:

Network X Ookla

About the Author(s)

Kelsey Ziser

Kelsey Ziser

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Kelsey is a senior editor at Light Reading, co-host of the Light Reading podcast, and host of the "What's the story?" podcast.

Her interest in the telecom world started with a PR position at Connect2 Communications, which led to a communications role at the FREEDM Systems Center, a smart grid research lab at N.C. State University. There, she orchestrated their webinar program across college campuses and covered research projects such as the center's smart solid-state transformer.

Kelsey enjoys reading four (or 12) books at once, watching movies about space travel, crafting and (hoarding) houseplants.

Kelsey is based in Raleigh, N.C.

See more from Kelsey Ziser

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