According to Yonhap News,
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Mobile Internet speeds in Seoul are the fastest among seven cities in the world, a survey by a U.S. mobile analytics firm showed on Tuesday.
In Seoul, a median download speed for the wireless network run by mobile carrier LG Uplus is 74.7 Mbps, followed by Madrid with 44.6 Mbps and Tokyo with 39 Mbps, according to the survey by RootMetrics.
London came fourth with 29.8 Mbps, followed by Paris with 29.7 Mbps, Dublin with 28.7 Mbps and New York with 23.7 Mbps.
The download speed by LG Uplus means that it takes about 1 minute for a user to download a song via smartphone.
Scott Brady, chief revenue officer at RootMetrics, told reporters that mobile network performance in Seoul is one of the fastest in the world.
The other two mobile carriers in Seoul -- SK Telecom and KT -- also received top grades for their mobile network performances, according to the survey.
RootMetrics released the survey as it made inroads into the South Korean market.
South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, which releases an annual survey about the quality of telecommunication services, raised concerns that tests conducted by the U.S. analytics firm may lead to unnecessary competition.
An official at the ministry said there would be a "discrepancy" between surveys by the Korean government and RootMertics because the U.S. firm's servers are located overseas.
"The government unveils a median figure after testing more than 100 times at a certain location, but this company conducted the survey for 15 days with one device in some parts of Seoul's neighboring area," the official said.
"As far as I know, foreign firms conduct this kind of survey to make inroads into the local market," the official said, adding that such a survey should be carried out by an institution with "credibility."
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Source: Yonhap News (Aug. 23, 2016)