Indian Mobile Networks Can’t Handle Video Traffic

While talks are still on for 4G network rollout in more towns and cities in India, 3G networks in the country are struggling to cope with the demand of video data. Over the past 1-2 years, the video consumption on mobiles and tablets has skyrocketed. People are now using 3G data networks to stream videos from popular channels such as YouTube.

Opera’s Skyfire has released a report which states that more than half (56%) of Indian users on 3G networks suffer from stalling and re-buffering of videos. And this leads to super high video abandonment rates. Overall, 83% of users on 3G networks in India experience at least some kind of stalling when they watch videos.

Skyfire’s data also showed that on India’s 3G networks, 40% of all video streams ran at bitrates less than 300 kbps and these speeds are not suitable for video playback on mobile devices. In contrast, 3G networks in countries like the US ensure at least 1 mbps speed to their customers.



India’s 2G networks are even worse. Over 99% of users experience lag or stalling while trying to stream videos. Operators must start improving their 3G network coverage and speeds as soon as possible. Otherwise, this will turn into a mess. As smartphones are now available on a budget, people are rapidly migrating from 2G to 3G networks. Although the demand is increasing steadily, the supply side is falling behind. We are just hoping that some of the bigger networks such as Reliance, Airtel and Vodafone will take note of the situation and will guarantee adequate speed.