Internet speed rises

The Kingdom’s Internet speed has improved considerably, according to findings of a new report. The latest Speedtest Global Index July revealed that Bahrain has the 55th fastest broadband Internet in the world. Bahrain’s position rose by 10 places in just one month, according to the report.

The monumental gain was made in July in comparison to June when Bahrain was placed 65th. Qatar has ranked first in the Gulf region and fifth globally on the mobile Internet speed index at 59.90 Mbps. In the region, Qatar is followed by the UAE at the third place globally at 55.12 Mbps, Saudi Arabia at the 58th place globally at 42.34 Mbps, Oman at the 94th place at 22.91 Mbps and Bahrain at the 55th place at 43.05 Mbps, according to Speedtest Global Index.

The index ranks mobile and fixed broadband speeds from around the world on a monthly basis. “Results are updated midmonth for the previous month. January 1, 2019 onward countries must have at least 300 unique user results for mobile or fixed broadband to be ranked in either category. “Prior to January 1, 2019, we required 670 unique user results for mobile and 3,333 for fixed broadband,” Speedtest stated.

This comes as Bahrain prepares to take a lead in making the best out of 5G technologies. “There were a lot of challenges along the way – ensuring spectrum availability as soon as possible was a big challenge, but overcoming these obstacles exemplifies the support and co-operation amongst Team Bahrain and demonstrates how Bahrain can move quickly, deliver enormous progress against an accelerated timeframe, and be a partner to technology leaders,” said the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications in Bahrain, Kamal Ahmed said about Bahrain’s effort to launch 5G.

Batelco has selected Ericsson to launch 5G, while VIVA Bahrain has partnered with Huawei that has registered 1,529 5G patents, according to data analysis firm IPlytics. Last month Batelco launched Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, the first 5G network supported device in Bahrain at Batelco’s City Centre Branch.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 was tested on Batelco’s 5G network by a professional gamer who commented on the speed of the device when connected to Batelco 5G network, as well as its practicality to use digital applications including social media apps, streaming services and online games as it features a large screen with fast mechanism to switch between apps.