Shanghai's Internet fastest on the mainland

Shanghai's household and mobile broadband speeds were the fastest of any city on the Chinese mainland in the second quarter thanks to network upgrades and improved 4G coverage, according to a report by the industry regulator.

The average download speed in homes was 24.9 megabits per second and 23.9 Mbps for 4G mobile Internet — 16.8 percent and 18.2 percent above the national average respectively, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology said.

Beijing ranked second for household and mobile download speeds. Shandong Province was the third fastest for homes and Jiangsu Province the third fastest for mobiles.

Carriers such as China Telecom and China Mobile have invested heavily in upgrading their networks in Shanghai while Internet firms such as Alibaba and Tencent have also poured capital and resources into the city.

The development of Shanghai's fiber optic and 4G networks have intensified since 2016. As of last month, 86.8 percent of Shanghai households with Internet connections had fiber optic Internet access, the highest penetration in the world.