Download speeds remained consistent in April 2021 despite increase in data demands during second lockdown

According to a report by Opensignal, despite rising mobile data consumption, the download speeds experienced by users were consistent and did not slow down in April 2021.

Opensignal, the mobile analytics company, has released data that shows mobile network experience in terms of download speed during the second lockdown in April 2021. According to a recent report by the company, the data consumption rose in the second lockdown but did not affect the download speed as against the first lockdown in 2020. Opensignal noted that during March 2020 Indian smartphone users' average mobile data increased consistently but also affected their average download experience. “However, unlike the first lockdown, our users did not observe a substantial change in their overall download experience during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic starting March 2021 onwards,” Opensignal noted. It noted that in the last three weeks of April 2021, average data consumption surged between 19.9 per cent and 22.7 per cent. During the first lockdown in 2020, the data consumption increased per user by 26.8 to 30.1 per cent, and at the same time, data speeds dropped nearly by 25 percent. Opensignal noted that in 2021 there was little change in the average download speed experience, “showing that mobile operators successfully prepared their networks to cope with the increased data demand by their users due to the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic”