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Bharti Airtel’s data download speed in the vicinity of the Kumbh Mela was nearly double than that of Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio), while Vodafone came in third and Idea a distant fourth, according to an Ookla report.
“Airtel’s emphasis on increasing capacity paid off in speed with its mean download speed in the vicinity of the Kumbh Mela coming in 96.9 per cent faster than that of second-place RJio,” Ookla, a company into broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications, said.
Airtel’s mean download speed stood at 15.83 MBPS and upload speed at 4.67 MBPS, with a 52 milli second (MS) latency. RJio’s download speed was at 8.04 MBPS, with an upload speed at 4.79 MBPS and a 104 MS latency.
For Vodafone, download speed stood at 7.61 MBPS, while uploads were at 3.03 MBPS and latency at 68 MS. In case of Idea, the downloads were at 5.16 MBPS, uploads at 3.93 MBPS and latency at 77 MS, the report added.
Vodafone Idea, now an Aditya Birla Group company, provides services on both Vodafone and Idea brands.
The operators had made significant efforts to serve the massive influx of pilgrims during the Kumbh Mela. Airtel deployed massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) infrastructure to expand network capacity, RJio launched an app that included real-time info on events and a family locator and Vodafone-Idea offered an RFID tag to help locate children.
The Ardh Kumbh Mela - the largest religious gathering in the world - drew over 100 million visitors from January 14-March 4, where Ookla examined mobile speeds and 4G usage in and around Prayagraj.
Mobile customers visiting from seven telecom circles (Rajasthan, Madya Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, UP West, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh) showed faster download speeds in eastern Uttar Pradesh than local customers. The Rajasthan telecom circle showed the fastest download speed when roaming in UP East at 9.10 MBPS, 9.6 per cent faster than the local UP East download speed.
Customers visiting UP East from 12 telecom circles (Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata, Haryana, Maharashtra and Goa, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Mumbai) saw slower mean download speeds than local UP East customers. The Himachal Pradesh telecom circle showed the slowest mean download speed when “roaming” in UP East at 6.15 MBPS, 25.9 per cent slower than the local UP East download speed.
The study also found that users while roaming across states, most customers remain on 4G.
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