Patna topped the list with 92.6 per cent 4G availability, while Bangalore, which took the 10th spot was measured to have 88.3 per cent 4G availability. (Image: Thinkstock)
Patna has topped OpenSignal’s list of India’s top 20 cities with 4G availability. Patna is followed by Kanpur, Allahabad, Kolkata and Bhopal – the top five cities with 4G availability. OpenSignal’s 4G availability metric measures where users can get access to an LTE connection more of the time. The report notes that more cities in central and eastern regions like Patna, Kanpur, Allahabad, Kolkata, Bhopal and Lucknow made it to the top ten.
OpenSignal measurements reveal that the disparity in 4G availability between India’s cities is also getting slimmer. For instance, Patna topped the list with 92.6 per cent 4G availability, while Bangalore, which took the 10th spot was measured to have 88.3 per cent 4G availability, a difference of just 4.3 percentage points. All 20 cities in OpenSignal’s measurements have scored 4G availability measurements of over 80 per cent.
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OpenSignal report points out that tech hubs in the south and west of the country continue to dominate the company’s 4G speed metric. The rest of the cities are expected to close the gap in terms of 4G speed in coming months. This can be attributed to an acceleration in operator network rollout. “This shrinking disparity between the southern and western tech hubs and India’s other cities reflects the rapid growth of 4G in the country. Driven by fierce competition, India now has one of the most extensive 4G footprints in the world,” the report reads.
When it comes to LTE, the report notes that users were able to connect to an LTE signal over 86 per cent of the time, a rise of close to 10 percentage points from a year earlier. OpenSignal recorded the measurements over 90 days from December 1 2017 and looked at user experience of 4G availability in India’s 20 cities. Smartphone users in India can download the OpenSignal or Meteor app to join the company’s testing community and help measure the consumer mobile data experience.