Doha ranks No. 1 in the world in mobile internet speed: Forbes report

Published: 21 November 2024

Four Gulf cities have the fastest mobile internet speeds

NT Bureau
Doha

Four Middle Eastern cities have the fastest mobile internet speeds, and Doha, Qatar, ranks No. 1, according to the study by Holafly, which sells eSIM cards for mobile phones, Forbes magazine has reported.

The study calculated the time to download a one-gigabyte city map in 95 cities in August 2024, using data from Speedtest by Ookla, which captures data from millions of users worldwide.

At 354.5 megabits per second, it took 2.9 seconds to download a map of Doha, according to the study. The download was slightly longer in Dubai, which also posted a time of 2.9 seconds. Abu Dhabi, ranks No. 3 at 3.1 seconds, followed by Riyadh, at 3.7 seconds.

Rounding out the top 10 are Copenhagen, Denmark, at 4 seconds; Porto, Portugal, 4.2 seconds; Oslo, Norway, 4.3 seconds; Lisbon, Portugal, 4.7 seconds; Shanghai, China, 4.8 seconds, and Beijing, China, 5.1 seconds.

Those speeds are quite a contrast to the cities with the slowest download speeds, according to the study. The down-load time in Havana, Cuba, was 229.1 seconds, or more than 3 1/2 minutes, the report adds.
Havana ranks as the city with the slowest download time, and La Paz, Bolivia ranks as the second slowest at 105.9 seconds.

“Middle Eastern cities, with their commitment to digital innovation, are setting new standards in connectivity, providing some of the world’s fastest internet speeds. Meanwhile, regions like Latin America may require more infrastructure investment to meet travelers’ expectations for reliable access,” says Pedro Máiquez, Holafly’s chief marketing officer.