Australia has the fastest 4G Internet speed in the world. While the Philippines was named the slowest in OpenSignal's state of LTE speed and coverage worldwide. The report revealed that contrary to popular belief, not all LTE networks have the same performance.

OpenSignal is a British research firm that used data from Apple's iOS and Google's Android apps installed on the LTE-capable devices of 6 million users around the world.

The report showed 4G performance of networks in the different countries greatly vary with some service providers showing a decrease in 4G download speeds in 2013. In the U.S., 4G download speeds have dropped to 6.5 mbps in 2013 from 9.6 mbps in the second half of 2012. No particular operator was blamed for the reduction in download speeds. But it was noted in the report that the U.S. networks performed poorly.

The Philippines had the slowest download average speed of 5.3 mbps. In contrast, Australia's 4G networks have the fastest 4G speed but the patchy coverage lets subscribers or users experience those download speeds at least 58 percent of the time.

According to OpenSignal, Australians download at 4G speeds of 24.5 mbps. Brazil, Italy and Hong Kong with average speeds of 21 mbps to 22 mbps.

In the past three years, mobile carriers have upgraded 3G networks to 4G or the long term evolution (LTE) standard to meet the growing Internet demands of users with smartphones and tablets. Users often subscribe to 4G services to get faster Internet speeds but some carriers in countries offer the service to users with 4G-capable devices.

Telstra was the first mobile carrier to launch its 4G network in September 2011 as rivals Vodafone and Optus soon followed. According to OpenSignal's report, Australia has 4.5 million 4G subscribers.

Telstra Corp. has spent AU$1.3 billion in upgrading its mobile network and AU$2.9 billion on mobile devices, including iPhones from Apple Inc. The largest mobile company in Australia also invested AU$1.2 billion worth of new spectrum to meet increasing demand for wireless services.

Telstra CEO David Thodey has switched to high-speed 4G service in 2011 to beat competitors Vodafine Hutchison Australia Pty. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.