Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 9, 2026

5G SA in 2026: Why Latency and Resilience are the New North Stars

Network Evolution

Mobile networks are entering a new phase in 2026. The focus has shifted from headline speed gains to how networks perform under  pressure. Operators and regulators are asking a more practical question: can networks deliver reliable, low-latency, resilient connectivity under real-world stress?

The stakes of that question become clear in high-pressure moments. A packed stadium where thousands of users try to upload video at the same time. A busy city center during peak commuting hours. An industrial facility running latency-sensitive robotics. A regional power outage where mobile networks become the last remaining communications layer. In each case, peak throughput matters less than consistency, responsiveness, and continuity.

5G Standalone (5G SA) sits at the center of the shift toward latency, resilience, and real-world performance. The standalone 5G architecture promises lower latency, stronger quality-of-service controls, and a foundation for 5G Advanced. Yet global rollout remains uneven, monetization remains challenging, and policy debates around resilience and sovereignty are reshaping how telecom infrastructure is governed. The state of 5G SA in 2026 reflects all of those tensions at once. 

For a deeper look at how these forces are playing out globally, watch our on-demand webinar, 5G Standalone in 2026: Global Performance, Monetization Momentum, and the New Era of Infrastructure Sovereignty.

5G SA Is Expanding, but the Global Gap Is Growing

5G Standalone removes the LTE anchor used in non-standalone (NSA) deployments and connects devices directly to a 5G core. That architectural shift reduces signaling overhead and gives operators greater control over latency, traffic management, and quality-of-service enforcement. In practical terms, it enables capabilities such as network slicing, uplink prioritization, and more predictable responsiveness.

Adoption levels, however, vary dramatically by region, and those differences have real performance and competitive consequences. According to Speedtest Intelligence data, China, for instance, has reached roughly 80% 5G SA sample share, reflecting nationwide commercial cores across major operators. India is approaching 50% penetration, though adoption is concentrated within one large operator. 

Meanwhile, the United States is nearing one-third SA share as carriers expand commercialization, while much of Europe remains in the low single digits, as operators continue prioritizing returns on earlier NSA investments.

Several structural factors shape SA adoption:

  • Core deployment complexity: Moving to a standalone core involves integration across cloud infrastructure, vendors, and operations—it is not as simple as switching on new software.
  • Device configuration: Even when handsets are SA-capable, firmware activation and carrier provisioning can delay actual SA usage.
  • Plan migration: Commercial rollout depends on operators actively migrating subscribers onto SA-enabled plans, which does not happen automatically.
  • Spectrum mix and aggregation: The balance between low-band spectrum for coverage and mid-band spectrum for capacity—combined with effective carrier aggregation—determines whether SA delivers meaningful performance gains.

Real-world penetration ultimately depends on how much subscriber traffic actually migrates onto standalone networks. While standalone 5G is clearly expanding, the gap between leading and lagging markets is widening—and that fragmentation will shape competitive dynamics heading into 2026.

Latency Is Where 5G SA Makes Its Most Meaningful Difference

Latency is where the benefits of 5G SA become most visible. Fast download speeds remain critical for everyday experiences like streaming high-resolution video, downloading large files, or loading rich web content. But many emerging and mission-critical applications depend on responsiveness as well—often referred to in technical standards as Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC)— including real-time cloud collaboration, remote control of industrial equipment, interactive gaming, and AR-assisted workflows. In those environments, lower and more consistent latency can matter as much as, or more than, peak throughput.

Globally, 5G SA delivered roughly a 23% reduction in median latency compared with NSA deployments. In some markets, the improvement was even more pronounced:

  • Hong Kong (~43% improvement vs. NSA): The standalone architecture reduced signaling overhead and delivered materially faster multi-server responsiveness.
  • France (~31% improvement vs. NSA): Routing traffic fully through the 5G core improved latency levels and consistency compared with NSA.

Download performance also remained strong on 5G SA, although speed gains often reflect spectrum strategy (i.e., carrier aggregation and mid-band usage) as much as architecture. In Q3 2025, several markets stood out:

  • UAE (~1.2 Gbps median SA download): Aggressive mid-band deployment and strong carrier aggregation pushed median speeds above 1 Gbps.
  • South Korea (>700 Mbps median SA download): Mature 3.5 GHz mid-band deployment continued to deliver strong, sustained throughput.
  • United States (>300 Mbps median SA download): Expanded multi-band standalone rollout translated into steady, measurable download improvements year-over-year.

However, architecture alone does not guarantee superior user experience. Performance outcomes still depend heavily on deployment decisions and optimization. Several factors explain why results can vary across operators and markets:

  • Spectrum mix and coverage balance: Heavy mid-band deployments boost capacity but can struggle indoors without complementary low-band support. Low-band improves reach but limits peak speed.
  • Carrier aggregation strategy: Without effective aggregation and uplink tuning, standalone gains can level off under heavier traffic loads.
  • Core placement and routing efficiency: CDN proximity, User Plane Function placement, and peering strategy directly affect end-to-end latency—sometimes more than radio conditions do.

In some markets, latency to major cloud-hosted services improved significantly under SA, while gaming latency showed little change in Europe. That gap highlights an important reality: improvements in the radio network do not automatically translate into consistent gains across every application unless optimized.

5G SA delivers measurable performance improvements—particularly in latency. The strongest results appear when core architecture, spectrum strategy, and routing decisions are aligned with real-world usage patterns.

Monetization Remains the Central Question

5G SA’s technical case continues to grow stronger: latency improves, uplink performance becomes more predictable, and download speeds increase. Core-level control becomes more granular. But technical progress does not automatically translate into commercial returns. The monetization challenge heading into 2026 varies sharply between consumer and enterprise segments

Consumer Monetization

For most consumers, network architecture is invisible. They notice when streaming buffers, downloads drag, or apps feel sluggish, but they also notice whether their everyday connectivity feels stable or unreliable. Speed matters, but stability and predictability shape trust over time.

5G SA slices or 5QI configurations can support experiences that users already value:

  • Stable uplink performance: Creators uploading high-resolution video or backing up large files expect transfers to complete without mid-stream drops.
  • Reliable hotspot use in congested venues: Travelers tethering laptops in airports or conferences need connections that remain usable under load.
  • Automatic continuity during broadband outages: 5G backup for home Wi-Fi provides tangible value when fiber or cable service fails, and standalone architecture can help operators manage those connections more predictably.

Improved uplink scheduling, congestion management, and quality-of-service controls can enable these outcomes. However, consumers rarely pay a premium specifically for “standalone” architecture. Monetization is typically attached to reliability features, backup services, or tier differentiation rather than to core network branding.

Enterprise Monetization

Enterprise buyers evaluate networks differently. The question is less about peak speed and more about operational impact. When latency spikes disrupt automated workflows or when connectivity drops affect distributed operations, the cost is measurable.

5G SA aligns more directly with enterprise requirements for URLLC, where industrial automation and robotics depend on consistent, predictable responsiveness:

  • Predictable low latency: Industrial automation and robotics depend on consistent responsiveness.
  • Network slicing and traffic isolation: Critical applications require guaranteed resources and separation from general network congestion.
  • Integration with private and hybrid deployments: Enterprises need interoperability with on-prem systems and edge infrastructure.
  • Defined accountability: Service-level guarantees and monitoring matter more than only speed metrics.

Enterprise buyers focus on performance guarantees and operational continuity—not on the underlying network architecture. They pay for performance commitments that protect their operations from outages and instability. In several markets, enterprise deployments are contributing a larger share of 5G revenue growth than consumer plans, particularly in private and hybrid network use cases.

For operators, the question heading into 2026 is how to translate standalone’s technical gains into repeatable revenue streams.

Infrastructure Sovereignty Is Reshaping Telecom Strategy

In 2025, telecom infrastructure was increasingly treated as strategic national infrastructure, alongside energy, transport, and cloud computing. A series of resilience events reinforced that shift. Regional power outages showed how quickly cellular uptime can degrade when grid supply fails. Subsea cable disruptions exposed transport vulnerabilities. Cloud outages demonstrated that software-layer failures can affect network availability even when radio sites remain operational.

Resilience now spans multiple layers:

  • Site-level power autonomy: Backup batteries and generators determine how long networks operate during outages.
  • Transport redundancy: Multi-path routing reduces single points of failure.
  • Core and orchestration reliability: Software resilience affects service continuity.
  • Cloud infrastructure dependencies: Hyperscale outages can cascade into network degradation.

Policy frameworks are evolving accordingly. In Europe, proposals such as the Digital Networks Act emphasize coordination, resilience, and infrastructure security. Cybersecurity reforms are tightening vendor scrutiny, and broader industrial strategies increasingly link telecom policy to AI competitiveness and supply chain stability. Other major markets are pursuing parallel strategies, though with different emphases:

  • China continues integrating domestic AI development with telecom infrastructure, reinforcing alignment between network deployment and national technology priorities.
  • India is accelerating efforts to build local network stack capabilities, reducing reliance on foreign vendors while expanding 5G coverage.
  • The United States remains focused on reshoring initiatives and supply chain security, particularly in core infrastructure and semiconductor ecosystems.
  • Gulf markets are linking AI readiness and national digitization goals to rapid 5G Advanced deployment timelines.

Telecom strategy increasingly intersects with national resilience planning, industrial policy, and long-term economic competitiveness.

5G Advanced Builds on SA—6G Remains Under Scrutiny

5G SA provides the architectural foundation for 5G Advanced, which expands capabilities through software-driven enhancements. Early commercial deployments are emerging across China and parts of the Gulf, with additional announcements expected in 2026.

5G Advanced aims to extend:

  • Stronger uplink performance: As AI tools, cloud collaboration, and content creation generate more upstream traffic, networks need to handle sustained uploads, not just fast downloads, with enhanced carrier aggregation in the uplink
  • Better energy efficiency: Operators face mounting cost and sustainability pressure as traffic grows and networks densify.
  • Deeper automation and analytics: More advanced network intelligence supports faster optimization, fault detection, and capacity planning.

At the same time, 6G discussions are accelerating. Standards work continues, with commercial deployments projected closer to 2030.

However, many operators are still navigating SA migration and monetization challenges. For several regions, 6G may represent an efficiency-driven evolution rather than a headline speed revolution.

The central 6G question may not be peak performance. It may be whether future networks align effectively with a broader ecosystem that now includes hyperscale cloud providers, neutral host operators, private wireless deployments, and non-terrestrial networks.

Tying It All Together

The mobile market heading into 2026 is shaped less by headline speed claims and more by how networks perform in real-world conditions. 5G SA has delivered measurable technical gains, particularly in latency, but commercial and operational outcomes now depend on how effectively operators deploy, optimize, and position those capabilities.

Performance consistency, resilience under disruption, and alignment with enterprise and national infrastructure priorities are increasingly central to how networks are evaluated. The next phase of competition will be determined not just by faster radios, but by how well operators translate architectural progress into durable value.

For a deeper discussion of standalone performance trends, monetization tradeoffs, and the policy shifts shaping 2026, watch the full webinar on-demand.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Network Evolution
Network Resilience
5G SA

About the author

Dave Andersen

Dave Andersen is a Marketing Program Manager at Ookla, where he creates enterprise and consumer content across Ookla’s brands. Dave got his start in the telco space in 2012, producing content for RootMetrics. Dave has a bachelors in marketing from Washington State University and studied creative writing in Oklahoma State’s MFA program.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 4, 2026

T-Mobile and Ookla Execs Discuss the Importance of Single-Digit Latency in the AI Era

T-Mobile

With 6G networks of the future, every millisecond will matter. 

Mobile networks are likely to be under pressure to meet the growing demands of multimodal applications as well as expanding requirements of AI over the coming years. Latency plays a key role in meeting these new demands and as operators migrate from non-standalone 5G (NSA) to standalone 5G (SA) and 5G advanced, they are engineering their networks to make them more responsive.

During a panel hosted by Ookla at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 3, Luke Kehoe, industry analyst at Ookla, moderated a discussion on latency and network responsiveness featuring Ankur Kapoor, EVP and  chief network officer at T-Mobile US and Tibor Rathonyi, senior advisor at Ookla. 

Kapoor noted that because NSA networks still rely on a 4G core, these two network technologies have to talk back-and-forth with each other, which keeps latency on the high side. Because SA networks eliminate that extra communications, latency becomes much more consistent from the device to the network core. Add Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput  (L4S) to 5G SA and you have a network that is much more amenable to latency-sensitive applications such as video calls and gaming.

T-Mobile launched the first nationwide SA network in the U.S. in 2020 and then expanded SA to its 2.5 GHz spectrum in late 2022. The company launched nationwide 5G-Advanced in April 2025 and added L4S capability  in July 2025.

“You want to have is consistent latency. You don’t want to have any peaks and valleys,” Kapoor said. 

Rathonyi noted that Ookla’s network measurement tools are able to measure latency, both at idle and under load, and the quality of experience for different types of services such as gaming and web browsing. 

“We see in our data that latency has a strong correlation to quality of experience,” Rathonyl said, adding that once networks get to single-digital latencies, it’s nearly an instantaneous experience for the end user. 

However, this is just the beginning. Kapoor noted that he believes that 6G will be an “architectural shift” for wireless networks and will have to be AI native. “That’s where the industry is headed,” he noted. 

“Training Wheels for 6G”

In fact, Kapoor describes the SA networks of today as the “training wheels” for the 6G networks of the future because 6G networks will not just be processing bits and bytes like 4G and 5G networks but will act as the “connective tissue” for physical AI.  

What does he mean by “connective tissue?”  Kapoor said he believes 6G will be processing “tokens.” In the AI world, a token is a basic unit of information that a model processes. AI models break down data into chunks, or tokens. 

And when networks start processing AI tokens, uplink and latency become more important, Kapoor said. “Now every millisecond matters,” he said. 

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

T-Mobile
L4S
Mobile World Congress 2026

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 3, 2026

Converged Networks Deliver Stickier Customers and Seamless Experiences, Panelists say

Telecom leaders from AT&T, BT, Comcast and Rakuten joined Ookla in a panel discussion on the benefits of convergence at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona.

Convergence—a telecom industry buzzword from the 1990s— is experiencing a revival. While the 1990s version of convergence referred to the combination of telephone, television and computing, the 2026 version applies to the merging of fixed, wireless, Wi-Fi, and satellite. Regardless of the services being converged, the goals today remain very similar to those of the past. 

During a panel hosted by Ookla at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 2, Mike Dano, lead industry analyst at Ookla, moderated a discussion on convergence featuring Gordon Mansfield, vice president of global technology planning & engineering at AT&T; Reza Rahnama, managing director of mobile networks at BT; Samian Kaur, vice president of wireless network engineering at Comcast; and Mahmoud Elsakhawy, vice director of mobile networks supervisory department at Rakuten Mobile.

During the discussion panelists agreed that the main benefits of delivering a converged network experience are that it creates a seamless experience for customers and adds more value to both the customer and the operator. For the customer, convergence often translates into a bundled price. For the operator, it means reduced churn. “When you provide a premium experience that is converged [the customers] are stickier and stay with you longer,” Mansfield said. 

However operators need to deliver more than seamless connectivity, they must also ensure that the customer is getting the best network experience possible. BT’s Rahnama noted that often when a customer is indoors, the best connectivity is through the Wi-Fi network instead of the cellular network. That means the operator must be “connection agnostic” to deliver the best experience for the customer.

But convergence is also about offering customers new experiences. “Convergence means instead of selling technology, we are selling experiences,” said Comcast’s Kaur. “We want to take a converged asset and build on top of it.”  

For Comcast that means not just limiting convergence to the merging of its Wi-Fi hotspot network with its cellular MVNO offering, it’s also including entertainment services and security. 

Rakuten Mobile also views convergence as delivering much more than connectivity. Because Rakuten Mobile is part of a much larger ecosystem that includes insurance, banking, fintech and health, the operator’s goal is to offer the user the best connectivity so he or she can access these other services with ease. 

Differentiation is the Goal

Although some may argue that convergence is really just bundled pricing, the panelists said that it’s about creating value and delivering customers a differentiated offering. Comcast’s Kaur noted that the company’s premium customers get high-speed broadband, wireless services, and entertainment. “It’s not a race to the bottom, it’s an opportunity to differentiate,” she said. 

For Rakuten, convergence offers the ability to personalize services through Link, the company’s super application that functions as a gateway to its other services. 

True convergence—where the user doesn’t really even know if they are using a mobile, fixed or satellite network—is likely still a few years into the future. “Convergence is a journey and consumers will always expect more,” Mansfield said. 

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the author

Sue Marek

Sue Marek is Ookla’s editorial director and part of the company’s analyst team. She oversees the company’s thought leadership and editorial content. Sue is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the telecom industry and her work has appeared in Fierce Network, Light Reading, and SDxCentral. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and has moderated panels at Mobile World Las Vegas, Connect(x), the Consumer Electronics Show, the Competitive Carriers’ Show and 5G North America. Sue has a B.S. in journalism from the University of Colorado.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 17, 2026

The Global 5G SA Footprint in 2026 (Poster Download)

Global Speeds

5G SA rollouts are accelerating globally, but device and tariff-side fragmentation continue to drag on real-world usage

Editor’s Note: The 5G SA map in this poster has been updated. The revised version uses Zoom Level 11 tile resolution, consistent with last year’s edition, to better capture full-year network patterns, particularly in highly urbanized markets like China.

The deployment of 5G Standalone networks is accelerating across a widening number of markets, driven by maturing device ecosystems, rising core network investment, and the growing commercial imperative to deliver the performance improvements that the SA architecture can enable. Despite this progress, the gap between operator-reported coverage of 5G SA networks and real-world usage of these networks continues to widen, held back by tariff inertia and device-side fragmentation in network access.

Regional disparities in commercialization progress persist, but the direction of travel is clear. Markets that were virtually absent from the 5G SA landscape a year ago are now registering meaningful deployment levels, and several advanced operators are pushing into the next evolutionary phase with early deployments of 5G Advanced capabilities built on the SA foundation, including new levels of spectrum depth through advanced carrier aggregation features.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural edition, Ookla® has released an updated high-resolution downloadable poster based on Speedtest Intelligence® data, offering a unified view of the global reach of both 5G NSA and 5G SA networks through 2025. This visual accompanies a new flagship global study in collaboration with Omdia, comparing the competitiveness of leading regions and countries in 5G SA deployment, performance, and monetization.

Key Takeaways

Asia Pacific continues to lead in 5G SA reach, but new entrants are reshaping the global leaderboard

In 2025, six of the top ten countries by 5G SA reach were in Asia Pacific, with China (79.0% 5G SA sample share), India (49.2%), and Singapore (37.0%) maintaining dominant positions globally. China’s lead has been reinforced by multi-operator SA deployments across all major carriers, while India’s position reflects the deep nationwide low-band coverage strategy pushed by Reliance Jio on the 700 MHz band, supplemented by growing mid-band SA rollout. Singapore’s strong showing, meanwhile, reflects the favorable deployment conditions provided by a small landmass and very high urbanization.

The United States (27.6%) has continued its upward trajectory, propelled by T-Mobile’s maturing SA network and commercial launches by both AT&T and Verizon for the first time during the year, while Australia (15.4%) has similarly benefited from multi-operator SA deployments. Thailand (8.5%) and the Philippines (9.0%) round out the Asia Pacific contingent, reflecting growing SA ambitions in Southeast Asia. The UAE (8.0%) has entered the top ten for the first time, signaling a geographic diversification of SA adoption beyond advanced Asian markets. Austria (8.0%) and Spain (8.1%) remain the only European markets in the upper ranks, though the region’s broader trajectory has shifted meaningfully.

APAC Claims 6 of Top 10 Spots in Global 5G SA Reach
Speedtest Intelligence® | 2025

The U.S. sustains its 5G SA performance lead, while the UAE and South Korea demonstrate the ceiling for optimized networks

The United States now combines relatively high 5G SA reach with strong download speeds, a combination that is unusual globally. In Q4 2025, median download speeds on 5G SA in the U.S. reached 403.97 Mbps, building on the gains recorded in the prior year, and significantly ahead of large-scale Asian deployments such as China (212.40 Mbps) and India (222.11 Mbps).

T-Mobile’s “layer cake” spectrum strategy remains the foundation of U.S. 5G SA performance. By pairing broad 600 MHz coverage, initially launched as 5G NSA in 2019 before transitioning to SA in 2020, with dense mid-band deployment in the 2.5 GHz band, the operator has matured its SA network to the point where advanced features such as uplink carrier aggregation and Voice over NR (VoNR) are now widely deployed. Recent 5G SA launches by AT&T and Verizon have extended multi-operator coverage and added the U.S. to the small but burgeoning list of Western markets in which all operators now support nationwide 5G SA networks.

At the top of the global performance table, the UAE has emerged as the clear leader in absolute 5G SA download speeds, registering a median of 1.24 Gbps in Q4 2025. This result is driven by large, contiguous TDD mid-band deployments, intensive carrier aggregation, and site grid densification by Etisalat and du. South Korea sustains its position as a high-performance market at 766.92 Mbps, propelled by its exclusive use of the 3.5 GHz band for 5G, though it continues to trail regional peers in SA reach due to limited commercialization beyond KT. This marks a notable shift from the global leadership South Korea held at the start of the 5G cycle.

5G SA delivers performance uplift across key metrics, but real-world gains in QoE require more than just a core migration

Globally, 5G SA networks are delivering materially improved performance compared to the non-standalone architecture, and the performance gains have held even as SA deployments mature with higher traffic onboarding. In Q4 2025, median download speeds on 5G SA were more than 120% higher than on NSA networks in North America, 57% higher in advanced Asia and Oceania, and 45% higher in Europe. The regional variation reflects differences in spectrum depth, network maturity, and the degree to which operators have activated advanced SA features such as carrier aggregation, rather than any inherent advantage of SA in downlink performance.

Headline latency improvements, a touted beneficiary of the transition to the 5G core, continue to be significant. SA networks delivered median multi-server latency reductions of more than 27% in advanced Asia and Oceania, nearly 24% in North America, and 17% in Europe compared to NSA. However, it is important to note that a standalone core migration alone does not guarantee a better end-user experience in real-world applications. Our quality of experience (QoE) analysis reveals a nuanced picture. SA improves video and cloud infrastructure latency in Europe versus NSA, but underperforms NSA for gaming latency within the same region. North America records the lowest absolute SA cloud and gaming latency, consistent with dense hyperscaler adjacency and mature interconnect ecosystems.

Among European markets, France (41 ms to cloud endpoints), Austria (48 ms), and Finland (50 ms) demonstrate what is achievable where backbone quality, peering density, and routing discipline are strong. These outcomes reflect an underappreciated end-to-end network stack optimization dividend, encompassing data-center proximity, fiber backhaul depth, and user-plane topology, rather than a pure “SA dividend” alone.

5G SA Delivers Higher Download Speeds, Lower Latency, & Faster Uploads
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2025

The upload story has begun to diverge by region. North America’s SA networks deliver 54% higher upload speeds than NSA, reflecting the early implementation of advanced uplink capabilities. In Europe, however, the upload advantage is just 6%, highlighting the still nascent deployment of features such as higher-order MIMO and uplink carrier aggregation in the region beyond leading countries like the United Kingdom. Advanced Asia and Oceania sit in between at 21%, suggesting that the ecosystem for advanced SA uplink capabilities remains at an early stage in most global markets.

A detailed analysis of the state of 5G SA and 5G Advanced around the world is featured in Ookla’s flagship report, produced in collaboration with Omdia, on regional competitiveness in the technology.

Ookla will be at Mobile World Congress this year, located at Booth 2I28 in Hall 2. Please drop by to discuss the state of connectivity in your market, and how Ookla’s network insights can help deliver better connected experiences.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Global Speeds
5G
Europe
5G SA
5G Advanced

About the author

Luke Kehoe

Luke Kehoe leads Ookla’s research and thought leadership efforts in Europe. An electronic engineering alumnus of University College Dublin, Luke has extensive experience collaborating with mobile operators, telecoms vendors, and government agencies in research and advisory roles across Europe. He has contributed to internationally recognised thought leadership publications in areas such as 5G, IoT, open RAN, and edge computing, working with prestigious organisations like the Telecom Infra Project and the World Economic Forum.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 25, 2026

Repeated Storms Test Portugal's Network Resilience and Spotlight the Role of Satellite Connectivity

Satellite

Mobile network download speeds declined by more than 50%, while Starlink usage experienced a nearly 200% increase compared to pre-storm baselines

Less than a year after the April 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout exposed deep vulnerabilities in Portugal’s telecom infrastructure, the country faced another severe test. Between late January and early February 2026, a rapid succession of powerful extratropical cyclones battered the country, knocking out power to over a million customers, disrupting mobile connectivity for hundreds of thousands, and triggering a dramatic spike in satellite broadband usage. Speedtest Intelligence® data captures the scale of network impact and the emerging role of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity as a layer of redundancy when terrestrial networks falter.

Key Takeaways:

  • Median mobile download speeds in Portugal fell by as much as 52.4% from their pre-storm baseline, dropping from 107.3 Mbps to just 51.1 Mbps at their lowest point on February 8, as successive storms compounded network strain.
  • Mobile upload speeds declined by up to 46.6%, while latency increased by 15.6% and jitter by 27.1% during the worst of the disruption, reflecting significant network congestion and infrastructure stress.
  • Starlink user activity in Portugal surged by approximately 196% above pre-storm levels at its peak on February 12, with elevated adoption persisting well into late February even as mobile networks began to stabilize.
  • The data highlights a clear network substitution pattern, with Starlink activity climbing in near-lockstep with mobile speed declines and fixed network disruptions, reinforcing the case for satellite as a meaningful resilience layer during prolonged terrestrial outages.
  • Portugal, like many European countries outside the Nordics, continues to lack any binding requirements for specific minimum backup power levels at mobile sites. Recent policy developments in Switzerland and in the EU’s Digital Networks Act (DNA) suggest resilience planning is moving from concept to practical action.

A devastating storm sequence

Storm Kristin made landfall in Portugal’s Leiria district on the night of January 28, 2026, bringing record-breaking winds of over 200 km/h in the Coimbra region and generating over 1,500 emergency incidents in a single night. The storm was the most destructive to hit the country in recent memory, surpassing wind speed records previously held by Hurricane Leslie. Initial disruption was severe, with Reuters reporting more than 3,000 weather-related incidents and electricity distributor E-REDES indicating that outage levels had earlier reached 855,000 customers before restoration work began to reduce that figure.

On the grid side, the damage split across transmission and distribution layers. REN reported 61 very high-voltage pylons knocked down during Storm Kristin and 774 km of very high-voltage lines out of operation, which it said was equivalent to about 7% of Portugal’s transmission grid. E-REDES separately reported more than 600 damaged medium-voltage poles and said that more than one million customers had been left without power at one stage of the event. This distinction is significant because it highlights how resilience bottlenecks emerge across multiple network tiers, not only at the local distribution level.

Telecom disruption was also prolonged. Paulo Fernandes (head of the Central Region Reconstruction Mission Structure) said the affected area started with 307,900 mobile and landline users without communications on 30 January, and that nearly 84,000 customers in the central region still lacked communications almost three weeks later. He also said around 40% of cases were linked to the restoration of electricity supply to mobile sites.

This power dependency aligns with local expert commentary. INESC TEC-linked analysis highlighted that many telecom outages were driven first by loss of electricity at network sites, with a share of the remainder linked to infrastructure faults such as fiber breaks. It was also reported that ANACOM had recommended activation of national roaming, which could help by allowing users to attach to alternative networks where available.

Mobile network performance degradation was severe and sustained, with recovery still ongoing

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data paints a detailed picture of how Portugal’s mobile networks responded to the storm sequence. To assess the impact, we established a pre-storm performance baseline using daily median values from January 3 through January 27, 2026, then measured deviations across three distinct phases of disruption.

Prior to the storms, Portugal’s mobile networks were delivering a median download speed of 107.3 Mbps and median upload speed of 15.7 Mbps, with a multi-server latency of 33.5 ms. These figures are consistent with a well-performing mobile market (ranking in the top 30 globally in the latest iteration of the Speedtest Global Index).

The onset of Storm Kristin on January 28 triggered an immediate and sharp decline. Median download speeds fell to 64.5 Mbps that day, a 39.9% drop from baseline, while upload speeds declined 37.4% to 9.8 Mbps. Latency spiked 15.6% to 39 ms and jitter surged 27.1% to 10 ms, indicating significant network congestion as damaged infrastructure concentrated traffic on surviving cells (likely compounded by the loss of fixed connectivity in homes driving more traffic onto the depleted mobile grid).

Rather than recovering, network performance continued to deteriorate in the days that followed as Storms Leonardo and Marta exacerbated the damage. During the sustained disruption phase from February 1 through 14, average median download speeds fell to 59.9 Mbps, a 44.1% decline from baseline. The single worst day came on February 8, during Storm Marta, when median download speeds bottomed out at just 51.1 Mbps, a 52.4% decline. Upload speeds during this phase averaged just 9.5 Mbps, down 39.1% from baseline.

Latency and jitter, often overlooked but critical indicators of quality of experience (QoE) in interactive applications like video conferencing, told a similar story. Median latency during the sustained phase rose to 37 ms, a 10.5% increase over baseline, while jitter averaged 9 ms, up 21.6%. Elevated jitter in particular can reflect the instability characteristic of a network under duress, where routing paths shift unpredictably as infrastructure comes on and offline.

By mid-to-late February, partial recovery was underway. Median download speeds during the February 15 through February 23 period rose to 69.8 Mbps, still 34.9% below baseline but representing meaningful improvement. Upload speeds recovered to 11.0 Mbps (down 29.7%), while latency moderated to 36 ms (up 8.3%). Notably, jitter remained stubbornly elevated at 9 ms (up 21.6%), suggesting that while raw throughput was improving, network stability had not yet fully normalized.

Starlink as a Resilience Layer

As mobile network performance declined, Speedtest data reveals a striking and sustained surge in Starlink usage across Portugal, providing one of the clearest real-world illustrations of satellite connectivity functioning as a resilience layer during prolonged terrestrial disruption.

In the weeks before Storm Kristin, Starlink activity in Portugal was relatively stable. From January 28 onward, however, user activity began climbing sharply. During the acute phase from January 28 through January 31, Starlink user activity averaged 49.4% above baseline, peaking at 61.3% above on January 31 as the scale of mobile network disruption became apparent. This initial surge likely reflects both existing Starlink subscribers increasing their usage in response to degraded mobile and fixed service and new users activating service for the first time.

The sustained disruption phase from February 1 through February 14 saw Starlink activity more than double, averaging 118.4% above baseline. The single highest day came on February 12, when user activity reached approximately 196% above pre-storm levels. This coincided with the period of deepest mobile network degradation (and, likely, fixed network unavailability either due to localized power loss or line faults), providing strong evidence of a network substitution dynamic where some users turned to satellite connectivity as their primary or sole means of internet access.

Perhaps most notably, Starlink user activity did not recede even as mobile networks began their partial recovery. During the February 15 through February 23 period, Starlink activity averaged 151.0% above baseline, substantially higher than even the acute storm phase. This pattern suggests that for many users, the storm experience catalyzed a longer-term shift in connectivity behavior, with satellite maintained as either a primary or backup connection even after terrestrial alternatives began stabilizing.

Portuguese authorities also actively deployed Starlink as an emergency communications tool. Starlink equipment was distributed to remote areas where traditional telecommunications had been knocked offline, helping to bridge the connectivity gap in the hardest-hit communities. This mirrors the pattern observed during the April 2025 Iberian blackout, when Starlink remained operational across the peninsula by routing through ground stations in Italy as Spanish facilities went dark.

It is worth noting that Starlink speeds did moderate as user load increased. Average download speeds during the sustained phase fell to 163.5 Mbps, a 21.7% decline from the pre-storm Starlink baseline of 208.8 Mbps. However, even at their most congested, Starlink speeds remained materially higher than the degraded mobile network’s performance during the same period, delivering nearly three times the median download speed that mobile users were experiencing.

The Regulatory Gap and the Road to Resilience

The storm sequence reinforces a core resilience lesson: in prolonged extreme-weather events, telecom continuity is heavily shaped by power autonomy at sites, restoration logistics, and transport network redundancy, not only by RAN capacity. In practice, the biggest outages often reflect cross-sector interdependence between electricity, fibre transport and mobile access infrastructure.

Indeed, domestically, the storms have reignited debate around the resilience of Portugal’s telecom infrastructure, particularly the adequacy of backup power provisions at mobile sites. The finding that 40% of failures stemmed from power loss at mobile sites, rather than direct storm damage, points to a structural vulnerability that is within regulatory reach to address.

Portugal currently lacks binding requirements for specific minimum backup power autonomy levels at mobile sites. This stands in contrast to Nordic markets such as Norway and Finland, where regulators require between two and six hours of backup power at critical sites, alongside routine stress testing and contingency planning obligations.

In Norway, Nkom’s forsterket ekom programme is a state-backed resilience scheme that hardens selected sites in priority municipalities. Designated mobile sites must have at least 72 hours of backup power, the main transmission path must also have 72 hours, and a separate reserve transmission path is required. Switzerland has also recently codified a phased minimum backup approach. In January 2026, the Federal Council adopted an FDV revision requiring mobile operators to install emergency power at key sites and antennas so mobile service can be maintained for at least four hours from 2031 (with emergency calls covered first, and other services phased in later).

Within the EU, meanwhile, Brussels’ Electronic Communications Code (EECC) permits member states to mandate such provisions but does not require them. The Commission’s DNA proposal, adopted on 21 January 2026, is framed around investment and simplification, but it also directly elevates resilience by introducing an EU-level Preparedness Plan to address rising risks from natural disasters and foreign interference, and by embedding security and resilience criteria into the pan-EU satellite mechanism.

The resilience policy implications arising from this are important. The DNA gives the EU a stronger coordination spine for preparedness, but it does not remove the need for national regulators to set concrete, site-level resilience expectations (including backup-power minimums) that reflect local grid conditions and risk exposure.

On the operator side, Vodafone’s Enhanced Power initiative, launched in November 2025 with Portugal as a first deployment region, targets 10,000-plus mobile infrastructure sites across Europe with backup power provisions ranging from four hours at critical access sites to 72 hours at core mobile data centers. The initiative incorporates AI-based systems to predict and conserve backup power duration. Separately, Portugal’s government has announced a €400 (US$ 471) million investment package for grid resilience, including a 750 MW battery storage expansion.

The experience of January and February 2026 reinforces what the Storm Éowyn analysis across the UK and Ireland also demonstrated: that the resilience of mobile networks in extreme weather is fundamentally a function of power autonomy at mobile sites. Where terrestrial infrastructure falls short, satellite connectivity is increasingly proving its value, not as a replacement for mobile networks, but as a complementary layer of redundancy that can sustain connectivity when ground-based systems falter.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

Satellite
Europe
Starlink
Network Resilience

About the author

Luke Kehoe

Luke Kehoe leads Ookla’s research and thought leadership efforts in Europe. An electronic engineering alumnus of University College Dublin, Luke has extensive experience collaborating with mobile operators, telecoms vendors, and government agencies in research and advisory roles across Europe. He has contributed to internationally recognised thought leadership publications in areas such as 5G, IoT, open RAN, and edge computing, working with prestigious organisations like the Telecom Infra Project and the World Economic Forum.

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| February 23, 2026

Ookla and Imagine Wireless Partner to Drive Innovation in Aviation Connectivity and Private Networks

Ookla, a global leader in connectivity intelligence, announced a strategic partnership with Imagine Wireless to help airport leaders navigate the complexities of digital transformation. This collaboration, combining Ookla’s world-class network insights with Imagine Wireless’s specialized advisory services, equips aviation stakeholders with the future-proofed strategies and private network expertise necessary to build resilient, next-generation infrastructure.

The alliance leverages Imagine Wireless’s role as a trusted strategic advisor to airports, integrating Ookla’s suite of measurement and analysis tools, including Speedtest Insights, Speedtest Certified, and Ekahau, to validate network performance. By combining Imagine Wireless’s deep domain expertise with Ookla’s data and services, the partnership enables clients to optimize private 5G, Wi-Fi, and public cellular networks.

“At Ookla, our mission is to provide industry-leading network intelligence that empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions,” said Chip Strange, Chief Strategy Officer at Ookla. “By partnering with Imagine Wireless, we are extending the impact of our insights into the critical aviation vertical. This collaboration ensures that airports and enterprise clients have the independent validation and performance metrics necessary to support mission-critical operations and their ambitious digital transformation goals.”

Redefining Connectivity Standards for Aviation

A primary focus of the Ookla-Imagine Wireless relationship is the aviation sector, a vertical that consumes wireless services at significant scale compared to many other industries. As airports increasingly utilize set-aside spectrum for private wireless networks, the need for accurate, independent performance data continues to grow to support core airport operations and long-term infrastructure investment.

The partnership supports the next-generation airport digital modernization initiative, focused on deploying and validating private 5G and advanced Wi-Fi networks that power safety, security, logistics, and passenger experience systems. Independent performance data, including Ookla’s Speedtest Certified methodology, allows the aviation industry to define and validate its connectivity requirements with telecommunications providers and support confirmation of agreed-upon service levels, rather than relying solely on standard commercial benchmarks.

“The aviation sector is now the second largest consumer of mobile operator telecom services globally. Airports are utilizing spectrum for private wireless networks as a critical piece of infrastructure enabling a new digital transformation program we call ‘AviationX’,” said Norman Fekrat, Managing Partner of Imagine Wireless.

Fekrat continued, “While public cellular networks are mostly for consumers/passengers and Wi-Fi is an alternative where public cellular signals don’t reach. Airports are utilizing set-aside spectrum to increase the security and safety around aviation. Our relationship with Ookla is focused on measuring the wireless service levels and Quality of Service (QoS) metrics necessary to deploy next-gen use cases like autonomous vehicles and provide private secure wireless services to their ecosystem.”

Showcasing Innovation at MWC Barcelona and Beyond

The partnership highlights the growing importance of independent third-party validation in complex environments. Ookla’s enterprise solutions support the communications teams responsible for airport networks, helping ensure connectivity keeps pace with the evolving demands for airport operations, passengers, and the broader aviation ecosystem they serve. More information about these solutions is available at www.ookla.com/solutions/airlines-and-airports.

This work aligns with Imagine Wireless’s industry leadership, including their role as a GSMA research partner and contributions to the Smart Airport Summit and the Airport of the Future pavilion at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2026.

Key benefits of the collaboration include:

  • Independent Validation: Utilizing Ookla’s Speedtest Certified methodology to validate that private and public networks meet the specific performance requirements of airport CIOs
  • Strategic Network Planning: Leveraging crowdsourced and controlled testing data to identify coverage gaps and optimize infrastructure investment for security and logistics
  • Future-Ready Operations: Ensuring networks are robust enough to support “AviationX” use cases, such as autonomous tarmac vehicles and biometric security systems

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the author

Ookla

Ookla® is a global leader in connectivity intelligence that provides consumers, businesses, and other organizations with data-driven insights to improve networks and connected experiences.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 22, 2026

Bangladesh’s 4G Networks Face a Reality Check Amid New QoS Mandates

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) revised its Quality of Service (QoS) benchmark in September 2025 to create a more data-centric enforcement framework and to address long-standing issues in service quality and network performance. The updated framework establishes significantly stricter requirements for both mobile and fixed internet services. A cornerstone of this framework is the new minimum 4G download speed of 10 Mbps, an increase from the 2018 benchmark of 7 Mbps, and a new minimum upload speed of 2 Mbps. 

Key Takeaways

  • Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® data nationwide, across all operators combined, indicates that the median download and upload speeds exceeded the BTRC’s revised minimum QoS standards. As of January 2025, Bangladesh’s median 4G download speed stood at 31.15 Mbps, with an upload speed of 12.22 Mbps, both above the regulatory minimums of 10 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.
  • All major operators surpassed BTRC’s benchmark at both the national level and across all eight administrative divisions, as measured by median performance in Q4 2025. This reflected effective capitalization on spectrum investments and 3G phase-outs, with Banglalink and Grameenphone leading in national median download performance, reporting speeds of 31.22 Mbps and 30.69 Mbps, respectively.
  • Despite strong median figures, analysis of the bottom 10th percentile reveals a critical disconnect, with operators frequently failing to meet regulatory minimums for users in challenging coverage zones. All operators struggled to meet the minimum 10 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload requirement in several administrative regions, indicating that current infrastructure density is insufficient to ensure consistent service for edge users.

New quality mandates drove an immediate improvement in national median download speed

Over the 18-month period from August 2024 to January 2026, Bangladesh’s 4G network showed a slight upward trend in median performance, with 4G median download speeds rising from 27.28 Mbps to  31.15 Mbps. This 14% increase underscores the continued investment by major operators in spectrum and site rollouts, despite significant external disruptions, including severe flooding and political unrest.

All Providers Combined 4G Median Performance Trend
Speedtest Intelligence® | Aug 24 – Jan 26

Following a plateau in early 2025, median download speeds showed slight improvement, increasing from 29.42 Mbps in August to 30.69 Mbps in September 2025, the month the new QoS mandate took effect. This initial uptick suggests that operators began optimizing their networks in response to the new regulations. Across all operators combined, national performance reached its highest median speed of 31.15 Mbps by January 2026, indicating regulatory pressure effectively raised the average experience for mobile users.

4G median upload speeds reported a marginal increase over the past 18 months. The median upload speed was 10.88 Mbps in August 2024 and increased to 12.22 Mbps by January 2026. This minimal change indicates that while operators expand downlink capacity to support content consumption, they have not made comparable strides in uplink capacity.

All major operators met the new performance thresholds at national level in Q4 2025

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® Q4 2025 data shows all major operators in Bangladesh reported median download speeds above BTRC’s 10 Mbps QoS threshold. Banglalink led the market with a median download speed of 31.22 Mbps, driven by its decision to phase out 3G services in May 2024 and refarm spectrum (take an existing frequency band and reassign it) for 4G. Grameenphone followed closely with 30.69 Mbps, supported by the acquisition of 2.6 GHz spectrum and an additional 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band to manage its extensive subscriber base. Robi and Airtel also performed strongly, recording 29.31 Mbps and 28.48 Mbps, respectively. The state-owned operator, Teletalk, cleared the benchmark with 21.38 Mbps, though it trailed the private operators by a significant margin.

All providers exceeded the 2 Mbps minimum speed on the national level for upload performance in Q4 2025. Airtel recorded the highest median upload speed at 13.30 Mbps, with Robi close behind at 13.15 Mbps. Banglalink and Grameenphone registered 11.64 Mbps and 11.23 Mbps, respectively.

Bangladesh Major Operators 4G Performance
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2025

Performance at the bottom 10th percentile reveals challenges

All operators exceeded the 10 Mbps 4G speed requirement across all administrative regions, based on median download speeds in Q4 2025. Banglalink demonstrated particular strength in the southern and central belts, leading in Barisal with 33.26 Mbps and in Dhaka with 31.86 Mbps. Grameenphone led in Chittagong with a speed of 36.50 Mbps and secured the top spot in Mymensingh and Rajshahi with speeds of 33.70 Mbps and 30.27 Mbps, respectively. Teletalk, despite operating with fewer resources than its private competitors, reported median download speeds above the 10 Mbps threshold in all regions, though its performance was closer to the margin in Sylhet and Mymensingh.

This strong median performance reflected the country’s year-long efforts in spectrum acquisition and network modernization. Operators successfully deployed new spectrum in the 2.3 GHz bands, increasing total network capacity. Additionally, they strategically phased out 3G services to refarm spectrum for 4G, optimizing existing assets to improve data throughput.

Based on median upload speed data, all operators met the minimum requirement of 2 Mbps upload speed across all administrative regions. Airtel and Robi consistently outperformed the larger competitors in this metric: Airtel led in Khulna with the highest median upload speed of 16.21 Mbps during Q4 2025 and also topped Dhaka with 15.07 Mbps. Robi took the top spot in Sylhet (12.36 Mbps) and Rangpur (12.09 Mbps).

4G Median Performance Across Administrative Regions in Bangladesh
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2025

The analysis of the bottom 10th percentile—representing the user experience at the network edge—exposes significant compliance challenges for operators across both 4G download and upload metrics. Banglalink was the most resilient in maintaining download speeds, clearing the 10 Mbps benchmark in five of eight regions, including Chittagong at 13.87 Mbps and Khulna at 13.57 Mbps. Despite its high median performance, Grameenphone failed to meet the 10 Mbps download minimum for the bottom 10th percentile samples in five regions. However, its recent spectrum acquisition is expected to help address the challenges in areas with poor network coverage. Robi and Teletalk struggled even more, with Robi missing the target in seven regions and Teletalk recording speeds as low as 2.22 Mbps in Mymensingh.

The 2 Mbps regulatory requirement also is a formidable hurdle for upload speeds in the bottom 10th percentile. Grameenphone achieved the highest compliance rate, exceeding the 2 Mbps benchmark in four regions, including Dhaka (2.45 Mbps) and Khulna (2.36 Mbps). In contrast, Banglalink and Robi meet the threshold in only two regions each, while Airtel meets the standard in only Khulna. In the Barisal administrative region, no operator met the minimum upload speed requirement based on the bottom 10th percentile performance.

4G Bottom 10th Percentile Performance Across Administrative Regions in Bangladesh
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2025

Ookla’s Q4 2025 data depicted a “two-speed” Bangladesh. The median 4G performance suggests a reliable experience supported by recent spectrum investments and network enhancements. However, the BTRC’s QoS benchmark serves as a minimum standard rather than an average, and by this metric, the market remains partially non-compliant. To bridge performance gaps at the network edge, operators must shift their focus from general network expansion to targeted densification, deploying additional sites in rural areas and poor coverage zones to ensure consistent service for all citizens.

Please contact us for more details on how Ookla can help provide actionable insights into network performance and resilience.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the author

Affandy Johan

Affandy Johan is the Industry Analyst at Ookla Research. He utilizes Ookla's data to develop insightful analyses covering various factors and aspects impacting the market. Affandy has extensive experience in the telecom industry, having worked for major vendors and operators in the Asia Pacific region.

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| February 19, 2026

Beyond Speed - Examining Mobile Network Reliability in South Korea

RootMetrics

LG U+ outpaces its rivals on network reliability in RootMetrics latest controlled benchmark

South Korea remains a global benchmark for mobile connectivity, characterized by near-ubiquitous 5G coverage and some of the world’s fastest download speeds. RootMetrics 2H 2025 performance results demonstrate this, with LG U+ leading in the highly urbanized Seoul and Incheon region, across the most critical speed and responsiveness metrics. However, it is also a market characterized by consumers who expect highly performant and reliable network connectivity, and a regulator keen for South Korea to stay at the forefront of mobile industry development, with its eyes firmly on 6G leadership. We see growing importance given not just to network speeds and coverage, but also to reliability as a key measure of differentiation for South Korean consumers and enterprises.

To quantify how South Korea’s mobile operators compare on network reliability, we independently measured performance using RootMetrics’ controlled methodology. Testing took place during July to September of 2025, covering indoor and outdoor locations across major South Korean metropolitan areas: Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu, and Busan. Combining walk and drive testing in high-usage areas, we collected over 63,000 samples. Our methodology is designed to mirror real-world network performance.

Key takeaways:

  • Global leadership and competitive edge. South Korean networks consistently exceed 99.8% success rates for task initiation and completion. While the market is known for speed, LG U+ has established itself as the leader in reliability. In RootMetrics independent testing, LG U+ achieved a Reliability Score of 998/1000, narrowly edging out SK Telecom (997) and KT (992).
  • Ensuring data reliability. All three Korean operators demonstrated strong mobile network reliability, with success rates exceeding 99.7%. LG U+ held a slight edge, proving most reliable at completing download and upload transfers without interruption. LG U+ also recorded the fastest median download and upload speeds in our testing across the Seoul and Incheon metropolitan areas.
  • The voice call advantage. The differentiator for LG U+ was voice performance. It tied SK Telecom with a zero percent block rate but led decisively in setup speed—connecting calls in just 0.77 seconds, compared to 0.98 seconds for SK Telecom and 1.32 seconds for KT.
  • Recently announced policy measures set to define near-term operator investment priorities. The recent announcement by the South Korean regulator, the Ministry of Science and ICT, that operators must deploy 5G Standalone (SA) in 2026, while also incentivizing indoor 5G coverage, will shake up the Korean 5G market.

Recent policy changes place emphasis on 5G Advanced & improving network reliability

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT’s (MSIT) spectrum plan for 2024–2027, which was finalized in December 2025, sets strict new conditions for the 5G era. Among other provisions, it mandates the deployment of 5G SA core networks by 2026, tied explicitly to the reallocation of 3.5 GHz spectrum (set to expire in 2028), the vital mid-band which underpins most 5G networks globally. In addition, the regulator is incentivizing operators by offering discounts on spectrum fees if they build over 20,000 additional indoor 5G base stations using the 3.5 GHz band, in a bid to improve network reliability for users.

The push for greater network reliability is no longer just about preventing dropped calls; it is increasingly being driven by requirements for reliable mobile internet access. South Korean consumers, like their counterparts in other markets globally, are ever more digitally engaged. The country boasts some of the top-performing networks in East Asia for mobile gaming, and has widespread adoption of digital services, for instance, blockchain-based mobile driver’s licenses and digital wallets (Samsung Pay, Naver Pay). The government’s push for a fully digital administrative state also means that network stability is a matter of national security and governance continuity, making it a critical public service.

LG U+ leads the field based on RootMetrics Reliability Score

South Korean operators should look to lean into reliability as a primary component of their customer retention toolkit. In a saturated mobile market where 5G speeds have plateaued at a high median and there is a heightened focus on network reliability, the new ‘premium’ is not just how fast you can go, but how rarely you stop.

To compare, in a scientifically robust way, how operators’ network investments translate into reliability, RootMetrics’ controlled testing asks a simple question: when a user starts a task, does it complete without failing? Tens of thousands of “connect and complete” tests spanning calling and  data uploads and downloads are conducted by RootMetrics testers across varied routes and locations, then aggregated into a single Reliability score for the South Korean market.

The results show that in addition to securing the highest RootScore, driven by superior 5G consistency and aggressive spectrum utilization, LG U+ also secured the highest RootMetrics Reliability Score, narrowly edging out SK Telecom.

OperatorRootScoreReliability ScoreReliability Profile & Key Strengths
LG U+993998Highest Reliability & Speed. Scored 998/1000 in Reliability. Leads in 5G median download speeds (853.37 Mbps) and lowest latency (86 ms), despite using Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture.
KT Corp985992Video & Responsiveness. Leads in Video Experience with the fastest start times (0.57s) due to its 5G Standalone (SA) core. Strongest performance in “Responsiveness” (992 score).
SK Telecom982997Consistent Baseline. While scoring slightly lower in peak metrics, SKT maintains a near-perfect 0% call block rate. It remains a “Reliability” powerhouse but trails closely behind LG U+.

The methodology rewards successful starts and uninterrupted completion and penalizes blocks, drops, and timeouts. Since each test follows the full path from device to radio to core to service edge, the results reflect end-to-end robustness beyond merely the last-mile rather than any single parameter.

Call reliability. This measures the success rate of setting up and maintaining voice calls. Blocked calls occur when the network fails to initiate a call, often during congestion. Dropped calls happen when active calls end unexpectedly, usually due to coverage gaps or poor handover. LG U+ demonstrated clear leadership here, tying with SK Telecom with zero blocked calls, but leading on both percentage of dropped calls, and recording a faster voice call setup time.

CategoryLG U+SK Telecom KT
Voice Call Setup Time (Seconds) 0.770.981.32
Voice Call Drop Rate (%) 0.020.100.25
Voice Call Block Rate (%) 0.000.000.15

Data reliability. This measures whether devices can establish a secure, usable data path (access success) and complete common transfers (task success) without stalls or timeouts. It covers both download and upload under light tasks such as webpage loads and heavy tasks such as file transfers, rewarding successful setup and uninterrupted completion and penalizing setup failures, timeouts, and mid-flow resets. Even in cases where users see full signal bars on their device, data reliability components like task success can decline due to factors like packet loss and TCP resets (eg, at a busy stadium) or poor mid-transfer handover (eg, while on a high-speed train).

The results here were very close, indicating a high degree of reliability across all three mobile operators for mobile data tasks. LG U+ stood out from the crowd on downlink and uplink task completion, with just 0.08% and 0.05% failed tests respectively. 

CategoryLG U+SK Telecom KT
Downlink – Access Success (%) 99.9999.9899.94
Downlink – Task Success (%) 99.9299.8499.77
Uplink – Access Success (%) 10010099.98
Uplink – Task Success (%) 99.9599.9299.86
Lite Data – Access Success (%)99.9999.9899.89
Lite Data – Task Success (%)99.9810099.96

5G Standalone: A Strategic Foundation with Evolving Benefits

MSIT’s urgent shift in policy to seek to drive 5G SA deployment in the market highlights its desire to continue to play a leading role in mobile network development globally. It’s also a reflection of the fact that KT had been the only operator in the market to commercially deploy 5G SA, and likely feeling that 5G development had stalled as a result. 

While 5G SA is required to support the full range of 5G Advanced developments (the latest iteration of the 5G standard), the benefits in performance and user experience will accrue over time. Evidence from RootMetrics testing in both Portugal (NOS) and South Korea (KT) confirms a trend: 5G Standalone (SA) architectures deliver a tangible quality of experience win in video start times. However, the South Korean data adds a nuance: SA is not a silver bullet for latency yet, as optimized NSA networks (LG U+) are still outperforming SA cores in raw reaction times, indicating further optimization of 5G SA VoNR is required once it is deployed, to outperform  5G NSA’s VoLTE.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

RootMetrics

About the author

Mark Giles

Mark Giles heads up Ookla Research™, leading a team of expert analysts in transforming the world's largest repository of network performance data into authoritative insights. Mark is passionate about using data to illuminate the state of global connectivity, in order to advocate for a better, more accessible internet for all.

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Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 18, 2026

5G in the Balkans: Serbia’s Mobile Renaissance as New Spectrum Fuels Competitiveness

Serbian/Srpski

EXPO 2027 is acting as a forcing function for policy acceleration and infrastructure investment as Belgrade prepares to put Serbia and the Balkans on the world stage

Serbia has moved rapidly from one of the last 5G “white spots” on the European map to a strong global performer in mobile. Following years of regulatory delays, the country’s operators activated commercial 5G services simultaneously on December 3, 2025, marking the start of a significant turnaround in network performance. Within weeks of launch, Serbia climbed 44 places to 14th globally in the Speedtest Global Index™ for December 2025, posting median download speeds of 173.04 Mbps and outperforming many Western European markets with more mature 5G deployments.

While Serbia enters the 5G cycle years after many of its Balkan peers, the country now finds itself well positioned to close the gap with regional competitors. Serbian operators have developed a mature 4G footprint on which they are now overlaying 5G equipment that is a generation or two newer than that deployed by earlier movers elsewhere in Europe, and which they had already stockpiled in anticipation of the auction. Belgrade’s hosting of EXPO 2027 is reinforcing this momentum, acting as a catalyst for infrastructure investment and compelling operators to achieve in two years what regional peers accomplished in five.

Key Takeaways

  • Serbia’s 5G launch is delivering immediate and substantial performance gains. While delayed spectrum assignment had left Serbia second-to-last in median mobile download speeds among Balkan peers in Q3 2025, the December 2025 commercial launch triggered a sharp reversal. All three operators recorded triple-digit percentage increases in median download speeds during Q4 2025, with national speeds rising from ~62 Mbps to over 150 Mbps, propelling Serbia to 14th globally in the December issue of the Speedtest Global Index™.
  • Serbia’s rapid ascent validates the potential for late movers to outperform in 5G. Serbia now sits alongside Bulgaria (5th) and North Macedonia (17th) as evidence that Balkan markets can achieve strong mobile outcomes when sound spectrum policy is paired with aggressive operator execution. The 130 MHz of 3.5 GHz spectrum allocated to each operator provides the capacity headroom to sustain these gains as network load increases.
  • A1 leads on speed while Yettel shows the strongest improvement trajectory. A1 delivered the highest median mobile download speeds (208.29 Mbps) in Q4 2025, while Yettel recorded the largest relative improvement post-5G launch (+160% quarter-on-quarter to 138.45 Mbps). Telekom Srbija (mts) reached 109.02 Mbps, more than doubling its Q3 performance. All three operators achieved near-parity on latency at ~32 ms.
  • Telekom faces competitive pressure to accelerate its 5G execution. Despite leading in subscriber share, Telekom trails A1 and Yettel in download speeds, 4G Availability (90% versus 94-95% for peers), and 5G Availability (19% versus 24% for A1). Its ongoing vendor transition adds execution complexity during a critical deployment window.
  • Regional mobile disparities persist but coverage obligations aim to close the gap. The 5G rollout obligations imposed by Serbian regulator RATEL require operators to cover 15 explicitly named underserved municipalities, major transport corridors, and progressively smaller population centers over a five-year period, creating a policy-driven mechanism to extend performance gains beyond Belgrade and Novi Sad.

A long road to spectrum. How Serbia finally got to a 5G auction

From policy delays to late-mover advantage

Serbia adopted policy documents referencing 5G as early as 2018, but the original expectation of assigning “pioneer band” spectrum around 2020 to 2021 slipped repeatedly. COVID-19, macroeconomic uncertainty, and domestic political debate over market structure and the role of state-owned Telekom Srbija all contributed to delays, making Serbia the last country in the Balkans apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina to launch a 5G auction process.

Independent assessments by the OECD and EU enlargement services explicitly flagged delays in 5G spectrum assignment and incomplete supporting regulation, such as a dedicated broadband infrastructure law, as key impediments to Serbia’s digital competitiveness.

Serbia Behind Peers Until Late 2025
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® data reveals these delays translated into an erosion of the country’s regional ranking in mobile performance through Q3 2025. Between 2020 and Q3 2025, Serbia’s ranking dropped from fifth to tenth among Balkan markets in median mobile download speed. This observation is consistent with our earlier research, which found that European countries that moved earlier on 5G spectrum assignment had achieved better network outcomes for end-users.

However, Serbia’s late entry also carries advantages that are now becoming apparent. Operators have been able to deploy more mature 5G equipment (atop a densified 4G site grid with deep carrier aggregation), benefiting from cost reductions and performance improvements accumulated over several generations of 5G hardware, while simultaneously activating large, clean spectrum blocks rather than the fragmented allocations that constrained some earlier movers.

The early Q4 2025 performance data suggests Serbia may be capturing a meaningful late-mover dividend. The jump to 14th globally, ahead of many Western European markets with multi-year head starts, indicates that the quality of spectrum assignments and equipment maturity can outweigh time-to-market in determining 5G outcomes.

Long license duration sets Serbia’s 5G auction apart

The legislative blockage holding up Serbia’s 5G auction eased with a new Law on Electronic Communications adopted in 2023, which aligned more closely with the EU’s European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) and mandated the Serbian regulator RATEL to prepare for a multi-band auction. A subsequent national electronic communications strategy and rulebook set out the conditions for issuing licenses across 700 MHz, sub-3 GHz bands and the 3.4-3.8 GHz range, with a stated goal of maximizing both revenue and coverage outcomes.

RATEL’s auction design established strict participation criteria that effectively limited bidders to incumbent operators, a notably different approach from some regulators elsewhere in Europe that used 5G auctions to stimulate competition by making provisions for new entrants.

The auction ran from November 3 through November 7, 2025, attracted all three incumbents and raised just over €300 million (US$349.14 million), with each operator bidding slightly above the €100 million reserve for its package. Licenses are to be paid in two installments, with the second due by mid-2026, and are valid until March 2047, giving operators a 20-plus-year runway that is notably more generous than the 15-year norms observed in much of the EU (which is now subject to change based on the proposals for indefinite licences detailed in the European Commission’s Digital Networks Act).

On closer inspection, these auction results suggest Serbia traded a longer license tenure for robust returns to the state, while leaving operators with a comparatively light annual spectrum burden and a cost position that looks broadly competitive once adjusted for band mix and license duration.

The approximate per-capita yield from Serbia’s auction (around €44 per head) was materially above earlier Western Balkan awards on a headline basis. Croatia’s 2021 700/3.6/26 GHz sale yielded €12 per head, Bulgaria’s 3.6 GHz-only auction yielded €1 per head for 20-year licenses, and Albania’s 3.5 GHz award came in at roughly €2 per head. However, those comparisons typically covered much less spectrum, shorter terms, or both. Normalizing for Serbia’s extended tenure and broad multi-band packages, the annualized $/MHz/pop figure sits in the lower half of the European 5G range, well below historic high-price outliers such as Italy, Germany, or the early US C-band auction.

Balanced 5G spectrum assignments position Serbia for sustained performance gains

Beyond a favorable license duration, another key strength of the Serbian auction was that it lent each operator a broadly balanced low- and mid-band portfolio for 4G and 5G at roughly €100 million each. All three secured symmetrical holdings in the critical 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz pioneer bands, alongside individual top-ups in 2600 MHz and other legacy bands like 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz. This symmetry ensures no player is structurally spectrum-constrained, meaning competitive advantage will hinge less on spectrum depth and more on how quickly each operator executes on RAN densification and core network rollout.

All three can build a classic European 5G stack, eventually using 700 MHz as the wide-area SA coverage layer, refarmed 900/1800/2100 MHz as the 4G/5G anchor and VoLTE bedrock, 2600 MHz for dense capacity, and a wide C-band carrier as the primary 5G capacity layer, fully aligned with EU pioneer band thinking.

The most notable award was the 130 MHz of prime 3.5 GHz spectrum issued to each operator, a highly competitive mid-band allocation by European standards, where many markets targeted only 80 to 100 MHz per operator in this band. This positions Serbian operators well to enhance network capacity in dense urban environments, and the early performance data from Q4 2025 confirms that this wide spectrum allocation is already translating into tangible speed advantages for end-users.

Targeted coverage obligations for underserved areas seek to stimulate better 5G outcomes

A key feature of the auction design was the inclusion of a targeted coverage obligation for 15 explicitly named underserved municipalities, intended to prevent a purely city-centric 5G rollout concentrated in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Each operator must materially improve coverage, including future 5G, in five rural or structurally weak areas. Telekom is responsible for Krupanj, Osečina, Medveđa, Trgovište and Bosilegrad. Yettel is responsible for Ljubovija, Golubac, Babušnica, Gadžin Han and Svrljig. A1 is responsible for Kosjerić, Crna Trava, Kučevo, Majdanpek and Boljevac.

Many of these areas are officially classified as underdeveloped, with aging populations, high emigration and weak infrastructure. Crna Trava, Serbia’s smallest and one of its poorest municipalities, is the most emblematic example. In practice, this policy intervention is intended to compel operators to use new low-band spectrum to extend basic 4G/5G availability to places that would otherwise be unlikely to receive commercial coverage in the near future.

At a higher level, these municipal carve-outs sit atop a demanding five-year national rollout regime set by RATEL. License conditions require each operator to deploy at least 200 active 5G sites in year one, with 120 in Belgrade, 20 in Novi Sad, 15 in Niš, 10 in Kragujevac, 5 in Subotica, plus all science and tech parks. This rises to 1,000 in year two across 22 designated cities, major tourist centers, all international airports, and 24-hour road border crossings.

Subsequent targets rise to 2,000, 3,300, and 4,500 sites in years three through five, with mandatory coverage of all settlements above 10,000, 5,000, and 3,000 inhabitants respectively. By end-2026, operators must also achieve near-continuous coverage along IA/IB-class state roads and pan-European rail corridors X and XI, plus the EXPO 2027 site and its access routes. Each operator must meet these milestones on its own independent RAN, as national roaming does not count, thereby substantially raising minimum capex requirements compared with more permissive EU regimes.

5G rollout arrives amid challenging operating conditions

Similar to the trend observed elsewhere in the Balkans, the financial backdrop underpinning Serbia’s mobile market is one of steady, mid-single digit revenue growth up to the end of this decade. Mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) in Serbia sits at the lower end of the European range but ranks fourth-highest in the Balkans, averaging around €9 in late 2025. This figure is down materially in real terms from two to three years prior.

This sluggish ARPU profile therefore constrains how much 5G investment can be recouped from topline expansion alone, with all operators facing several capex and opex pressures across license fees and spectrum amortization, energy costs and fiber and EXPO-related investments.

The €300 million (US $349.11 million) collected in the recent auction is material relative to the size of the Serbian market. Even though fees are spread over time, they still absorb balance sheet capacity. Serbian operators, like their European peers, have faced electricity price volatility since 2022, with energy accounting for a non-trivial share of opex. This creates strong incentives for deploying energy-efficient radios and using features such as 5G sleep modes as the buildout advances. The government has emphasized both rural broadband and preparations for EXPO 2027 in Belgrade as strategic priorities, requiring upgrades in backhaul, core and metro transport infrastructure.

Within this challenging environment, earlier market moves have helped to free up some capital for 5G. Telekom completed a tower sale to an Actis-led consortium, while A1 did similar with its EuroTeleSites spin-off. Meanwhile, PPF Telecom Group, in which Etisalat (e&) acquired a majority stake across the wider Central and Eastern European portfolio, decided to structurally separate Yettel’s network into CETIN Serbia. This entity now owns and operates the passive and active infrastructure and provides wholesale mobile network services to Yettel.

Strategic focus of Serbian operators is tilting from volume to value

Serbia’s three operators have diverged into distinct strategic postures. State-backed Telekom remains the volume leader with approximately 42-44% market share and generates the most absolute revenue (€1.3-1.4 billion across the group in 2024), but carries the heaviest leverage burden, trading free cash flow for aggressive content spending on Premier League and NBA rights to defend ARPU against churn. Fixed-mobile bundling further supports its subscriber stickiness, particularly among households attracted to premium sports content.

Incremental value creation in the market is, however, shifting toward the leaner challengers. Yettel has successfully pivoted from a mobile-only cash cow, boasting the highest ARPU (around €11.60 in 2024), to a converged challenger. Backed by the PPF Group’s efficiency focus, it maintains the market’s healthiest EBITDA margins (19% expansion in 2024 to €171 million or US $198.99 million) by aggressively cross-selling its ‘Hipernet’ fixed services to a loyal mobile base of roughly 30% market share, effectively insulating itself from price wars.

A1, still the smallest operator by market share at around 27%, remains the primary competitive challenger and is closing the profitability gap as A1 Group transforms its Serbian business into a convergent player. It has shed its discounter identity and positioned itself as a distinct value innovator with a lean model capable of deploying capital quickly.

The operator posted EBITDA expansion of 15% in 2024 to €146 million or US $169.90 million (margin of approximately 37%), driven by inflation-linked price rises and upselling to higher-value plans, even as prepaid and postpaid bases contracted. The Conexio Metro fiber acquisition (42,000 ready homes) and the launch of fixed services in 2025 is intended to further lift A1’s ARPU and reduce churn.

A1 and Yettel entered the 5G cycle with a stronger 4G network foundation

Serbia’s late 5G RAN cycle forced operators to carry surging data demand almost entirely on their 4G networks through most of 2025 pre-auction. Each operator turned to leveraging 800, 1800 and 2100 MHz refarming, three- to four-carrier aggregation and targeted grid densification along urban areas and transport corridors to maximize spatial spectrum reuse.

While this 4G-centric playbook pushed the existing grid far, the economics were deteriorating for operators. Each incremental site or radio upgrade was capex- and energy-heavy in a price-sensitive market, and spectral-efficiency gains from further LTE-Advanced tweaks were marginal compared with lighting up large, clean 5G carriers in the 3.5 GHz band.

The performance trajectory through 2025 highlights the different starting positions from which operators entered the 5G cycle. A1 had maintained a substantial speed lead in Serbia even on 4G, with median mobile download speeds on its network of 81.03 Mbps in Q3 2025, roughly 40% faster than Yettel (53.15 Mbps) and Telekom (57.95 Mbps).

Early 5G performance exceeds expectations as operators light up new spectrum

The simultaneous commercial launch of 5G by all three Serbian operators on December 3, 2025 triggered an immediate and significant transformation in network performance. Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® data for Q4 2025 reveals speed increases far exceeding what would typically be observed from incremental 4G improvements, confirming that the newly activated 3.5 GHz and 700 MHz spectrum is already delivering substantial benefits to end-users.

A1 delivered median mobile download speeds of 208.29 Mbps in Q4 2025, an increase of 157% from 81.03 Mbps in Q3 2025. Yettel recorded the largest relative improvement, with median speeds rising 160% from 53.15 Mbps to 138.45 Mbps. Telekom, while posting the lowest absolute speeds among the three operators, still achieved an 88% increase to 109.02 Mbps from 57.95 Mbps.

A1 Extends Speed Lead as All MNOs Record 5G Gains
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Upload speeds similarly improved across all operators, with Yettel leading at 27.02 Mbps, followed by Telekom (24.02 Mbps) and A1 (23.41 Mbps). Multi-server latency converged to ~32 ms across all three networks, down from divergent Q3 figures.

Upload Speeds Improve Post-5G Launch With Yettel Taking the Lead
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

The clearest evidence of Serbia’s ongoing mobile transformation is its rise in the Speedtest Global Index. In December 2025, Serbia climbed 44 positions to rank 14th globally with median download speeds of 173.04 Mbps, placing it ahead of established European 5G markets including Georgia (15th), Netherlands (16th), Norway (20th), France (26th), and Finland (27th). While some reversion is highly likely as network load increases through 2026, the wide 130 MHz spectrum allocation per operator provides uniquely substantial headroom to absorb traffic growth while maintaining strong performance.

Analysis of 5G Availability data confirms that operators activated commercial service rapidly following the December 3 launch. A1 led with 5G Availability of 24% in Q4 2025, indicating that users on 5G-capable devices on its network spent approximately one-quarter of their time connected to 5G. Yettel and Telekom recorded similar figures of 19%. These availability figures are expected to rise steadily as operators expand their 5G footprints beyond initial launch areas in Belgrade and major cities.

Analysis of 5G Availability data confirms that operators activated commercial service rapidly following the December 3 launch. A1 led with 5G Availability of 24% in Q4 2025, indicating that users on 5G-capable devices on its network spent approximately one-quarter of their time connected to 5G. Yettel and Telekom recorded similar figures of 19%. These availability figures are expected to rise steadily as operators expand their 5G footprints beyond initial launch areas in Belgrade and major cities.

Divergence in 3G sunset progress highlights differences in spectrum strategy and 4G maturity

Investments in site grid densification and 4G footprint expansion have contributed to improved network consistency and coverage outcomes across all operators. 4G Availability in Q4 2025 reached 95% for A1, 94% for Yettel, and 90% for Telekom, reflecting wide coverage in rural areas and extensive time spent on 4G (and now 5G) networks indoors in urban areas as low-band expansion and site densification aid deeper building penetration in cities like Belgrade and Novi Sad.

A1's Broader 4G Footprint Provides Stronger Foundation for 5G Overlay
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

The wider breadth of A1’s 4G network and extensive use of VoLTE across its footprint enabled it to move more aggressively than peers on sunsetting 3G services. After announcing a phased 3G switch-off by end-June 2025, A1 completed nationwide 3G decommissioning in April 2025, freeing its 2100 MHz 3G layer for 4G/5G while explicitly keeping 2G in the 900 MHz band alive as a thin legacy voice/SMS and low-end IoT anchor and pushing all mainstream voice onto VoLTE.

A1’s 3G sunset has effectively converted its 2100 MHz footprint into a pure 4G capacity layer, while its relatively small 4.2 MHz slice of 900 MHz (versus 9.6 MHz for Telekom and Yettel) makes it structurally incentivized to accelerate VoLTE migration and shrink 2G usage over time.

Yettel, by contrast, has no formal 2G/3G sunset dates but has already silently refarmed much of its original 2100 MHz 3G layer to 4G while keeping a low-band dual 2G/3G umbrella across mostly 900 MHz until VoLTE use and the 5G rollout mature.

Telekom remains the most conservative on network sunset timing, reflecting a larger base of rural and legacy users and a desire to avoid a voice cliff while VoLTE usage still scales atop a comparatively smaller 4G coverage base. The operator continues to run both 2G (900/1800 MHz) and 3G (primarily 2100 MHz) alongside 4G/5G.

Vendor strategies diverge as operators navigate equipment transitions

Beyond the benefit of having a wide 4G footprint, the speed at which A1 has been able to move with its 3G sunset is likely shaped in some way by its uniquely clean vendor strategy. A1 Group has already locked Serbia into a single-RAN strategy with Nokia supplying both radio and packet core, under a five-year 5G plan to cover major population centers and transport corridors, using EuroTeleSites’ spun-off tower grid to keep the RAN relatively asset-light.

Telekom, by contrast, is in mid-pivot from a Huawei-heavy legacy 2G-4G footprint to a dual-Nordic 5G layer, financed through a distinctive multilateral structure including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Sweden’s Export Credit Corporation and the US Exim Bank. Notably, the US Exim deal of approximately €42.97 million or US $50 million represents the first agreement of its kind between a European telecom operator and the US Export-Import Bank. Ericsson and Nokia are contracted to supply 5G base stations for the network rollout.

Yettel, through CETIN Serbia, is also undergoing active vendor diversification as it shifts from Huawei, used historically for its RAN, to Ericsson for its 5G buildout. This transition is being coordinated alongside CETIN’s broader “5G Balkans” project, which aims to strengthen optical connectivity across the region in partnership with CETIN Bulgaria.

5G boost comes just in time for EXPO 2027

The simultaneous 5G launch in December 2025 by all three operators, backed by generous 130 MHz mid-band allocations and modern equipment that had been stockpiled during the regulatory delays, has propelled Serbia from near the bottom of the Balkan mobile rankings to a highly competitive position globally, validating the potential for late movers to close the gap with competitors when spectrum policy and operator execution align.

With EXPO 2027 on the horizon and the government committed to using the event as a showcase for the country’s digital capabilities, Serbia’s mobile operators face both competitive pressure and a significant opportunity to demonstrate what investments in 5G infrastructure can deliver for consumers and businesses alike. The early data suggests they are rising to the challenge.

Serbian/Srpski

5G na Balkanu. Mobilna renesansa Srbije dok novi spektar podstiče konkurentnost

EXPO 2027 deluje kao ključni pokretač za ubrzanje politike i infrastrukturnih ulaganja, dok se Beograd priprema da plasira Srbiju i Balkan na svetsku pozornicu.

Srbija je hitro prešla put od jedne od poslednjih 5G “belih tačaka” na mapi Evrope do snažnog globalnog igrača u mobilnoj telefoniji. Nakon godina regulatornih odlaganja, operatori u zemlji su 3. decembra 2025. godine istovremeno aktivirali komercijalne 5G servise, označivši početak značajnog preokreta u performansama mreže. U roku od nekoliko nedelja nakon aktiviranja, Srbija je napredovala za 44 mesta i zauzela 14. poziciju na globalnom nivou u Speedtest Global Index™ za decembar 2025. godine, zabeleživši medijanu brzine preuzimanja od 173,04 Mbps i nadmašivši mnoga zapadnoevropska tržišta sa zrelijim 5G mrežama.

Iako Srbija ulazi u 5G ciklus godinama nakon mnogih svojih balkanskih suseda, zemlja se sada nalazi u odličnoj poziciji da smanji razliku u odnosu na regionalne konkurente. Srpski operatori su razvili zrelu 4G osnovu na koju sada nadograđuju 5G opremu koja je generaciju ili dve novija od one koju su primenili rani usvajaoci (early movers) drugde u Evropi, a koju su već bili pripremili u iščekivanju aukcije. EXPO 2027 koji će se održati u Beogradu dodatno pojačava ovaj zamah, delujući kao katalizator za infrastrukturna ulaganja i primoravajući operatore da za dve godine postignu ono za šta je regionalnim konkurentima bilo potrebno pet.

Ključne poruke

  • Lansiranje 5G mreže u Srbiji donosi trenutna i značajna poboljšanja performansi. Iako je odložena dodela spektra ostavila Srbiju na pretposlednjem mestu po medijani brzine mobilnog preuzimanja među balkanskim zemljama u trećem kvartalu 2025., komercijalno lansiranje u decembru 2025. izazvalo je oštar preokret. Sva tri operatora zabeležila su trocifreni procentualni rast medijane brzine preuzimanja tokom četvrtog kvartala 2025., pri čemu su nacionalne brzine porasle sa ~62 Mbps na preko 150 Mbps, što je Srbiju lansiralo na 14. mesto globalno u decembarskom izdanju Speedtest Global Index™.
  • Brzi uspon Srbije potvrđuje potencijal kasnih ulazaka na 5G tržište (late movers) da nadmaše očekivanja. Srbija sada stoji rame uz rame sa Bugarskom (5. mesto) i Severnom Makedonijom (17. mesto) kao dokaz da balkanska tržišta mogu postići izvrsne rezultate u mobilnoj telefoniji kada se zdrava politika spektra upari sa agresivnom realizacijom od strane operatora. Dodeljenih 130 MHz spektra u opsegu od 3,5 GHz po operatoru pruža dovoljno kapaciteta za održavanje ovih rezultata kako opterećenje mreže bude raslo.
  • A1 prednjači u brzini, dok Yettel pokazuje najsnažniji trend poboljšanja. A1 je isporučio najveću medijanu brzine mobilnog preuzimanja (208,29 Mbps) u četvrtom kvartalu 2025., dok je Yettel zabeležio najveće relativno poboljšanje nakon lansiranja 5G mreže (+160% u odnosu na prethodni kvartal, na 138,45 Mbps). Telekom Srbija (mts) je dostigao 109,02 Mbps, više nego udvostručivši svoj rezultat iz trećeg kvartala. Sva tri operatora su postigla gotovo izjednačene rezultate u kašnjenju (latenciji) od oko 32 ms.
  • Telekom se suočava sa konkurentskim pritiskom da ubrza svoju 5G implementaciju. Uprkos tome što vodi u udelu pretplatnika, Telekom zaostaje za A1 i Yettel-om u brzinama preuzimanja, dostupnosti 4G mreže (90% naspram 94-95% kod konkurenata) i dostupnosti 5G mreže (19% naspram 24% za A1). Njegova trenutna tranzicija dobavljača opreme dodaje složenost u realizaciji tokom ključnog perioda izgradnje mreže.
  • Regionalne razlike u mobilnim uslugama i dalje postoje, ali obaveze pokrivanja imaju za cilj da smanje jaz. Obaveze uvođenja 5G mreže koje je nametnuo srpski regulator RATEL zahtevaju od operatora da pokriju 15 eksplicitno navedenih nedovoljno razvijenih opština, glavne transportne koridore i postepeno manja naselja tokom petogodišnjeg perioda, stvarajući mehanizam vođen politikom za proširenje poboljšanja performansi i van Beograda i Novog Sada.

Dug put do spektra: Kako je Srbija konačno stigla do 5G aukcije

Od kašnjenja politike do prednosti kasnog ulaska

Srbija je usvojila strateška dokumenta koja pominju 5G još 2018. godine, ali je prvobitno očekivanje o dodeli spektra u “pionirskim opsezima” oko 2020. ili 2021. godine više puta odlagano. COVID-19, makroekonomska neizvesnost i unutrašnja politička debata o strukturi tržišta i ulozi državnog Telekoma Srbija doprineli su kašnjenju, čineći Srbiju poslednjom zemljom na Balkanu, osim Bosne i Hercegovine, koja je pokrenula proces 5G aukcije.

Nezavisne procene OECD-a i službi za proširenje EU eksplicitno su označile kašnjenja u dodeli 5G spektra i nepotpunu prateću regulativu, kao što je namenski zakon o širokopojasnoj infrastrukturi, kao ključne prepreke za digitalnu konkurentnost Srbije.

Analiza podataka Speedtest Intelligence otkriva da su se ova kašnjenja prevela u eroziju regionalnog rangiranja zemlje u mobilnim performansama sve do trećeg kvartala 2025. Između 2020. i trećeg kvartala 2025., rang Srbije je pao sa petog na deseto mesto među balkanskim tržištima po medijani brzine mobilnog preuzimanja. Ovo zapažanje je u skladu sa našim ranijim istraživanjima, koja su utvrdila da su evropske zemlje koje su ranije dodelile 5G spektar postigle bolje mrežne ishode za krajnje korisnike.

Srbija skočila sa dna na treće mesto među balkanskim zemljama nakon pokretanja 5G mreže
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Međutim, kasni ulazak Srbije nosi i prednosti koje sada postaju očigledne. Operatori su bili u mogućnosti da primene zreliju 5G opremu (povrh već zgusnute 4G mreže sa dubokom agregacijom nosilaca), koristeći smanjenje troškova i poboljšanja performansi akumulirana kroz nekoliko generacija 5G hardvera, istovremeno aktivirajući velike, čiste blokove spektra umesto fragmentisanih alokacija koje su ograničavale neke ranije usvajaoce.

Podaci o performansama s početka četvrtog kvartala 2025. sugerišu da Srbija možda ostvaruje značajnu “dividendu kasnog ulaska”. Skok na 14. mesto globalno, ispred mnogih zapadnoevropskih tržišta sa višegodišnjom prednošću, ukazuje na to da kvalitet dodele spektra i zrelost opreme mogu nadvladati vreme izlaska na tržište (time-to-market) u određivanju 5G ishoda.

Dugo trajanje licenci izdvaja srpsku 5G aukciju

Zakonodavna blokada koja je kočila srpsku 5G aukciju popustila je usvajanjem novog Zakona o elektronskim komunikacijama 2023. godine, koji se bliže uskladio sa Evropskim zakonikom o elektronskim komunikacijama (EECC) EU i naložio srpskom regulatoru RATEL-u da se pripremi za aukciju više opsega (multi-band auction). Naknadna nacionalna strategija elektronskih komunikacija i pravilnik postavili su uslove za izdavanje licenci u opsezima od 700 MHz, ispod 3 GHz i opsegu 3,4–3,8 GHz, sa proklamovanim ciljem maksimiziranja i prihoda i pokrivenosti.

RATEL-ov dizajn aukcije uspostavio je stroge kriterijume za učešće koji su efektivno ograničili ponuđače na postojeće operatore, što je znatno drugačiji pristup od nekih regulatora drugde u Evropi koji su koristili 5G aukcije da podstaknu konkurenciju stvaranjem uslova za nove učesnike (new entrants).

Aukcija je trajala od 3. do 7. novembra 2025., privukla je sva tri postojeća operatora i prikupila nešto više od 300 miliona evra (349,14 miliona dolara), pri čemu je svaki operator licitirao nešto iznad početne cene od 100 miliona evra za svoj paket. Licence se plaćaju u dve rate, sa drugom koja dospeva sredinom 2026. godine, i važe do marta 2047., dajući operatorima period od preko 20 godina, što je znatno velikodušnije od normi od 15 godina viđenih u većem delu EU (što je sada podložno promenama na osnovu predloga za trajne licence detaljno opisanih u Zakonu o digitalnim mrežama Evropske komisije).

Detaljnijom analizom, ovi rezultati aukcije sugerišu da je Srbija trampila duže trajanje licenci za robusne prihode državi, ostavljajući operatore sa relativno lakim godišnjim opterećenjem za spektar i troškovnom pozicijom koja izgleda široko konkurentna kada se prilagodi miksu opsega i trajanju licence.

Približan prinos po glavi stanovnika od srpske aukcije (oko 44 evra po stanovniku) bio je materijalno iznad ranijih dodela na Zapadnom Balkanu na nominalnoj osnovi. Hrvatska prodaja 700/3,6/26 GHz iz 2021. donela je 12 evra po glavi stanovnika, bugarska aukcija samo za 3,6 GHz donela je 1 evro po glavi stanovnika za 20-godišnje licence, a albanska dodela 3,5 GHz iznosila je otprilike 2 evra po glavi stanovnika. Međutim, ta poređenja su obično pokrivala mnogo manje spektra, kraće rokove ili oboje. Normalizovano za produženi rok trajanja u Srbiji i široke pakete više opsega, godišnja cifra $/MHz/pop nalazi se u donjoj polovini evropskog 5G raspona, znatno ispod istorijskih skupih izuzetaka kao što su Italija, Nemačka ili rana američka aukcija C opsega.

Uravnotežene dodele 5G spektra pozicioniraju Srbiju za održiva poboljšanja performansi

Pored povoljnog trajanja licence, još jedna ključna snaga srpske aukcije bila je to što je svakom operatoru dodelila široko uravnotežen portfolio niskih i srednjih opsega za 4G i 5G po ceni od otprilike 100 miliona evra svakom. Sva tri operatora su obezbedila simetrične udele u kritičnim pionirskim opsezima od 700 MHz i 3,5 GHz, uz pojedinačne dopune u opsegu od 2600 MHz i drugim nasleđenim opsezima poput 900, 1800 i 2100 MHz. Ova simetrija osigurava da nijedan igrač nije strukturno ograničen spektrom, što znači da će konkurentska prednost manje zavisiti od dubine spektra, a više od toga koliko brzo svaki operator realizuje zgušnjavanje RAN mreže (radio pristupne mreže) i uvođenje jezgra mreže (core network).

Sva tri operatora mogu da izgrade klasičan evropski 5G “stack” (slojevitu strukturu), koristeći 700 MHz kao sloj za široku SA pokrivenost, refarmirane opsege 900/1800/2100 MHz kao 4G/5G sidro i osnovu za VoLTE, 2600 MHz za gust kapacitet i široki C opseg kao primarni sloj 5G kapaciteta, potpuno usklađeno sa razmišljanjem EU o pionirskim opsezima.

Najznačajnija dodela bila je 130 MHz primarnog spektra od 3,5 GHz izdatog svakom operatoru, što je visoko konkurentna alokacija srednjeg opsega po evropskim standardima, gde su mnoga tržišta ciljala samo 80 do 100 MHz po operatoru u ovom opsegu. Ovo pozicionira srpske operatore u dobru situaciju da poboljšaju mrežni kapacitet u gustim urbanim sredinama, a rani podaci o performansama iz četvrtog kvartala 2025. potvrđuju da se ova široka alokacija spektra već prevodi u konkretne prednosti u brzini za krajnje korisnike.

Ciljane obaveze pokrivanja za nedovoljno razvijena područja teže da podstaknu bolje 5G ishode

Ključna karakteristika dizajna aukcije bilo je uključivanje ciljane obaveze pokrivanja za 15 eksplicitno imenovanih nedovoljno razvijenih opština, sa namerom da se spreči čisto “gradocentrično” uvođenje 5G mreže koncentrisano u Beogradu i Novom Sadu. Svaki operator mora materijalno poboljšati pokrivenost, uključujući budući 5G, u pet ruralnih ili strukturno slabih područja. Telekom je odgovoran za Krupanj, Osečinu, Medveđu, Trgovište i Bosilegrad. Yettel je odgovoran za Ljuboviju, Golubac, Babušnicu, Gadžin Han i Svrljig. A1 je odgovoran za Kosjerić, Crnu Travu, Kučevo, Majdanpek i Boljevac.

Mnoge od ovih oblasti su zvanično klasifikovane kao nerazvijene, sa starim stanovništvom, visokom emigracijom i slabom infrastrukturom. Crna Trava, najmanja i jedna od najsiromašnijih opština u Srbiji, najslikovitiji je primer. U praksi, ova intervencija politike ima za cilj da primora operatore da koriste novi spektar niskog opsega kako bi proširili osnovnu 4G/5G dostupnost na mesta koja inače verovatno ne bi dobila komercijalnu pokrivenost u bliskoj budućnosti.

Na višem nivou, ova opštinska izdvajanja dolaze povrh zahtevnog petogodišnjeg nacionalnog režima izgradnje koji je postavio RATEL. Uslovi licence zahtevaju da svaki operator postavi najmanje 200 aktivnih 5G baznih stanica u prvoj godini, od toga 120 u Beogradu, 20 u Novom Sadu, 15 u Nišu, 10 u Kragujevcu, 5 u Subotici, plus sve naučno-tehnološke parkove. Ovaj broj raste na 1.000 u drugoj godini širom 22 određena grada, glavnih turističkih centara, svih međunarodnih aerodroma i 24-časovnih drumskih graničnih prelaza.

Naknadni ciljevi rastu na 2.000, 3.300 i 4.500 lokacija u trećoj do pete godini, sa obaveznom pokrivenošću svih naselja iznad 10.000, 5.000 i 3.000 stanovnika, respektivno. Do kraja 2026., operatori takođe moraju postići gotovo neprekidnu pokrivenost duž državnih puteva IA/IB klase i panevropskih železničkih koridora X i XI, kao i lokacije EXPO 2027 i njenih pristupnih puteva. Svaki operator mora ispuniti ove prekretnice na sopstvenoj nezavisnoj RAN mreži, jer se nacionalni roming ne računa, čime se znatno podižu minimalni zahtevi za kapitalnim ulaganjima (capex) u poređenju sa popustljivijim režimima u EU.

Uvođenje 5G stiže usred izazovnih uslova poslovanja

Slično trendu primećenom drugde na Balkanu, finansijska pozadina koja podupire srpsko mobilno tržište je stabilan, jednocifren rast prihoda (mid-single digit) do kraja ove decenije. Prosečan prihod po korisniku mobilne telefonije (ARPU) u Srbiji nalazi se na donjem kraju evropskog raspona, ali je četvrti po visini na Balkanu, prosečno oko 9 evra krajem 2025. Ova cifra je materijalno niža u realnim vrednostima u odnosu na dve do tri godine ranije.

Ovaj spori profil ARPU-a stoga ograničava koliko se investicija u 5G može povratiti samo kroz rast prihoda, pri čemu se svi operatori suočavaju sa nekoliko pritisaka na kapitalne (capex) i operativne troškove (opex) kroz naknade za licence, amortizaciju spektra, troškove energije, kao i ulaganja u optiku i projekte vezane za EXPO.

Iznos od 300 miliona evra (349,11 miliona dolara) prikupljen na nedavnoj aukciji je značajan u odnosu na veličinu srpskog tržišta. Iako su naknade raspoređene tokom vremena, one i dalje apsorbuju kapacitet bilansa stanja. Srpski operatori, kao i njihove evropske kolege, suočili su se sa volatilnošću cena električne energije od 2022. godine, pri čemu energija čini značajan deo operativnih troškova. Ovo stvara snažne podsticaje za primenu energetski efikasnih radio uređaja i korišćenje funkcija kao što su 5G “režimi spavanja” (sleep modes) kako izgradnja napreduje. Vlada je istakla i ruralni širokopojasni internet i pripreme za EXPO 2027 u Beogradu kao strateške prioritete, zahtevajući nadogradnje u pozadinskoj mreži (backhaul), jezgru i metro transportnoj infrastrukturi.

U ovom izazovnom okruženju, raniji potezi na tržištu pomogli su da se oslobodi deo kapitala za 5G. Telekom je završio prodaju tornjeva konzorcijumu koji predvodi Actis, dok je A1 učinio slično sa svojim izdvajanjem EuroTeleSites kompanije. U međuvremenu, PPF Telecom Group, u kojoj je Etisalat (e&) stekao većinski udeo u širem portfoliju centralne i istočne Evrope, odlučio je da strukturno odvoji mrežu Yettel-a u CETIN Srbija. Ovaj entitet sada poseduje i upravlja pasivnom i aktivnom infrastrukturom i pruža veleprodajne usluge mobilne mreže Yettel-u.

Strateški fokus srpskih operatora prelazi sa obima na vrednost

Tri srpska operatora su se razišla u različite strateške pozicije. Telekom Srbija, podržan od strane države, ostaje lider u obimu sa približno 42-44% tržišnog udela i generiše najveći apsolutni prihod (1,3-1,4 milijarde evra na nivou grupe u 2024.), ali nosi najteži teret zaduženosti, trgujući slobodnim novčanim tokovima za agresivno trošenje na sadržaj (Premier liga i NBA prava) kako bi odbranio ARPU od odliva korisnika (churn). Fiksno-mobilno povezivanje dodatno podržava vezanost njegovih pretplatnika, posebno među domaćinstvima privučenim premium sportskim sadržajem.

Inkrementalno stvaranje vrednosti na tržištu, međutim, pomera se ka efikasnijim izazivačima. Yettel je uspešno prešao put od mobilne “krave muzare” (cash cow), hvaleći se najvišim ARPU-om (oko 11,60 evra u 2024.), do konvergentnog izazivača. Podržan fokusom PPF Grupe na efikasnost, održava najzdravije EBITDA marže na tržištu (rast od 19% u 2024. na 171 milion evra ili 198,99 miliona dolara) agresivnom unakrsnom prodajom svojih ‘Hipernet’ fiksnih usluga lojalnoj bazi mobilnih korisnika od oko 30% tržišnog udela, efikasno se izolujući od ratova cena.

A1, i dalje najmanji operator po tržišnom udelu sa oko 27%, ostaje primarni konkurentski izazivač i smanjuje jaz u profitabilnosti dok A1 Grupa transformiše svoje poslovanje u Srbiji u konvergentnog igrača. Odbacio je identitet diskontera i pozicionirao se kao poseban inovator vrednosti sa “vitkim” modelom sposobnim za brzo raspoređivanje kapitala.

Operator je zabeležio rast EBITDA od 15% u 2024. na 146 miliona evra ili 169,90 miliona dolara (marža od približno 37%), vođen rastom cena usklađenim sa inflacijom i prodajom skupljih paketa (upselling), čak i dok su se baze pripejd i postpejd korisnika smanjivale. Akvizicija Conexio Metro optike (42.000 spremnih domova) i lansiranje fiksnih usluga 2025. godine imaju za cilj da dodatno podignu ARPU A1 i smanje odliv korisnika.

A1 i Yettel ušli su u 5G ciklus sa jačom 4G mrežnom osnovom

Kasni ciklus 5G RAN-a u Srbiji primorao je operatore da rastuću potražnju za podacima nose gotovo u potpunosti na svojim 4G mrežama tokom većeg dela 2025. godine pre aukcije. Svaki operator se okrenuo korišćenju refarminga frekvencija 800, 1800 i 2100 MHz, agregaciji tri do četiri nosioca i ciljanom zgušnjavanju mreže duž urbanih područja i transportnih koridora kako bi maksimizirao prostornu ponovnu upotrebu spektra.

Iako je ova strategija fokusirana na 4G gurnula postojeću mrežu do krajnjih granica, ekonomija je za operatore postajala sve gora. Svaka dodatna lokacija ili nadogradnja radija bila je teška za kapitalne i energetske troškove na tržištu osetljivom na cene, a dobici u spektralnoj efikasnosti od daljih LTE-Advanced podešavanja bili su marginalni u poređenju sa aktiviranjem velikih, čistih 5G nosilaca u opsegu 3,5 GHz.

Putanja performansi tokom 2025. naglašava različite startne pozicije sa kojih su operatori ušli u 5G ciklus. A1 je zadržao značajnu prednost u brzini u Srbiji čak i na 4G, sa medijanom brzine mobilnog preuzimanja na svojoj mreži od 81,03 Mbps u trećem kvartalu 2025., što je otprilike 40% brže od Yettel-a (53,15 Mbps) i Telekoma (57,95 Mbps).

Rane 5G performanse premašuju očekivanja dok operatori aktiviraju novi spektar

Istovremeno komercijalno lansiranje 5G od strane sva tri srpska operatora 3. decembra 2025. izazvalo je trenutnu i značajnu transformaciju u performansama mreže. Analiza podataka Speedtest Intelligence za četvrti kvartal 2025. otkriva povećanja brzine koja daleko prevazilaze ono što bi se obično primetilo od inkrementalnih 4G poboljšanja, potvrđujući da novoaktivirani spektar od 3,5 GHz i 700 MHz već donosi značajne benefite krajnjim korisnicima.

A1 je isporučio medijanu brzine mobilnog preuzimanja od 208,29 Mbps u četvrtom kvartalu 2025., što je povećanje od 157% sa 81,03 Mbps u trećem kvartalu. Yettel je zabeležio najveće relativno poboljšanje, sa brzinama koje su porasle za 160% sa 53,15 Mbps na 138,45 Mbps. Telekom, iako beleži najniže apsolutne brzine među tri operatora, ipak je postigao povećanje od 88% na 109,02 Mbps sa 57,95 Mbps.

A1 proširuje prednost u brzini dok sva tri operatora beleže oštar rast zahvaljujući 5G
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Brzine otpremanja (upload) su se slično poboljšale kod svih operatora, pri čemu Yettel vodi sa 27,02 Mbps, a slede ga Telekom (24,02 Mbps) i A1 (23,41 Mbps). Latencija na više servera (multi-server latency) konvergirala je na ~32 ms na sve tri mreže, što je pad u odnosu na divergentne brojke iz trećeg kvartala.

Brzine otpremanja rastu nakon pokretanja 5G mreže, Yettel preuzima vođstvo
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Najjasniji dokaz tekuće mobilne transformacije Srbije je njen uspon na Speedtest Global Index-u. U decembru 2025., Srbija se popela za 44 pozicije na 14. mesto globalno sa medijanom brzine preuzimanja od 173,04 Mbps, plasirajući se ispred utvrđenih evropskih 5G tržišta uključujući Gruziju (15.), Holandiju (16.), Norvešku (20.), Francusku (26.) i Finsku (27.). Iako je određeni povratak nazad vrlo verovatan kako se opterećenje mreže bude povećavalo tokom 2026. godine, široka alokacija spektra od 130 MHz po operatoru pruža jedinstveno značajan prostor za apsorpciju rasta saobraćaja uz održavanje snažnih performansi.

Analiza podataka o dostupnosti 5G potvrđuje da su operatori brzo aktivirali komercijalnu uslugu nakon lansiranja 3. decembra. A1 je prednjačio sa dostupnošću 5G od 24% u četvrtom kvartalu 2025., što ukazuje da su korisnici na 5G uređajima u njegovoj mreži proveli približno četvrtinu svog vremena povezani na 5G. Yettel i Telekom su zabeležili slične brojke od 19%. Očekuje se da će ove brojke o dostupnosti stalno rasti kako operatori budu širili svoje 5G otiske izvan početnih zona lansiranja u Beogradu i većim gradovima.

Razlike u progresu gašenja 3G mreže ističu razlike u strategiji spektra i zrelosti 4G mreže

Ulaganja u zgušnjavanje mreže baznih stanica i proširenje 4G pokrivenosti doprinela su poboljšanoj konzistentnosti mreže i ishodima pokrivenosti kod svih operatora. Dostupnost 4G u četvrtom kvartalu 2025. dostigla je 95% za A1, 94% za Yettel i 90% za Telekom, odražavajući široku pokrivenost u ruralnim područjima i značajno vreme provedeno na 4G (a sada i 5G) mrežama u zatvorenom prostoru u urbanim područjima, kako širenje niskog opsega i zgušnjavanje lokacija pomažu dublju penetraciju u zgrade u gradovima poput Beograda i Novog Sada.

Širi obim 4G mreže A1 i opsežna upotreba VoLTE-a širom njegove pokrivenosti omogućili su mu da deluje agresivnije od konkurenata po pitanju gašenja (sunset) 3G usluga. Nakon najave faznog gašenja 3G do kraja juna 2025., A1 je završio ukidanje 3G mreže na nacionalnom nivou u aprilu 2025., oslobađajući svoj 3G sloj od 2100 MHz za 4G/5G, dok je eksplicitno zadržao 2G u opsegu 900 MHz kao tanko sidro za govorne/SMS usluge i IoT uređaje niže klase, gurajući sav glavni govorni saobraćaj na VoLTE.

Šira 4G pokrivenost A1 pruža čvršću osnovu za 5G nadogradnju
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q4 2024 – Q4 2025

Gašenje 3G mreže od strane A1 efektivno je konvertovalo njegov otisak od 2100 MHz u čisti sloj 4G kapaciteta, dok ga njegov relativno mali deo od 4,2 MHz u opsegu 900 MHz (u poređenju sa 9,6 MHz za Telekom i Yettel) čini strukturno motivisanim da ubrza migraciju na VoLTE i vremenom smanji upotrebu 2G mreže.

Yettel, nasuprot tome, nema formalne datume gašenja 2G/3G mreže, ali je već “tiho” prenamenio veliki deo svog originalnog 3G sloja od 2100 MHz u 4G, zadržavajući “kišobran” niskog dualnog opsega 2G/3G uglavnom na 900 MHz dok upotreba VoLTE-a i uvođenje 5G mreže ne sazru.

Telekom ostaje najkonzervativniji po pitanju tajminga gašenja mreže, što odražava veću bazu ruralnih i starih korisnika i želju da se izbegne nagli prekid glasovnih usluga dok upotreba VoLTE-a još uvek raste povrh komparativno manje baze 4G pokrivenosti. Operator nastavlja da koristi i 2G (900/1800 MHz) i 3G (prvenstveno 2100 MHz) uporedo sa 4G/5G.

Strategije dobavljača se razlikuju dok operatori upravljaju tranzicijom opreme

Pored prednosti posedovanja širokog 4G otiska, brzina kojom je A1 mogao da sprovede gašenje 3G verovatno je na neki način oblikovana njegovom jedinstveno čistom strategijom dobavljača. A1 Grupa je već zaključala Srbiju u single-RAN strategiju sa kompanijom Nokia koja isporučuje i radio i paketno jezgro, u okviru petogodišnjeg 5G plana za pokrivanje glavnih populacionih centara i transportnih koridora, koristeći mrežu tornjeva izdvojene kompanije EuroTeleSites-a kako bi zadržala RAN relativno rasterećenim od fiksne imovine (asset-light).

Telekom je, nasuprot tome, usred zaokreta sa nasleđenog 2G-4G otiska koji se u velikoj meri oslanjao na Huawei, ka dvostrukom nordijskom 5G sloju, finansiranom kroz karakterističnu multilateralnu strukturu koja uključuje Evropsku banku za obnovu i razvoj, švedsku izvozno-kreditnu korporaciju i američku Exim banku. Značajno je da ugovor sa američkom Exim bankom od približno 42,97 miliona evra (50 miliona dolara) predstavlja prvi sporazum te vrste između jednog evropskog telekom operatora i američke Izvozno-uvozne banke. Ericsson i Nokia su ugovoreni za isporuku 5G baznih stanica za uvođenje mreže.

Yettel, preko CETIN Srbija, takođe prolazi kroz aktivnu diversifikaciju dobavljača dok prelazi sa Huawei-a, koji je istorijski korišćen za njegov RAN, na Ericsson za izgradnju 5G mreže. Ova tranzicija se koordiniše uporedo sa širim projektom “5G Balkan” kompanije CETIN, koji ima za cilj jačanje optičke povezanosti širom regiona u partnerstvu sa CETIN Bugarska.

5G podsticaj stiže u pravom trenutku za EXPO 2027

Istovremeno lansiranje 5G mreže u decembru 2025. od strane sva tri operatora, podržano velikodušnim alokacijama od 130 MHz u srednjem opsegu i modernom opremom koja je bila pripremljena tokom regulatornih odlaganja, lansiralo je Srbiju sa bliskog dna balkanske mobilne rang liste na visoko konkurentnu poziciju globalno, potvrđujući potencijal da kasni usvajaoci smanje razliku u odnosu na konkurente kada se usklade politika spektra i realizacija operatora.

Sa EXPO 2027 na horizontu i vladom koja je posvećena korišćenju ovog događaja kao izloga za digitalne sposobnosti zemlje, srpski mobilni operatori suočavaju se i sa pritiskom konkurencije i sa značajnom prilikom da pokažu šta ulaganja u 5G infrastrukturu mogu doneti potrošačima i preduzećima. Rani podaci sugerišu da su dorasli izazovu.

Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.

About the author

Luke Kehoe

Luke Kehoe leads Ookla’s research and thought leadership efforts in Europe. An electronic engineering alumnus of University College Dublin, Luke has extensive experience collaborating with mobile operators, telecoms vendors, and government agencies in research and advisory roles across Europe. He has contributed to internationally recognised thought leadership publications in areas such as 5G, IoT, open RAN, and edge computing, working with prestigious organisations like the Telecom Infra Project and the World Economic Forum.

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| January 12, 2025

How consolidation is reshaping Spain’s telecoms market in 2025 | La consolidación cambia las telecomunicaciones españolas en 2025

5G
Serbian/Srpski

Spain continues to lead Europe in fiber rollout, but lagging mobile performance undermines country’s overall telecoms competitiveness

The dynamism of Spain’s telecoms market stood out among its European peers last year, with a flurry of mergers reshaping the market’s structure and strong investment in next-generation networks, supported by targeted government initiatives, improving outcomes for Spanish consumers. However, while increased fiber and 5G penetration have driven notable year-on-year improvements in overall network performance, Spain’s international competitiveness in telecoms remains highly imbalanced between its fixed and mobile infrastructure.

The country’s credentials as Europe’s preeminent fiber leader remain intact. In 2024, Spain ranked among the top three in the EU for fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage (95.2%) and the share of fixed broadband subscriptions providing download speeds above 100 Mbps (93.5%), according to the latest edition of the European Commission’s ‘State of the Digital Decade’ report. This continues to position the country significantly ahead of some of the bloc’s largest economies, most notably Germany, which still lags in FTTP coverage (28.8%) due to a slow shift away from cable networks.

Analysis of Speedtest Intelligence® data reveals that median fixed download speeds in Spain increased from 173.32 Mbps to 210.46 Mbps between 2023 and 2024. This trend of improvement was mirrored across other fixed network performance metrics, with upload speeds increasing in the same period from 129.62 Mbps to 155.53 Mbps. In Q3 2024, DIGI achieved a median fixed download speed of 321.21 Mbps in the Spanish market, followed by Jazztel (273.18 Mbps), Orange (262.78 Mbps), Yoigo (255.74 Mbps) and Movistar (180.30 Mbps).

Spain Leads Europe in Fiber Deployment and Adoption, Boasting the Highest Coverage Among the EU's Top 10 Economies
European Commission | DESI 2018 – 2024

Having achieved exceptionally high levels of FTTP penetration across urban, suburban and rural areas—placing Spain among the top three in the European Commission’s DESI 2024 Index for FTTP coverage in sparsely populated rural areas—the focus in Spain is shifting toward enhancing quality of experience (QoE) in core use cases such as gaming and video streaming. Despite boasting higher FTTP coverage and take-up rates, Spain ranks below countries like France in Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index™. This disparity highlights the influence of factors such as Wi-Fi technology—France has a higher penetration of Wi-Fi 6 and 7 in ISP-provided CPE—and tariff provisioned speeds, with a larger share of fiber customers in France subscribing to multi-gigabit plans, on fixed broadband performance.

DIGI’s strong fixed download speed performance in Spain, detailed in Ookla’s Speedtest Connectivity Report for 1H 2024, is underpinned by similar favourable factors. Notably, it was first to market in Spain with a 10 Gbps service, fully leveraging its XGS-PON fiber infrastructure. With highly competitive pricing—starting at just €20 per month for 1 Gbps and €25 per month for 10 Gbps, including Wi-Fi 6 CPE as standard—DIGI has quickly secured a significant share of multi-gigabit capable connections in the Spanish market. 

Autonomous Communities in Northern Spain Lead in Fixed Download Speed Performance
Speedtest Intelligence® | 2024

In addition to highlighting the importance of modern CPE and higher tariff-provisioned speeds, DIGI’s business last year exemplified the accelerating consolidation trends in Spain’s highly overbuilt and fragmented fiber market. The acquisition of DIGI’s fiber infrastructure by a Macquarie-led consortium, which solidified wholesale specialist Onivia’s status as the largest of the ‘neutral’ FTTP networks in Spain, dovetailed with developments such as Telefónica’s BlueVia wholesale spin-off, the emergence of MásOrange and Zegona-controlled Vodafone’s ‘FiberCo’ tie-ups with both Telefónica and MásOrange.

As observed in other European markets with significant fiber overbuild, such as the alt-net model in the UK, consolidation is a slow and challenging process. However, Spanish operators continue to pursue it to enhance the economics of their fiber investments in highly overbuilt urban areas, unlocking scale and resources to capture future growth in rural areas where overlapping infrastructure is less common. This begins with small local operators—of which there are hundreds—being absorbed by ‘local consolidators’. These are then integrated into the infrastructure portfolios of regional consolidators, ultimately leading to acquisition by one of the largest traditional players. 

Fiber Overbuild from Smaller Players like DIGI Drives Market Share Shift from Incumbents
Analysis of CNMC Market Data | 2022 – 2024

This gradual process of consolidation is reshaping the fiber business model in Spain, as traditional operators separate their infrastructure and service units to support the growth of wholesale offerings. The coming year will provide some insight into whether a consolidated third player can successfully compete and coexist alongside the vertically integrated Telefónica and MásOrange in the long-term.

MásOrange is vying for network leadership in Spain, founded on a significant spectrum advantage

The winds of consolidation have swept through the Spanish mobile market too, culminating last year in the European Commission’s approval of a 50:50 joint venture between MásMóvil and Orange. The merger has pole-vaulted the newly formed ‘MásOrange’ into a leading position in the market, both in subscription and spectrum share. To secure regulatory approval from Brussels, the merging entity committed to divesting 60 MHz of spectrum, including 20 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band, to facilitate the entry of DIGI as a fully-fledged independent mobile operator, effectively restoring the Spanish market to a four-player structure and ‘exerting a strong competitive constraint on the joint venture’.

In addition to diversifying its portfolio of brands through the merger—with Orange and Yoigo catering to the premium segment, Jazztel and MásMóvil focusing on value for money and regional brands like Euskaltel and Telecable serving local needs—MásOrange hopes its consolidated spectrum assets will enable it to achieve network leadership in the Spanish mobile market. 

Movistar Revenues Stable YoY in Q3 2024 while Vodafone and MásOrange Face Declines
Analysis of CNMC Market Data | 2022 – 2024

The merged entity’s consolidated network will be primarily based on Orange’s infrastructure, complemented by MásMóvil’s existing site portfolio and the deployment of new greenfield sites. The integration of MásMóvil’s network, which relies entirely on mid- and high-band spectrum and has historically depended on a national roaming agreement with Orange, creates a natural synergy for the merged entity. It enables the integrated network to leverage MásMóvil’s capacity and density in urban areas alongside Orange’s extensive coverage and nationwide reach.

MásOrange is particularly focused on vying to unseat Movistar’s dominance in the premium segment, a position it has long upheld thanks to its emphasis on superior network quality. Movistar emerged as the fastest mobile operator in the Spanish market in Ookla’s Speedtest Connectivity Report for 1H 2024, delivering the highest median download speeds of 82.68 Mbps.  This placed Movistar significantly ahead of Orange (56.42 Mbps) and Yoigo (36.73 Mbps).

The merged entity’s spectrum advantage is heavily weighted toward mid- and high-bands, which are typically utilised for 5G deployments in urban and suburban areas. According to data published by MásOrange, it holds 37% of all mid- and high-band assets in the Spanish market—compared to 28% and 26% for its closest competitor, Telefónica—giving it a unique opportunity to enhance 5G speed performance and gain a competitive edge.

Movistar has maintained its strong 5G speed performance with a 100 MHz allocation in the 3.5 GHz band, but this is now overshadowed by MasOrange’s expanded allocation of 170 MHz. Capital investment by the merged entity in upgrading the 5G RAN to support advanced carrier aggregation (CA) capabilities and the standalone (SA) architecture will enable it to fully realise the performance benefits of wider channel bandwidth through the extensive deployment of its 3.5 GHz spectrum across its consolidated mobile site grid. 

Seville Leads in 5G Download Speed Among Spain's Largest Cities, but Operator Performance Varies Widely
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2024

To establish network leadership in coverage, however, MásOrange will need to move beyond its spectrum advantage and focus on increasing the number of physical sites in rural areas within its integrated network. In Q3 2024, Vodafone and Movistar recorded 4G Availability of 95.1% and 93.4% respectively in the Spanish market, followed by Orange at 92.7% and Yoigo at 91.5%.

In parallel to MásOrange’s network consolidation journey, DIGI is building out its own infrastructure to gradually wean itself off dependence on a national roaming and RAN sharing agreement with Telefónica (which DIGI selected over MásOrange, despite both being options under the merger conditions), starting with urban and suburban areas. The European Commission designed the spectrum divestment remedies to position DIGI to replicate the competitive pressure previously exerted by MásMóvil. The goal is for DIGI to carry a similar share of its total mobile data traffic on its own network in the coming years, at least matching the 40-60% on-net share that MásMóvil achieved pre-merger. 

Spain's Rural Provinces Trail in 5G Availability, Highlighting the Importance of Government Support through UNICO
Speedtest Intelligence® | Overall 5G Availability (%) in 2024

More broadly, it is hoped that the substantial long-term investment commitments from DIGI and MásOrange, driven by the consolidation activity, combined with government support through programmes such as Unico, will bolster Spain’s international competitiveness in mobile performance in the coming years. The country has significant catching up to do, ranking 57th in the Speedtest Global Index at the end of 2024 and trailing most of its European peers across a suite of network performance metrics, including download speed, consistency and coverage. 

La consolidación cambia las telecomunicaciones españolas en 2025

España sigue a la cabeza en despliegue de fibra en Europa, pero el rezagado desempeño móvil reduce la competitividad del país

El dinamismo del mercado español de telecomunicaciones destacó el año pasado frente al de otros mercados europeos, por fusiones que modificaron la estructura del sector y una fuerte inversión en redes de próxima generación, respaldadas por iniciativas gubernamentales, que supusieron mejoras para los consumidores españoles. Si bien la mayor penetración de la fibra y el 5G han impulsado año tras año notables avances en el rendimiento general de la red, la competitividad internacional de España en telecomunicaciones sigue estando muy desequilibrada entre su infraestructura fija y móvil.

Las credenciales del país como líder europeo en fibra permanecen intactas. En 2024, según la última edición del informe ‘Estado de la Década Digital’ de la Comisión Europea, España se situó entre los tres primeros países de la UE en cobertura de fibra hasta las instalaciones (FTTP), con un 95,21%, y en porcentaje de suscripciones de banda ancha fija con velocidades de descarga superiores a 100 Mbps (93,54%). Esto posicionó al país significativamente por delante de algunas de las economías más grandes del bloque, en particular Alemania, todavía rezagada en cobertura FTTP (28,80%).

Según Speedtest Intelligence la velocidad mediana de descarga fija en España aumentó de 173,32 Mbps a 210,46 Mbps entre 2023 y 2024. Esta tendencia de mejora se reflejó en otras métricas de rendimiento de la red fija, con velocidades medianas de carga que se incrementaron de 129.62 Mbps a 155.53 Mbps en el mismo período. En el tercer trimestre de 2024, DIGI alcanzó una velocidad mediana de descarga fija de 321,21 Mbps, por delante de Jazztel (273,18 Mbps), Orange (262,78 Mbps), Yoigo (255,74 Mbps) y Movistar (180,30 Mbps).

España lidera Europa en despliegue y adopción de fibra, con la mayor cobertura entre las 10 principales economías de la UE
Comisión Europea | DESI 2018-2024

Habiendo alcanzado niveles excepcionalmente altos de penetración de FTTP en áreas urbanas, suburbanas y rurales (que posicionan a España entre los tres primeros del índice DESI 2024 de la Comisión Europea  sobre cobertura FTTP en zonas rurales escasamente pobladas), España está cambiando el foco hacia la mejora de la calidad de la experiencia (QoE) para casos de uso como los vídeojuegos y el streaming. A pesar de contar con más cobertura y tasas de aceptación FTTP, España está por debajo de países como Francia en el Índice Global de Speedtest de Ookla.

Este desequilibrio pone de relieve la influencia en el rendimiento de la banda ancha fija de factores como la tecnología Wi-Fi (Francia tiene una mayor penetración de Wi-Fi 6 y 7 en los router proporcionados por los operadores) y las velocidades ofrecidas en la tarifa (con una mayor proporción de clientes de fibra suscritos a planes multi-gigabit en Francia).

El sólido rendimiento de la velocidad de descarga fija de DIGI en España, detallado en Informe de Conectividad de Speedtest, está respaldado por factores favorables similares. Fue el primero en comercializar en España un servicio de 10 Gbps, aprovechando al máximo su infraestructura de fibra XGS-PON. Con precios altamente competitivos (desde sólo 20€ al mes por 1 Gbps y 25€ por 10 Gbps y router Wi-Fi 6 incluido), DIGI se ha asegurado rápidamente una cuota importante de conexiones con capacidad multigigabit en el mercado español. 

Las comunidades autónomas del norte de España, líderes en rendimiento de velocidad de descarga fija
Speedtest Intelligence® | 2024

Además de evidenciar la importancia de un router moderno y velocidades más altas, el negocio de DIGI ejemplificó el año pasado la acelerada tendencia de consolidación en el fragmentado y sobredimensionado mercado español de fibra. La adquisición de la infraestructura de fibra de DIGI por parte de un consorcio liderado por Macquarie, que consolidó el estatus de Onivia como la mayor red FTTP ‘neutra’ en España, coincidió con otros acontecimientos como la escisión de BlueVia de Telefónica, la aparición de MásOrange y las alianzas de ‘FibreCo’ de Vodafone con Telefónica y MásOrange.

Como se observa en otros mercados europeos con un importante despliegue de fibra (como Reino Unido), la consolidación es un proceso lento y desafiante. Sin embargo, los operadores españoles continúan persiguiéndola para mejorar la rentabilidad de sus inversiones en fibra en áreas urbanas altamente edificadas, liberando recursos para aprovechar el crecimiento futuro en áreas rurales donde la superposición de infraestructura es menos común. Esto comienza con la absorción de pequeños operadores locales (de los que hay cientos) por “consolidadores locales”. Luego, éstos se integran en las carteras de infraestructura de los consolidadores regionales, lo que en última instancia conduce a la adquisición por parte de uno de los actores tradicionales más grandes.

El despliegue de fibra por parte de actores más pequeños como DIGI impulsa el cambio en la cuota de mercado de los operadores tradicionales
Análisis de datos de CNMC | 2022-2024

Esta consolidación gradual está modificando el negocio de la fibra en España, mientras que los operadores tradicionales separan sus unidades de infraestructura y servicios para apoyar el crecimiento de la oferta mayorista. Este año se podrá saber si un tercer actor consolidado puede competir y coexistir con éxito a largo plazo con Telefónica y MásOrange.

MásOrange compite por el liderazgo de la red en España, apoyándose en una importante ventaja de espectro

La consolidación también ha afectado al mercado móvil español. A finales del año pasado, la Comisión Europea aprobó la creación de una empresa conjunta entre MásMóvil y Orange. La fusión ha llevado a la recién formada MásOrange a una posición de liderazgo, tanto en suscripción como en cuota de espectro. Para obtener la aprobación de Bruselas, la entidad se comprometió a vender 60 MHz de espectro, incluidos 20 MHz en la banda de 3,5 GHz, para facilitar la entrada de DIGI como un operador móvil independiente de pleno derecho, convirtiendo así el mercado español en una estructura de cuatro actores. 

Además de diversificar su cartera de marcas a través de la fusión (con Orange y Yoigo en el segmento premium, Jazztel y MásMóvil centrándose en la relación calidad-precio y Euskaltel y Telecable atendiendo las necesidades locales), MásOrange espera que sus activos de espectro le permitan alcanzar el liderazgo en el mercado móvil español.

Los ingresos de Movistar se mantienen estables interanualmente en el 3T de 2024 mientras que Vodafone y MásOrange afrontan caídas
Análisis de datos de mercado de CNMC | 2022-2024

La red de la entidad se basará principalmente en la infraestructura de Orange, complementada con la cartera de sites existentes de MásMóvil y el despliegue de nuevos. La integración de la red de MásMóvil, que depende íntegramente del espectro de banda media y alta e históricamente ha dependido de un acuerdo de roaming nacional con Orange, crea una sinergia para la entidad: aprovechar la capacidad y densidad de MásMóvil en áreas urbanas junto con la amplia cobertura y alcance nacional de Orange.

MásOrange está centrado en desbancar a Movistar en el segmento premium, que ha liderado durante mucho tiempo gracias a su foco en la calidad superior de la red. Movistar emergió como el operador móvil más rápido del mercado español en el Informe de Conectividad Speedtest de Ookla para el primer semestre de 2024, al ofrecer la velocidad de descarga media más alta de 82,68 Mbps.  Esto sitúa a Movistar muy por delante de Orange (56,42 Mbps) y Yoigo (36,73 Mbps).

La ventaja espectral de MásOrange se inclina hacia las bandas medias y altas, normalmente utilizadas para implementaciones 5G en áreas urbanas y suburbanas. De acuerdo con los datos publicados por la compañía, MásOrange cuenta con el 37% de todos los activos de banda media y alta de España (en comparación con el 28% y el 26% de su competidor más cercano, Telefónica), lo que le da una oportunidad única de mejorar el rendimiento de la velocidad 5G y adelantarse a sus competidores.

Movistar ha mantenido su liderazgo en velocidad 5G con una asignación de 100 MHz en la banda de 3,5 GHz, pero esto se ve ahora eclipsado por la asignación de MásOrange de 170 MHz. La inversión de ésta para actualizar la RAN 5G para que cuente con capacidades avanzadas de agregación de operadores y arquitectura independiente (SA), le permitirá aprovechar los beneficios de rendimiento de un ancho de banda mayor a través del amplio despliegue de su espectro de 3,5 GHz en toda su red móvil consolidada. 

Sevilla lidera en velocidad de descarga 5G entre las principales ciudades de España, pero el rendimiento de los operadores varía ampliamente
Speedtest Intelligence® | Q3 2024

Sin embargo, para liderar en cobertura de red, MásOrange necesitará ir más allá de su ventaja de espectro y centrarse en incrementar el número de sites físicos en áreas rurales. En el tercer trimestre de 2024, Vodafone y Movistar registraron en el mercado español una disponibilidad 4G del 95,1% y 93,4% respectivamente, seguidas de Orange con un 92,7% y Yoigo con un 91,5%.

Paralelamente a la consolidación de la red de MásOrange, DIGI está construyendo su propia infraestructura para dejar de depender gradualmente de un acuerdo de roaming y del uso compartido de RAN con Telefónica, comenzando con zonas urbanas y suburbanas. La Comisión Europea diseñó los remedies de desinversión de espectro para que DIGI replique la presión competitiva ejercida anteriormente por MásMóvil. El objetivo es que DIGI transporte una proporción similar de su tráfico total de datos móviles en su propia red en los próximos años, al menos igualando la cuota on-net del 40-60% que MásMóvil lograba antes de la fusión. 

Provincias rurales de España, a la zaga en disponibilidad de 5G, lo que destaca la importancia del apoyo gubernamental a través de UNICO.
Speedtest Intelligence® | Disponibilidad general 5G (%) en 2024

En términos generales, se espera que los compromisos de inversión a largo plazo de DIGI y MásOrange, impulsados ​​por la consolidación, unidos al apoyo gubernamental con programas como Único, impulsen la competitividad internacional de España en rendimiento móvil en los próximos años. El país tiene mucho por hacer, ya que a finales de 2024 ocupa el puesto 57 en Índice Global de Speedtest, situándose por detrás de la mayoría de sus colegas europeos en rendimiento de red, incluidas velocidad de descarga, coherencia y cobertura.

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About the author

Luke Kehoe

Luke Kehoe leads Ookla’s research and thought leadership efforts in Europe. An electronic engineering alumnus of University College Dublin, Luke has extensive experience collaborating with mobile operators, telecoms vendors, and government agencies in research and advisory roles across Europe. He has contributed to internationally recognised thought leadership publications in areas such as 5G, IoT, open RAN, and edge computing, working with prestigious organisations like the Telecom Infra Project and the World Economic Forum.

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