As of March 2025, Singapore had the fastest fixed broadband internet worldwide, with an average download speed of 345.33 Mbps. The UAE ranked second at 313.55 Mbps, while Hong Kong followed in third. Fixed internet connections deliver broadband to a home, office, or other fixed premises, with fiber connections offering the best quality service.

This statistic shows the average internet connection speeds that in Singapore from the first quarter of 2014 to the fourth quarter of 2016. By the end of the quarter of 2016, the average internet connection speed in Singapore was approximately 20.2 Mbps.

As of June 2024, Qatar had the fastest average mobile internet connection worldwide, nearly 335 Mbps. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed, registering average median speed above 323 Mbps. Fixed-connection speeds around the world When it comes to fixed broadband connections, Singapore tops the list of countries by average connection speed. Internet users in Singapore achieve an average fixed broadband connection speed of 242.01 Mbps, slightly faster than the 222.49 Mbps achieved in Chile, the second-placed country on the speed rankings. 5G and 6G – the future of mobile broadband In countries where it is in use, 5G is already bringing faster mobile internet connection speeds than ever before. In Saudi Arabia for example, the average 4G connection speed sits at 28.9 Mbps, and this speed jumps to 414.2 Mbps on a 5G connection. Now that 5G is commercially available, researchers have already turned their attention to 6G. Operating at a higher spectrum band, 6G will allow connections several times faster than 5G. User experienced data rates of 5G sit at 100 Mbps, and this speed is expected to climb to 1,000 Mbps on 6G connections. 6G is expected to not only provide faster speeds, but also enable more devices to connect to a network without causing congestion as it has a connection density ten times greater than that of 5G.

Singapore SG: Fixed Broadband Internet Subscribers: per 100 People data was reported at 25.757 Ratio in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 25.987 Ratio for 2016. Singapore SG: Fixed Broadband Internet Subscribers: per 100 People data is updated yearly, averaging 20.824 Ratio from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2017, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.858 Ratio in 2013 and a record low of 0.268 Ratio in 1998. Singapore SG: Fixed Broadband Internet Subscribers: per 100 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.World Bank: Telecommunication. Fixed broadband subscriptions refers to fixed subscriptions to high-speed access to the public Internet (a TCP/IP connection), at downstream speeds equal to, or greater than, 256 kbit/s. This includes cable modem, DSL, fiber-to-the-home/building, other fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions, satellite broadband and terrestrial fixed wireless broadband. This total is measured irrespective of the method of payment. It excludes subscriptions that have access to data communications (including the Internet) via mobile-cellular networks. It should include fixed WiMAX and any other fixed wireless technologies. It includes both residential subscriptions and subscriptions for organizations.; ; International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report and database.; Weighted average; Please cite the International Telecommunication Union for third-party use of these data.

At 359.5 megabytes per second (Mbps), Singtel offered the fastest average 5G download speed in Singapore as of December 2024. Over the same time period, M1's average download speed was approximately 345 Mbps.

The statistic shows the countries with the highest average internet connection speed during the first quarter of 2017, measured in Megabits per second. During that quarter, IPv4 internet connections in Norway averaged a connection speed of 23.5 Mbps. The global average IPv4 connection speed was 7.2 Mbps.

Average connection speeds are higher in developed Asian countries; South Korea leads with an average connection speed of 28.6 Mbps. This is a growth of more than 9.3 percent to the first quarter of the previous year.

The U.S. states with the highest average internet connection speed include Delaware, District of Columbia and Utah, with first-ranking D.C. having an average connection speed of some 28.1 Mbps as of the first quarter of 2017.

As of the same period, 83 percent of internet users in South Korea enjoyed a connection speed of over 10 Mbps, which is classed as high broadband connectivity. Next in the 10 Mbps broadband adoption rate ranking are Switzerland and the Singapore with 73 percent of high broadband connectivity each. Both Switzerland and Singapore's relatively small size combined with their wealth are a significant factor in terms of telecommunications infrastructure upgrades.

Up until the beginning of 2014, average connection speeds worldwide were under 4 Mbps and by the fourth quarter of 2016, global connection speed averaged at 7 Mbps.

As of May 2023, the average download speed on Singapore's 5G network was 376.8 Mbps, while the average upload speed reached 30 Mbps. Consumers enjoy maximum download speeds of 718.8 Mbps on average. This connection speed is enabled by the city-state's network coverage. Singapore is in fact, the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G since July 2022.

5G landscape in Singapore and leading providers 

Singtel, StarHub, and M1 are the main providers responsible for operating 5G networks nationwide. Singtel has led this development, achieving over 95 percent standalone coverage in July 2022, three years ahead of the government's 2025 target. As the leading provider, Singtel delivers the best 5G coverage experience across the country. The Singaporean provider also delivered the best average 5G download speed, with a score of 32.8 Mbps. Consumers are gradually turning to 5G mobile subscriptions, with steady growth since July 2022. Subscriptions reached a peak of 1.32 million in March 2023. Among these, Singtel’s total 5G customer base represents more than 760 thousand users.

Consumer experience

The standalone network offers faster downloads and low latency, which is essential for uses such as video streaming, cloud gaming, and other data-intensive uses. The gaming experience via 5G is estimated to be excellent in the country, as well as the video experience, for which Starhub offered the best performance. As of July 2022, 12 percent of consumers owned a 5G-capable smartphone in the country, and 24 percent of these intended to upgrade to a 5G subscription. Among these smartphones, the iPhone 14 Pro Max ranked as the fastest phone, based on its median download speed of 24.63 Mbps on a 5G network.

Within the Asia Pacific region, South Korea had the highest average IPv4 internet connection speed at 28.6 megabits per second (Mbps). Considering this, it comes as no surprise that South Korea also had the highest internet penetration rate and the highest 4G download speed  across Asia. This was due to governmental efforts to facilitate the expansion and improvement of internet. 

Current state of internet in Asia 

Although Singapore had the third-fastest average IPv4 connection speed as of 2017, in 2018, it nonetheless had the fastest internet overall with a mean download speed of 60.39 Mbps, surpassing larger countries such as the U.S. and Germany.  Although India and the Philippines had the lowest average internet connection speeds, its year-on-year growth was higher than the leading countries with respectively 87% and 57%. In the Philippines, the government carried out a National Broadband Plan (NBP) to increase nationwide internet access. Similarly, the Indian government had also proposed a national broadband network to connect all cities and villages. 

Internet connection speed explained 

Megabits per second (Mbps) refer to the speed with which information can be downloaded or uploaded from and to the internet. For the Federal Communications Commission, a sufficient broadband internet connection requires a minimum of 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. In the world of internet, connection speeds above 20 Mbps enable swift web surfing, HD content streaming as well as fast downloads. 

As of November 2021, of the hotels tested, Riverview Hotel Singapore had the fastest Wi-Fi with an expected speed of 81.2 Mbps. WiFi services can also be found in a number of public places in Singapore, including shopping malls, restaurants, and cafes.

This data compares Australia's performance in broadband against the other 30 OECD nations (at Dec 2018). A graph ordered by count of subs over 100Mbps puts Australia in the bottom two (since we have no over 100Mbps at Dec 2018).A presentation titled; "Maximising the Value of the NBN; comparing our NBN to Australia's Top 10 Trading Partners and the OECD", attached for presentation 25 Feb 2020, Telsoc event (link added below at Telsoc.org; includes video of event). Event Title: NBN Futures Forum - Learning from International Experience (Description added). Melbourne.Version: 14: Paper published in Journal of Telecomms and Digital Economy; Vol 8, No. 2 (Jun 2020) - see DOI below (10.18080/jtde.v8n2.252)13; add slideshare link.12. Original OECD file found with AU speed breakdown - now loaded. Confirming speed analysis of AU.11. Loaded copy of OECD data file. File now contains only aggregate Australia data. No breakdown by speed available from OECD site. This casts some doubt on the AU breakdown, provided in file attached, and may be a revision of the stats or an Author error. (28.2.20)10.FINAL slides loaded (24.2.20)9. Added OECD as Author.8. Draft v3 of slides (18.2.20).7. Seminar 25/2/20 (link added); Slides Draft v1, v2 slides added (pdf).6. Added pdf of Submission (Sub_016_RF.pdf) to Inquiry into NBN, and link to published submission. (Appendix 1 links not working). A separate Appendix 1 with working links now attached.4/5. Uploaded cleaned up Graph, with better legible x-axis. Countries marked with * are Australia's Top 10 Trading Partners - exports, imports.3. (Jan 2020) - adds China, Singapore who are non-OECD, and Australia 2009 (Source ABS 8153.00).Add filter, to allow comparing - all OECD (plus China, Singapore), filter = 1 (top 10 AU trading Partners), filter = 2 (AU 2009, 2018, post build NBN). Added slower speed for AU 2009.China estimate of slower speeds, based on s-curve take-up of high speed, see CNNIC Report (linked below). Singapore data - source to add. A calc of weighted average puts Australia in the bottom 3 of 30 OECD countries, just ahead of Colombia and Mexico, behind Chile, Turkey and Austria.ERRATA;Noted OECD original file, now no longer contains a breakdown of AU speeds, casting doubt on dataset. 28.2.20, corrected in V12.Noted China User count error is slowest speed - to amend. Noted calc error in V2 of average speed. Corrected in V3.OECD data available at: OECD Broadband Portalhttps://oecd.org/sti/broadband/5.1-FixedBB-SpeedTiers-2018-06.xlsNB: OECD should be an author of this dataset, but Figshare currently doesn't allow OECD to be included as an author, since they are not a known author in the Figshare system. Please cite as Ferrers, R, and OECD (2019). Title etc...Counts are measured in subscriptions per hundred people.SPEEDS>1.5/2 Mbps (megabits per second)>10 Mbps>25/30 Mbps>100 MbpsThe categories seem to mean;1.5 - 10Mbps | 10-30Mbps | 30-100Mbps | >100Mbps. A graph aggregates to three categories; slow (Under 30mbps), medium, 30-100 mbps) and fast (>100 mbps)This data is a response to the NBN sponsored report from Alpha Beta suggesting Australia is 19 / 37 countries and ahead of Germany, France and China. NBN report at: https://nbn.tm/Speed-CheckBased on Dec 2018 #OECD DATA of internet speeds as reported by each of 30 countries - AU is at the bottom end of speeds, one of the few to report 0% over 100mbps eg France 5 subs/100 ppl over 100mbps; Germany 6; Spain 9, US 9; Canada 10. #nbnCalculation of weighted average speed of broadband users puts Australia 32 / 34 countries at 7mbps. Impacted by large number of under 25mbps services (27/33).NEWS (2.9.20): China reports 417M FTTP/O connections (93% of total fixed connections) at Dec 19, and 85% of fixed connections at 100Mbps or over. https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/

There were almost 1.6 billion fixed broadband subscriptions across the globe in 2024. More than half of these were in the Asia-Pacific region, where the number of subscriptions increased around almost 11 percent compared to the previous year. Fixed broadband subscriptions offer a fast, stable internet connection to a fixed location such as a home or workplace, with fiber connections offering the best quality service. Europe leads in broadband penetration Europe has registered the highest fixed broadband penetration of any global region, with around 36 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants as of 2023. Meanwhile, slow fixed broadband uptake in Africa has seen penetration remain below one percent, with a lack of fixed-line infrastructure and low affordability hindering efforts to bridge a persistent digital divide. According to affordability metrics, a standard fixed broadband subscription in Africa was priced at around 15 percent of the continent’s GNI per capita in 2023, a far higher share than any other region. Singapore leads with the fastest average fixed broadband internet speed Not all fixed networks are created equal. Differing network infrastructure can significantly impact connection quality, with modern fiber optic networks vastly outperforming those relying on traditional copper telephone cables. Fiber uptake has driven lightning-fast download speeds in many markets, with Singapore topping a 2024 ranking with an average download speed of 278 Mbps. However, challenges in bringing fiber infrastructure to remote areas have led some users to explore alternative technologies such as fixed wireless access (FWA) or satellite internet services from providers such as Starlink.

As of November 2023, Singtel provided the best average 5G upload speed in Singapore, with a score of 35.1 Mbps. In comparison, StarHub's average upload speed stood at 25.8 Mbps over the same period.

In March 2025, the median mobile download speed in Singapore was 164.2 megabytes per second (Mbps), a slight increase compared to the download speed in the previous month. The median download speed experienced a significant increase from December 2024 to January 2025.

This statistic depicts the average download connection speed of the 4G wireless network in Japan, Singapore and South Korea from July 1st to October 1st, 2017. During the surveyed time period, the average 4G speed in Japan amounted to 25 megabits per second. In comparison, Singapore showed the fastest average download connection speed with 47 Mbps.

 In 2020, around 88.5 percent of the Singapore population were using the internet. By 2026, this figure is projected to grow to more than 94 percent. The use of the internet in Singapore has been inseparable from its people’s daily activities.

Internet usage in Singapore   Internet users in Singapore spent around eight hours of daily internet use on average. They mostly used the internet for personal purposes such as shopping online. One of the reasons being was the growing number of businesses going digital in the country that enhanced the customers’ shopping experience. Therefore, many Singaporeans shifted their way of shopping from offline to online for convenience.

Digital devices   For internet access, the majority of internet users in the country also prioritized convenience. A large proportion of the population in the country accessed the internet through their mobile devices. As of the third quarter of 2020, 98 percent of the total population owned a digital device in the form of a smartphone.

As of June 2024, the average download speed on Indonesia's 5G network was about 54.6 Mbps, while the average upload speed reached 23.2 Mbps. Compared to its neighboring countries in the Southeast Asia region, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, Indonesia had the lowest average 5G download speed.

Across Asia, Malaysia had the highest internet adoption rate at around 97.7 percent, followed by South Korea. Worldwide, more than 65 percent of the population is using the internet. Compared to the rest of the world, internet penetration in Asia was still lower than the global average in the past few years. Southeast Asia is leading the way Southeast Asia had the highest internet penetration rates. In China, the internet penetration amounted to only around 78 percent. Nevertheless, in terms of head count, the country has the most internet users in the region with about 991 million. Among the ASEAN states, Indonesia and the Philippines had the biggest internet populations. Countries lagging behind South Asian countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan had low internet penetration rates, mainly due to high internet fees for fixed broadband and mobile networks in these countries. The low literacy rates were also a contributing factor.

Facebook was Singapore’s most popular social media app with an average penetration rate of 94 percent as of June 2016. Nevertheless, Facebook does not seem to be the platform of the future. Only about 84 percent of respondents aged 15 to 24 years old had a Facebook app installed on their mobile phone, slightly less than Instagram, which had an installation rate of 87 percent.

Importance of social media in Singapore

In a country where almost everyone has access to the internet, social media plays an important role in the purchasing behavior of Singaporeans. With 5.61 million inhabitants and 4.8 million internet users, Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world. It was forecasted that around 3.4 million inhabitants use social media on their mobile phones, representing almost 71 percent of all Singaporean internet users.

Does the most popular app reflect the most popular platform too?

Not necessarily – there are many ways to be on social media without installing an app. Those users were not taken into account in this survey. Other than that, it depends on what was considered a social media platform too. If you count YouTube and WhatsApp as social media platforms, they would emerge as the most popular. However, considering only the traditional platforms, Facebook remains by far the market leader, followed by Instagram and Twitter.

As of December 2024, Singtel provided the best 5G coverage experience across Singapore, with a score of *, followed by StarHub and M1. Simba had the lowest 5G coverage experience rating, with a score of ***. 5G advancements in Singapore  At the beginning of 2023, Singapore had an average peak download speed of over *** Mbps on its 5G networks. In addition to providing quality 5G connectivity, Singtel has proven itself in 2023 to be one of the leading providers of 5G gaming experiences. Additionally, in 2022, the number of 5G mobile phone subscriptions in the country exceeded *********, most of which were attributable to postpaid subscribers. Singapore’s 5G milestones Singapore achieved full standalone 5G coverage in July 2022. In 2021, ********* of the country’s mobile network connections were 5G, and by 2025 this proportion is expected to increase to more than half of all mobile connections in the country. Moreover, Singapore stands out as one of the countries with the most improved download speed in 5G networks in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2019, Singapore scored a total of 20.26 out of a possible maximum score of 25 for the digital readiness index. This not only placed Singapore in the “Amplify” stage of digitalization in that year, but also in the lead in overall digital readiness. This was achieved largely through government efforts to improve its digital landscape.

Investing in a robust digital infrastructure   

Singapore ranked among the top countries for technology infrastructure and adoption. It has the highest average internet connection speed in Asia, and the number of 4G subscriptions in Singapore is almost 1.5 times that of its population. The government continues to invest heavily in this sector, with a current focus on 5G technology. By 2025, it was projected that 34 percent of the overall mobile connections would be for 5G in Singapore.

Business investment in digitalization  

To support its efforts in creating an advanced, digitalized society, the Singapore government has also encouraged businesses in the country to invest in digitalization. In 2019, Singaporean enterprises had focused their digital investments mostly in hardware and for their network, as well as in cybersecurity software. In the same year, it was recorded that around 39 percent of the enterprises in Singapore had engaged in digital investment.