Coronavirus impact | Ookla Speedtest data confirms internet slowdown in India

The data recorded was for mobile data speeds as well as fixed broadband download speeds.

Carlsen Martin

April 09, 2020 / 18:59 IST

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The coronavirus pandemic has forced people around the world to stay in their homes, leading to a surge in internet data consumption. This is also prevalent in India, where the government has enforced a lockdown to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The country’s affordable plans have not only made the internet more accessible to more people but also means that hundreds of millions of users are hooked on to their devices, waiting out the lockdown. This has resulted in the country’s internet infrastructure taking a hit.

Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index data suggests that there is a sharp decline in both mobile data speeds and fixed broadband download speeds. This index compares country-wise internet speed data from around the world every month. The data is recorded when millions of users use Okla’s speed test to check the performance of their internet connection.

According to the data, Indian mobile networks have seen an average decline in speed from 11.83 Mbps in February to 10.15 Mbps in March. The data also suggests that the fixed broadband speeds have been consistently down since January 2020. Fixed broadband speeds are also on down by 5.5 Mbps, going from 41.48 Mbps in January to 35.98 Mbps in March.

Doug Suttles, CEO of Ookla said, “When networks are under usage strain like they are in this unprecedented time of lockdown in India due to COVID-19, it is natural that they experience some level of slowdown. It is important to note that while the internet itself should handle elevated usage, there may be impacts to speed as people continue to move their daily activities increasingly online. While the core of the internet remains stable, some ISP networks may struggle to keep up.”

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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