WhereNext Open Data · Beyond Speedtest

Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026

Speed tests tell you the peak. This index tells you whether your 9pm client call survives. 95 countries ranked on a composite infrastructure score (World Bank internet-use + fixed-broadband adoption), with a remote-work reliability layer for 49: peak-hour video-call quality, power-outage frequency, and where you'll need a backup eSIM.

CC BY 4.095 countries49 reliability-ratedJSON APICSV

Press headline · permalink

In 16 of 49 reliability-rated countries, remote workers need a backup eSIM to survive peak-hour congestion or power cuts — and even Germany, scoring 96 of 100 on raw digital infrastructure, sees video calls stutter at peak, in WhereNext's 2026 Digital Infrastructure Index across 95 countries

Copy with attribution: “In 16 of 49 reliability-rated countries, remote workers need a backup eSIM to survive peak-hour congestion or power cuts — and even Germany, scoring 96 of 100 on raw digital infrastructure, sees video calls stutter at peak, in WhereNext's 2026 Digital Infrastructure Index across 95 countries” — WhereNext, as of 2026-06-24

Quick answer

Across 95 countries, the strongest digital infrastructure in 2026 is Denmark, Netherlands, Norway — near-perfect on internet-use and fixed-broadband adoption. But the most common remote-work complaint is "fast on paper, dies at peak." We flag 6 fast-but-fragile countries (strong score, weak peak-hour or frequent outages, led by Germany) and a 16-country "carry a backup eSIM" shortlist. Infrastructure score from World Bank adoption indicators; reliability layer is WhereNext curated research for 49 countries. CC BY 4.0.

Key facts

Top infrastructure: Denmark score 100/100. Top 5: Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland.
6 "fast but fragile" strong score (70+) but a peak-hour or outage caveat: Germany (96), Greece (88), Italy (77), Argentina (72), Croatia (70), Georgia (70).
16 need a backup eSIM weak peak-hour reliability or occasional-to-frequent outages — a layered setup is the realistic way to work.
Reliability layer: 49/95 countries peak-hour Zoom quality, power outages, mobile/eSIM fallback. The rest are score-only (shown honestly).
Open data: CC BY 4.0 World Bank adoption indicators + curated reliability research. Free to cite.

Index provenance · Source: World Bank internet-use + fixed-broadband indicators + WhereNext curated reliability research · Last verified Jun 24, 2026

Will your remote work survive there?

Speed tables tell you the peak. Pick the country you're weighing to see whether your 9 pm client call actually holds — peak-hour call quality, outage risk, and whether you'll need a backup eSIM.

Thinking of moving to

⚠ Workable with a backup· Germany

Peak-hour (9pm) video callsMixed

Power outagesRare

Carry a backup eSIM?Not essential

Locals complain aboutNotoriously slow fibre rollout for a G7 country; many buildings still on VDSL. Mobile data plans are expensive vs neighbours; prefer fixed line + bumped speed.

Infrastructure score: World Bank internet-use + broadband adoption. Reliability layer: WhereNext curated research (Speedtest city percentiles, r/digitalnomad recurring complaints) for 49 countries — qualitative, not an official per-country figure. Checked 2026-06-24.

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Fast on paper, fragile in practice

These countries score 70+ on raw infrastructure but carry a peak-hour or power caveat — the headline number oversells the day-to-day for someone on client calls.

Germany — score 96/100, but calls stutters at peak and outages are rare. Notoriously slow fibre rollout for a G7 country; many buildings still on VDSL. Mobile data plans are expensive vs neighbours; prefer fixed line + bumped speed.
Greece — score 88/100, but calls stutters at peak and outages are occasional. Fibre rolling out fast since 2024 EU funding kicked in. Outside Athens / Thessaloniki, expect 50-100 Mbps as the realistic ceiling. Power outages on islands during summer storm season.
Italy — score 77/100, but calls stutters at peak and outages are occasional. Major cities have FTTH; rural coverage drops off fast. Older buildings frequently need a TV-to-LAN adapter to push fibre to the apartment.
Argentina — score 72/100, but calls stutters at peak and outages are frequent. Buenos Aires summer brownouts are routine (Dec-Feb). Fibertel / Telecentro fibre is decent in BA; rural areas are unreliable.
Croatia — score 70/100, but calls stutters at peak and outages are occasional. Coastal cities have reliable summer infrastructure but winter storm outages are common; Zagreb is the most consistent year-round.
Georgia — score 70/100, but calls holds up at peak and outages are occasional. Tbilisi has excellent fibre; outside the capital, 4G LTE is the backbone. Power infrastructure is improving; older buildings may have unreliable wiring.

Where you'll want a backup eSIM

16 countries where weak peak-hour reliability or frequent power cuts make a layered setup (home line + mobile eSIM + coworking) the realistic way to keep working.

GreeceItalyArgentinaCroatiaGeorgiaCosta RicaTurkeyThailandBrazilMexicoVietnamMoroccoColombiaPhilippinesSouth AfricaIndonesia

How to read this index

Score ≠ guarantee. The 0–100 score is a modelled composite of public World Bank adoption indicators, not a live speed test in your building.
A score of 0 means limited data, not the absence of infrastructure. Those rows are flagged.
Reliability covers 49 of 95. Where we don't have a curated reliability read, the cell shows “—” rather than a guess.
Always verify before signing a lease: run a local speed test at peak hour and confirm in-building wiring — advertised “fiber” doesn't always reach the desk.

#	Country	Region	Score	Tier	Peak-hour calls	Power outages	eSIM backup
1	Denmark	Europe	100	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
2	Netherlands	Europe	100	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
3	Norway	Europe	100	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
4	South Korea	Asia	100	World-class	Holds up	Never	Optional
5	Switzerland	Europe	100	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
6	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	99	World-class	—	—	—
7	Belgium	Europe	98	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
8	Canada	Americas	96	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
9	Germany⚠	Europe	96	World-class	Stutters	Rare	Optional
10	United Kingdom	Europe	96	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
11	Hong Kong	Asia	95	World-class	Holds up	Never	Optional
12	Luxembourg	Europe	95	World-class	—	—	—
13	Malta	Europe	95	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
14	Sweden	Europe	95	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
15	Iceland	Europe	94	World-class	—	—	—
16	United Arab Emirates	Middle East	94	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
17	Estonia	Europe	93	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
18	Australia	Oceania	92	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
19	China	Asia	92	World-class	—	—	—
20	France	Europe	92	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
21	Spain	Europe	90	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
22	United States	Americas	90	World-class	Holds up	Rare	Optional
23	New Zealand	Oceania	89	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
24	Portugal	Europe	89	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
25	Greece⚠	Europe	88	Strong	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
26	Cyprus	Europe	87	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
27	Finland	Europe	87	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
28	Hungary	Europe	87	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
29	Ireland	Europe	87	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
30	Taiwan	Asia	84	Strong	—	—	—
31	Austria	Europe	83	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
32	Czechia	Europe	83	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
33	Uruguay	Americas	83	Strong	—	—	—
34	Japan	Asia	82	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
35	Romania	Europe	82	Strong	—	—	—
36	Slovenia	Europe	82	Strong	—	—	—
37	Singapore	Asia	81	Strong	Holds up	Never	Optional
38	Slovakia	Europe	81	Strong	—	—	—
39	Montenegro	Europe	80	Strong	—	—	—
40	Italy⚠	Europe	77	Strong	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
41	Latvia	Europe	77	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
42	Bulgaria	Europe	76	Strong	—	—	—
43	Chile	Americas	76	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
44	Lithuania	Europe	76	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
45	North Macedonia	Europe	76	Strong	—	—	—
46	Israel	Middle East	75	Strong	Holds up	Rare	Optional
47	Bahrain	Middle East	73	Strong	—	—	—
48	Serbia	Europe	73	Strong	—	—	—
49	Argentina⚠	Americas	72	Strong	Stutters	Frequent	Recommended
50	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	70	Strong	—	—	—
51	Croatia⚠	Europe	70	Strong	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
52	Georgia⚠	Other	70	Strong	Holds up	Occasional	Recommended
53	Poland	Europe	69	Adequate	—	—	—
54	Malaysia	Asia	67	Adequate	Holds up	Rare	Optional
55	Qatar	Middle East	67	Adequate	—	—	—
56	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	67	Adequate	—	—	—
57	Costa Rica	Americas	66	Adequate	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
58	Turkey	Other	66	Adequate	Holds up	Occasional	Recommended
59	Mauritius	Africa	65	Adequate	—	—	—
60	Thailand	Asia	65	Adequate	Holds up	Occasional	Recommended
61	Brazil	Americas	64	Adequate	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
62	Oman	Middle East	64	Adequate	—	—	—
63	Albania	Europe	63	Adequate	—	—	—
64	Jamaica	Americas	63	Adequate	—	—	—
65	Moldova	Europe	63	Adequate	—	—	—
66	Mexico	Americas	60	Adequate	Holds up	Occasional	Recommended
67	Vietnam	Asia	59	Adequate	Holds up	Occasional	Recommended
68	Jordan	Middle East	57	Adequate	—	—	—
69	Kuwait	Middle East	55	Adequate	—	—	—
70	Mongolia	Asia	55	Adequate	—	—	—
71	Dominican Republic	Americas	54	Adequate	—	—	—
72	Morocco	Africa	54	Adequate	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
73	Colombia	Americas	53	Adequate	Stutters	Occasional	Recommended
74	Ecuador	Americas	47	Adequate	—	—	—
75	Peru	Americas	47	Adequate	—	—	—
76	Panama	Americas	45	Adequate	—	—	—
77	Egypt	Africa	43	Limited	—	—	—
78	Philippines	Asia	43	Limited	Stutters	Frequent	Recommended
79	Tunisia	Africa	42	Limited	—	—	—
80	South Africa	Africa	40	Limited	Stutters	Frequent	Recommended
81	Fiji	Oceania	35	Limited	—	—	—
82	Indonesia	Asia	33	Limited	Stutters	Frequent	Recommended
83	Cambodia	Asia	30	Limited	—	—	—
84	Ghana	Africa	30	Limited	—	—	—
85	Laos	Asia	25	Limited	—	—	—
86	Guatemala	Americas	22	Limited	—	—	—
87	India	Asia	22	Limited	—	—	—
88	Sri Lanka	Asia	22	Limited	—	—	—
89	Nepal	Asia	14	Limited	—	—	—
90	Bangladesh	Asia	12	Limited	—	—	—
91	Kenya	Africa	—	Limited data	—	—	—
92	Myanmar	Asia	—	Limited data	—	—	—
93	Nigeria	Africa	—	Limited data	—	—	—
94	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	—	Limited data	—	—	—
95	Rwanda	Africa	—	Limited data	—	—	—

Ranked by infrastructure score (descending). “Peak-hour calls” = how video calls hold up at 18:00–22:00. “—” means no curated reliability read for that country yet (score-only). ⚠ marks fast-but-fragile countries.

Remote-work internet, answered

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the internet good enough for remote work in [country]?▾

Raw speed is only half the answer. This index pairs each country's infrastructure score (World Bank internet-use and fixed-broadband adoption) with a remote-work reliability read: whether video calls hold up at peak hours (18:00–22:00), how often the power cuts, and how good the mobile/eSIM fallback is. A country can rank high on speed yet still drop your 9pm call — that's exactly what the reliability columns expose.

Why doesn't this just rank countries by internet speed?▾

Because speed tests measure the peak under ideal conditions, and the most common remote-work complaint is 'fast on paper, dies at peak hours' — shared-bandwidth congestion that freezes Zoom in the evening. Headline Mbps is already published by Ookla and reprinted everywhere. The value here is the lived reliability layer that speed tables can't show.

Which countries look fast but are actually fragile?▾

We flag 'fast but fragile' countries — a strong infrastructure score (70+) combined with a peak-hour or power-outage caveat. These are the places where the headline number oversells the day-to-day experience for someone on client calls.

Where do I need to carry a backup eSIM?▾

We surface a 'needs a backup eSIM' shortlist: countries where peak-hour reliability is weak or power outages are occasional-to-frequent, so a layered setup (home line + mobile eSIM + coworking) is the realistic way to keep working. Each country lists the recommended local eSIM providers.

How fresh is this and can I reuse it?▾

The infrastructure score draws on the latest World Bank internet-use and fixed-broadband indicators; the reliability layer is curated research refreshed for 2026. It's published under CC BY 4.0 with free JSON and CSV downloads — reuse it with attribution to WhereNext.

Methodology

Infrastructure score (0–100): the WhereNext scoring engine's infrastructure dimension — World Bank internet users (IT.NET.USER.ZS, weighted 60%) and fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 people (IT.NET.BBND.P2, weighted 40%). Normalised across 95 countries.
Why not just speed? Headline Mbps measures the peak under ideal conditions. The most common remote-work failure is peak-hour congestion — fast on paper, frozen at 8pm. The reliability layer captures that lived experience.
Reliability layer (49 countries): curated research on peak-hour (18:00–22:00) video-call quality, power-outage frequency, mobile/eSIM fallback, coworking density, and the recurring local complaint — drawn from Speedtest city percentiles, r/digitalnomad recurring threads, NomadList, and coworking-space counts.
“Fast but fragile”: infrastructure score ≥ 70 combined with a non-“good” peak-hour grade or occasional-to-frequent outages.
“Needs a backup eSIM”: weak peak-hour reliability or occasional-to-frequent power outages.
Honesty: a 0 score is shown as “limited data”; countries without a curated reliability read show “—”, never a fabricated grade.

Directional data for relocation planning, not a service-level guarantee. Full methodology

Comparing two destinations for remote work?

See infrastructure side-by-side with cost, tax, and safety — then check whether your 9pm calls will actually hold up.

Best-infrastructure ranking Compare two countries →

How to cite this data:

WhereNext. "Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026." getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026. Accessed 2026-06-24.

Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Free to use with attribution.

Suggested citation

CC BY 4.0

This dataset is free to redistribute, quote, and embed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. The composite form below preserves source lineage so AI assistants can cite both WhereNext and the underlying institutional publishers.

WhereNext composite (lineage)

WhereNext composite — Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026 (2026-06-24). Derived from: World Bank Open Data — internet users (IT.NET.USER.ZS) and fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 (IT.NET.BBND.P2); WhereNext curated reliability research (Speedtest percentiles, r/digitalnomad, NomadList, coworking counts). Available at https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

APA

WhereNext. (2026). Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026. Retrieved from https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

MLA

WhereNext. "Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026." WhereNext, 24 Jun 2026, https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. Accessed via https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation. CC BY 4.0.

BibTeX

@misc{wherenext_getwherenext_com_data_digital_infrastructure_index_2026,
  author = {{WhereNext}},
  title = {Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

HTML link

<a href="https://getwherenext.com/data/digital-infrastructure-index-2026?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=citation&utm_campaign=data-citation">WhereNext &mdash; Digital Infrastructure & Remote-Work Reliability Index 2026</a>

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