Ookla study says travel eSIM routing can make the same network feel very different

Ubigi is highlighting Ookla’s second-quarter 2026 travel eSIM analysis, which found that routing and internet breakout points can have a bigger effect on latency than the local mobile network itself. The study measured Ubigi’s median download speed at 75.89 Mbps and found 62% of its samples were on 5G, the highest share among major brands reviewed.

Why it matters: - Travel eSIM buyers often focus on the local carrier name, but network routing can shape real-world speed, latency and app responsiveness more than the radio signal itself. - That matters for video calls, voice calls, gaming and other interactive services that are sensitive to delay. - The study suggests travelers may not get the same experience even when they connect to the same local mobile network.

What happened: - Ubigi, Transatel’s global eSIM service and part of NTT Group, highlighted findings from Ookla’s latest travel eSIM analysis. - Ookla used Speedtest data from the second quarter of 2026 collected from Android devices in about 190 destination countries. - The analysis covered more than 50 travel eSIM brands, their underlying wholesale networks and their internet breakout points. - Ookla found that, in the least favorable brand-and-destination combinations, latency could be up to 30 times higher than for local mobile users on the same network.

The details: - On one Japanese network, Ookla measured median latency of 54 ms with local routing and 543 ms when traffic was routed through Madrid, even though radio conditions were the same. - Ubigi recorded a median download speed of 75.89 Mbps in the analysis. - Ookla found that 62% of Ubigi samples were measured on 5G, the highest proportion among the major brands included in the study. - Ubigi says its service uses Transatel’s global core network and seven packet gateways located across Europe, Asia, North America and South America. - Ubigi says that footprint lets traffic break out closer to the user instead of taking a detour through another region. - Ubigi’s Smart IP feature lets eligible users in France, Canada, Belgium, Japan, Australia, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and the United Kingdom choose between a local IP address in the country they are visiting and an IP address from their country of residence. - Ubigi says Smart IP changes the IP location without changing the route taken by the data, unlike a VPN. - The company says the feature lets travelers access local services or keep using familiar services without affecting transit path. - Ubigi was launched by Transatel in 2017 and offers prepaid 4G/5G mobile internet plans in more than 200 destinations. - Ubigi says it serves travelers, mobile professionals and connected-vehicle users at near-local rates. - Ubigi says it works on SIM- and eSIM-compatible devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, SD-WAN routers and connected vehicles from BMW, Stellantis, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover. - Ookla said the analysis used travel eSIM sessions identified through SIM profile provider and home network code, excluded VPN tests and applied minimum sample-size thresholds for published figures. - The source study is the full report. - Ubigi’s corporate information is available at the company’s announcement.

Between the lines: - The findings shift attention from advertised plan size and local carrier access to the less visible architecture behind the connection. - Ubigi is using the report to argue that travel connectivity should be judged by actual routing, 5G access, throttling policies and gateway location, not just network branding. - The study also shows why two users on the same named network can still have very different experiences depending on where their data is broken out to the internet.

What’s next: - Ubigi is likely to keep leaning on routing architecture and Smart IP as differentiators in the travel eSIM market. - The broader industry may face more pressure to disclose breakout location, throttling terms and real 5G access more clearly. - Travelers can expect more scrutiny of whether a plan is optimized for speed, latency or convenience rather than just coverage.

The bottom line: - In travel eSIMs, the network name is only part of the story. The path data takes after connection can decide whether the user gets a smooth experience or a sluggish one.