The average fixed-location download speed of Taiwan’s 4G systems last year was 119 megabits per second (Mbps), up from 108.33Mbps in 2019, a survey conducted by the National Communications Commission (NCC) showed yesterday.
However, the average upload speed was down from 27.18Mbps in 2019 to 26.12Mbps due to an increased demand to upload videos to social media, the commission said.
The commission tasked the Telecom Technology Center to measure 4G Internet speeds in fixed locations and on moving objects from June and October last year, NCC Deputy Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said yesterday, adding that the center tested 4G services offered by Taiwan’s five main carriers.
The center selected 7,851 locations, including post offices, department stores, railway stations and national scenic areas, he said.
The average download speed was 119Mbps, with the download speed for data from cloud service providers such as Google slightly lower at 111.16Mbps, the survey showed.
The average download speed while driving on freeways and other major roads was 52.87Mbps to 77.89Mbps, depending on the region, the survey showed.
On high-speed rail, Taiwan Railways Administration and metropolitan trains, the average download speed was 32.62Mbps to 197.18Mbps, it showed.
The survey showed significant changes of consumer behavior, Wong said.
Data traffic increased by approximately 30 percent last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic when more people worked from home, he said.
After June last year, mobile data use in rural areas rose by 30 to 35 percent amid a domestic-travel trend, he added.
“In the past, consumers mostly focused on download speeds, as they wanted to download films faster,” he said, adding that the demand for fast uploading is increasing due to video uploads and streaming on social media.
The increased use of drones for filming also contributes to the trend, Wong said.
Even though telecoms have since last year been offering 5G services, the commission would only start assessing 5G speeds next year, Wong said.
“If we started measuring this year, it would not be fair to the telecoms that are still building 5G base stations,” he said. “We also still need to agree on the criteria to measure the 5G speeds.”
About 1.93 million Taiwanese use 5G services, NCC data showed.
The commission recently certified that Taiwan Mobile’s 5G service is available for 50 percent of the nation's population .
Taiwan Mobile holds 4,560 licenses for base stations, the NCC said.
All five telecoms previously pledged to reach at least 50 percent coverage rate by 2024 when applying for subsidies under the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the commission said, adding that Far EasTone Telecommunications and Chunghwa Telecom have also reached coverage rates of at least 50 percent.
Far EasTone in a statement last year said that it has built 6,000 5G base stations, adding that the coverage rate of its network was 70 percent.
In the six special municipalities, the coverage rate is above 80 percent, with its highest rate in Taipei at 94 percent, the telecom said.
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