UAE, Saudi Arabia are the worse for mobile internet connection speeds

The United Arab Emirates(UAE) has the world’s slowest mobile download speed and its neighbour, Saudi Arabia, is not much better, coming in a close second-to last, according to research carried out by the internet search giant Google.
 
The emirates have an average speed of 26.7 seconds, with Saudi Arabia offering a mere 21.2 seconds, making the two Gulf nations the world’s ninth and 10th slowest, and barely comparing to the next slowest, Thailand with 17.4 seconds.

Google measured web page load speeds on desktop computers and mobile devices in 50 countries with the fastest internet connections, according to a Bloomberg report.

At the other end of the scale, South Korea has stormed in with an impressive 4.8 seconds, making it the world’s fastest for mobile speed. Denmark came in a close second boasting 5.2 seconds and Hong Kong 5.9 seconds, according to the Bloomberg report which cited Google's study.

On the plus side, no country from the Middle East or North Africa has featured in the tables for desktop speeds.

The worse for these were India, measuring 15.1 seconds, the Philippines on a slightly worse 15.4 seconds and Indonesia, barely crawling in with a shameful 20.3 seconds.

The country deemed to have the fastest loading speed was a surprise. Averaging a blazing fast 3.3 seconds, the Slovak Republic outraced developed nations like South Korea (3.5 seconds), Netherlands (3.9 seconds), Japan (4 seconds) and Denmark (4.3 seconds).

Here’s the complete list of the top and bottom 10 countries both in desktop and mobile speeds for loading web pages, according to Google:

Top 10 in Desktop Speeds (in seconds)

1. Slovak Republic (3.3)

2. South Korea (3.5)

3. Czech Republic (3.7)

4. Netherlands (3.9)

5. Japan (4)

6. Denmark (4.3)

7. Switzerland (4.3)

8. Sweden (4.5)

9. Belgium (4.6)

10. Norway (4.8)

Bottom 10 in Desktop Speeds (in seconds)

• Chile (10)

• Colombia (10.2)

• Peru (11.7)

• Brazil (11.8)

• Argentina (12.8)

• Malaysia (14.3)

• Venezuela (14.9)

• India (15.1)

• Philippines (15.4)

• Indonesia (20.3)

Top 10 in Mobile Speeds (in seconds)

1. South Korea (4.8)

2. Denmark (5.2)

3. Hong Kong (5.9)

4. Norway (6)

5. Sweden (6.1)

6. Estonia (6.2)

7. Czech Republic (6.3)

8. Japan (6.4)

9. Romania (7.5)

10. Slovak Republic (7.6)

Bottom 10 in Mobile Speeds (in seconds)

• Malaysia (12.7)

• Indonesia (12.9)

• Singapore (12.9)

• Mexico (14.1)

• Brazil (15.8)

• Argentina (16.3)

• India (16.4)

• Thailand (17.4)

• Saudi Arabia (21.2)

• United Arab Emirates (26.7)

The report noted that the United States was somewhere in the middle. “On the desktop, it took an average of 5.7 seconds. On a mobile device it took 9.2 seconds to load, which for many folks here, feels like an eternity,” it said.