Low Speed of Fixed Internet Remains a Challenge in Georgia – World Bank

According to a study carried out by the World Bank, despite the progress made in recent years, low fixed internet speed remains a significant challenge in Georgia. The analysis showed that the median download speed in Georgia was approximately 20 Mbps as of July 2024, compared to 150 Mbps in European Union countries. The results of the analysis of fixed broadband services were presented by the World Bank's digital development specialist Himmat Singh Sandhu during a meeting with representatives of the government and the telecom sector. According to the World Bank study, 93% of speed test results for Georgia showed speeds below 30 Mbps, compared to 80% for Armenia, 90% for Azerbaijan, 43% for Moldova, and 74% for Ukraine. According to the World Bank specialist, the development of infrastructure is critically important to solve this problem, as evidenced by the increase in internet speeds in the fibre-optic infrastructure zones built by Open Net as part of the State Internetization Programme.

As of 2025, 12 internet providers and 2 mobile operators are providing services to more than 60,000 residents and more than 100 schools in 12 locations using the Open Net infrastructure. Furthermore, the growth rate of fixed internet speeds in 10 of these 12 locations significantly exceeded the national average growth rate of 10% between 2021 and 2025: Abasha – 39%, Ambrolauri – 85%, Baghdati – 27%, Chokhatauri – 6%, Kobuleti – 15%, Lentekhi – 64%, Oni – 84%, Ozurgeti – 14%, Samtredia – 4%, Tkibuli – 36%, Tsageri – 58%, Tskaltubo – 14%.

According to the analysis conducted by the World Bank, the challenges related to fixed broadband speeds in Georgia are also evident through the results of internet speed testing of educational institutions, medical centres, as well as financial and public institutions. The internet speeds of business subscribers rarely exceeded 30 Mbps. According to the EU standards, these institutions should have a connection of at least 1 Gbps.

The study also showed that as of 2024, the highest median speed of fixed broadband (29 Mbps) was recorded in Tbilisi and increased by an average of 13% per year from 2021. Samtskhe-Javakheti accounted for the highest growth rate in the regions (39%), increasing from 8 Mbps to 22 Mbps in 2021. It is worth noting that in 2024, major fixed network operators increased the fixed internet speeds for subscribers and replaced the most commonly used 30 Mbps package with 50 Mbps. Nevertheless, according to the study conducted by the World Bank, fixed internet speeds in remain a challenge in Georgia.

In addition to fixed internet, the study also included an analysis of mobile internet services, according to which, mobile internet speeds are characterised by sharp growth since the end of 2024. This is due to the three 5G auctions held by ComCom, and the introduction of 5G technology by all three major operators. Therefore, in contrast to fixed internet, Georgia leads the region in terms of mobile internet speeds. This is evidenced by the fact that the average annual growth rate of mobile internet services in Tbilisi and the regions amounted to 53% between 2021 and 2024, while the growth rate for fixed services was only 17%.

The World Bank team conducted the study using internet speed test data collected by Ookla. In addition to Georgia, a similar analysis was conducted in Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. The analysis is based on the median of 7 million tests conducted between January 2021 and the end of 2024 for both mobile and fixed broadband internet services.

Along with the World Bank representative, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Communications Commission, the State Internetization Programme Open Net, the European Union Representation in Georgia, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Solidarity Fund PL in Georgia (SFPL), as well as Sakpatenti and the Association of Telecom Operators of Georgia.