Advanced Television

Canada climbs Netflix ISP Speed Index; Malaysia falls

February 12, 2019

Netflix has released January data from its ISP Speed Index, a monthly update on which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide the best prime time Netflix streaming experience.

A number of ISPs experienced significant speed decreases on the index this month. The biggest decline hit Israel’s 099.net, whose speeds slowed by 0.75 Megabits per second (Mbps), bringing its average monthly speed down to 2.72 Mbps from 3.47 Mbps in December 2018. Other notable speed declines include:

  • Türk Telekom’s (Turkey) monthly average slowing to 2.33 Mbps (from 2.95 Mbps last month),
  • STC’s (Saudi Arabia) monthly average decreasing to 2.79 Mbps (from 3.14 Mbps last month),
  • A1’s (Austria) monthly average declining to 3.30 Mbps (from 3.69 Mbps last month), and
  • C Spire’s (United States) monthly average slowing to 3.12 Mbps (from 3.54 Mbps last month).

Average speeds also slowed at ISPs in several countries:

  • In the Philippines, average speeds decreased at PLDT (down to 2.29 Mbps from 2.70 Mbps last month), Converge ICT Solution (down to 2.82 Mbps from 3.27 Mbps), and Globe (down to 2.23 Mbps from 2.85 Mbps).
  • Declines in Hungary included invitel (down to 2.62 Mbps from 3.10 Mbps last month) and Telekom (down to 2.98 Mbps from 3.59 Mbps).
  • In Taiwan, average speeds continued to slow from December for Taiwan Broadband (down to 2.81 Mbps from 3.32 Mbps last month) and So-net (down to 2.32 Mbps from 2.85 Mbps). FarEasTone’s speeds decrease to a 2.35 Mbps monthly average, down from 2.87 Mbps in December.

In increase category, Chile’s Mundo Pacifico saw the largest speed jump on the index, raising its average monthly speed to 3.54 Mbps, up from 3.22 Mbps in December.

In our country rankings, significant rank changes include:

  • Canada jumping six spots to 20th (from 26th in December),
  • Malaysia dropping five spots to 26th (from 21st last month),
  • Turkey dropping five spots to 47th (from 42nd last month), and
  • Philippines dropping seven spots to 57th (from 50th last month).

Meanwhile, as more Fiber to the Home (FTTH) internet offerings become available around the world, the ISP Speed Index now lists a higher number of ISPs being split into two entities – a fibre entity and a DSL or Cable entity. Netflix said it is doing this to better represent the evolving marketplace of internet offerings consumers can choose from. These splits do not change the methodology for the ISP Speed Index.

Examples of recent FTTH additions to the index include Algar Fibra in Brazil, Entel Fibra in Chile, Vodafone Fibra in Spain, Claro Argentina, and Movistar Fibra in both Chile and Argentina. You can expect more splits like these to the index this year as FTTH is offered to a growing number of households.

Categories: Articles, Broadband, FTTH, ISP, Premium, Research, VOD