MedUX has released its 2024 benchmark report on 5G performance across 10 European capitals. The comprehensive research reveals that Berlin not only leads the way in data and OTT experience, but also provides the overall finest quality of experience in Europe, with a score of 4.69 out of 5.
The research consisted of drive tests conducted during Q2 and Q3 2023 across 10 major cities across Europe, covering a population of over 25 million people. The drive test cars covered more than 4,000 kilometres, to understand how mobile operators cover European capitals with 5G services.
Berlin named the best place in Europe to browse the web, transfer data and game
According to the report, Berlin is a clear frontrunner for Data and OTT experiences, with very high network reliability and web browsing loading times of less than 1,550 milliseconds. This means that 5G in the German capital is typically faster than in other cities by between 5 – 25%.
In terms of overall reliability, Milan leads the way. The city has the most consistent network performance, with 99.91% successful Internet Sessions, closely followed by Barcelona (99.82%), and Berlin is fifth overall (99.56%). Paris and Berlin have both been revealed as the best places to stream in. Both cities have 100% reliability rates in streaming sessions, and the fastest time-to-play at 1.5s, meaning that citizens start enjoying streaming contents up to 20% quicker than in other cities.
Portugal leads in overall 5G coverage and speed
Across Europe, Porto has the best 5G coverage, with over 90% technology registration, followed by Berlin with 89.62% registration rate. In terms of speeds, Lisbon secured first place both in 5G download and upload speeds. The typical (median) download speed in Lisbon was above 537 Mbps, and the typical upload speed was above 53 Mbps. Porto ranks as the second city in terms of download and upload speeds but is slower than Lisbon by 15% and 33%, respectively.
This European report comes out a few weeks after the London report. This European report signals that London is behind the rest of Europe, ranking tenth in the report’s overall mobile experience ranking.
“Today’s interconnected digital society places increasing pressures on operators across the globe to provide seamless experiences for consumers. 5G rollouts remain strong, as does competition between operators aiming to deliver consistent, reliable, high-quality service to their end users. Our latest research showcases how much disparity exists amongst 5G networks. It enables telecommunications operators, regulatory authorities and service providers to understand – from a consumer perspective – the true performance of 5G network”, commented Rafael González, CMO at MedUX.
“Our report reveals that a consistent experience across services and applications is paramount. Speed is not the critical factor, and the telecoms industry must adapt to meet the actual needs and priorities of the end user. We look forward to seeing operators use our findings when planning, deploying, monitoring, and optimising 5G networks, to the great benefit of their customers.”
The best is yet to come…
Current 5G networks mostly use NSA EN-DC (TDD in n78 and FDD in n28). Real 5G, Stand-Alone (SA) (TDD in n78) is quickly becoming the norm in some cities. Reliability, response times and interactivity will be boosted by 5G SA. However, SA 5G network deployments may take some months to take off on a large scale across Europe.
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