Ubigi, Transatel’s global eSIM connectivity service, part of the NTT Group, highlights a key finding from Ookla’s latest analysis of travel eSIMs: connecting to the same local mobile network does not necessarily deliver the same experience. Once a signal is established, the route data takes to reach its Internet breakout point can significantly affect latency and connection responsiveness.
Using Speedtest data collected in the second quarter of 2026 from Android devices across approximately 190 destination countries, Ookla analysed more than 50 travel eSIM brands, their underlying wholesale networks and their Internet breakout points. The analysis found that, for the least favourable brand-and-destination combinations, latency could be up to 30 times higher than that experienced by local mobile users connected to the same network.
The local network is only the beginning of the journey
When a traveller uses an eSIM, their data does not necessarily reach the Internet in the country they are visiting. It may be routed to a packet gateway located in another region. The longer the detour, the greater the potential increase in response time, with noticeable effects on video calls, voice calls, online gaming, and other interactive applications.
Ookla’s analysis illustrates this effect on the same Japanese network: median latency ranged from 54ms with local routing to 543ms when traffic was routed through Madrid, despite identical radio conditions. This shows that network architecture and the location of Internet breakout points can matter just as much as the mobile network displayed on the user’s phone.
Ubigi records a median download speed of 75.89Mbps
In the analysis, Ubigi recorded a median download speed of 75.89Mbps. Ookla also found that 62% of the Ubigi samples measured used 5G, the highest proportion among the major brands included in the analysis.
Ubigi is powered by the global core network of Transatel, an NTT Group company. Its architecture is built around seven packet gateways (P-GWs), strategically located across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. This footprint enables data to be routed through an Internet breakout point close to the user, with no detour via a network on the other side of the world, for a more responsive connection.
Smart IP: choosing an IP location without changing how data is routed
This architecture also enables Ubigi to offer Smart IP, a unique feature that separates the location of the IP address from the actual route taken by the data. Residents of France, Canada, Belgium, Japan, Australia, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom can use the Ubigi app to choose between a local IP address in the country they are visiting and an IP address from their country of residence.
Unlike a VPN, this choice does not add any detour to the traffic: data continues to use the breakout point selected by Transatel’s optimised infrastructure. Travellers can therefore access services in the country they are visiting or continue using their usual services, without affecting the transit path of their data.
Making the journey beyond the signal easier to understand
“An eSIM is about more than the number of gigabytes included or the name of the local network. The user experience also depends on the actual route taken by the data once the connection has been established. Ookla’s analysis brings this technical layer into view and confirms the importance of an operator architecture designed on a global scale,” said Marie-Julie Le GuenHead of Ubigi.
For Ubigi, the analysis highlights the need for the industry to provide travellers with clearer information on factors that remain largely invisible: actual 5G access, any speed-throttling policy, the location of Internet breakout points and the provider’s ability to manage its own network architecture.
Three key figures
- Up to 30 times higher latency for certain travel eSIM and network combinations than for local users on the same network
- 75.89Mbps median download speed measured for Ubigi
- 62% of the Ubigi samples measured on 5G, the highest proportion among the major brands studied
