Tag: Bulgaria

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 16, 2023

Spectrum: An Essential Ingredient to Ensure Good 5G Performance

Global Speeds

We have recently written about 5G performance at length, ranked the countries, looked at operators’ 5G strategies, and even commented on consumers’ perception of 5G performance. Most recently, we commented on the state of the worldwide 5G in 2022 and the fastest 5G mobile devices. This article will examine the relationship between spectrum and 5G performance.

Key takeaways:

  • Based on Speedtest Intelligence® data, we can see a significant variance between countries in median 5G speed, with four broad clusters of 5G performance emerging: 5G Leaders, High Performers, Improvers, and 5G Outliers. 
  • 5G performance depends heavily on the operator’s 5G spectrum holding.
  • The larger the allocation of the C-band spectrum, the faster the 5G download speed, with the contiguous spectrum enhancing performance further. 
  • Operators with access to 100 MHz of contiguous spectrum, e.g., in the U.A.E. and South Korea, led the 5G global ranking in Q4 2022 with a median download speed of 516.15 Mbps and 511.70 Mbps, respectively.
  • Access to low-band spectrum is just one factor that impacts 5G Availability. 

Four tiers of 5G performance 

Looking at market-level Speedtest Intelligence data, we can see significant variance in median 5G download speeds between the 52 countries we analyzed. We identified four broad clusters of 5G performance as measured by median 5G download speed.

chart of 5g performance clusers basd on median 5g download speed across a sample of countries5G Leaders: > 300 Mbps

These markets are the 5G pioneers, being among the first to launch 5G services, and are continually pushing the boundaries of 5G performance with median download speeds typically greater than 300 Mbps. High-performant 5G markets have allocated substantial amounts of spectrum for 5G use, particularly with wide allocations in the coveted C-band, and have assigned and, in some cases, begun limited use of mmWave spectrum. In some cases, we see a trade-off between 5G performance and 5G Availability (the proportion of time users with 5G capable devices spend connected to 5G networks).

5G High Performers: 200 – 300 Mbps

These markets share many of the characteristics of 5G leaders, having made an adequate spectrum allocation for 5G use and fostered competition between operators, which has helped spur network investment. However, they lag behind 5G Leaders based on their level of network densification. They typically use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), which allows operators to share spectrum between network generations, but it can weigh on performance. Median 5G download performance in these markets typically ranges from 200 Mbps to 300 Mbps. We don’t generally see as much of a trade-off between performance and 5G Availability in these markets. 

5G Improvers: < 200 Mbps

These markets typically have limited C-band availability or a regulatory environment promoting strong price competition, with operator investment constrained. As a result,  median 5G download speeds are between 100- 200 Mbps in these markets. In some cases — for example, in the U.S. and U.K., we see 5G spectrum allocations (based on spectrum currently in use) giving a significant advantage to one player in the market, which has then sought to capitalize on this through aggressive 5G network deployment. Furthermore, with the exception of the U.S., which had a 5G Availability of 56.0% in Q4 2022, 5G Improvers all have 5G Availability in the low double digits, ranging from 13.5% in Japan to 19.2% in Germany. 

5G Outliers

Only in a few markets did 5G performance drop below 100 Mbps. Polish performance can be explained by the lack of a dedicated 5G spectrum; Polkomtel trading under the Plus brand, utilizing 50 MHz of spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band, and all other operators deploying 5G using DSS in the 2.1 GHz spectrum band. Spain, on the other hand, has assigned spectrum across all three bands, with C-band blocks ranging from 80MHz (MasMovil) to 110 MHz (Orange), and most recently, awarded mmWave too. However, operators focus on meeting coverage obligations that rely heavily on the 700 MHz band. For example, Movistar’s 5G network reached a total of 1,719 municipalities at the end of 2022, equivalent to 83% of the population. 

Fast 5G and good 5G Availability don’t always go hand in hand  

chart of medan 5g and availability in select markets

Using Speedtest Intelligence data, we examined a relationship between the country’s 5G median download speed and 5G Availability. And for the most part, there isn’t one. Fast networks don’t immediately come with high 5G Availability. For example, the U.A.E. and South Korea have topped our ranking in terms of the fastest median download speed over 5G at 549.70 Mbps and 496.63 Mbps, respectively, during Q4 2022. Yet, when it comes to 5G Availability, the U.S. came first in the ranking at 56.0% in Q4 2022, South Korea’s 5G Availability stood at 35.1%, while the U.A.E recorded a 5G Availability of 7.7% in Q4 2022. 

All eyes on spectrum

The key to understanding 5G is understanding operators’ 5G spectrum holding. There are two key considerations to keep in mind when discussing the spectrum for 5G: speed performance and geographical coverage. Regulators assign 5G spectrum across three spectrum ranges: low, mid (lower mid-band and upper/C-band), and high (mmWave).

Low-band (sub-1GHz) spectrum can travel farther, cover a greater geographical region, and provide deeper penetration within buildings, given its good propagation characteristics. But, the low band spectrum cannot deliver “true” 5G speeds, peaking at 100 Mbps median download speed. Another challenge is that these frequency bands are in high demand and in low supply, and in some countries, still used for analog television. 

Mid-band spectrum (1-6 GHz spectrum) is the so-called “sweet spot” for 5G, especially the upper mid-band (C-band), which offers the best of both worlds in terms of coverage and capacity.

Existing networks such as 2G, 3G, and 4G already use the lower mid-band. This spectrum band has been the 4G data traffic capacity layer, often used in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode. FDD is a technique that uses separate frequency bands at the transmitter and receiver sides. For example, the U.S. and China used the 2.6 GHz spectrum band in Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode to drive their 5G deployment. Most counties will use TDD for 5G network rollout. This means that the 5G base station and end-user device use the same channel to transmit simultaneously, potentially creating interference issues while allowing more flexibility. Furthermore, this spectrum band will grow in importance as legacy networks are retired and spectrum refarmed.

The upper mid-band, especially 3.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz (otherwise known as C-band), offers a good combination of propagation and capacity. 3GPP standards currently support a 100 MHz wide channel and a maximum bandwidth of 400 MHz in carrier aggregation mode.

The high band, also called the millimeter wave (mmWave), spectrum can deliver super-fast speeds (thinking gigabits) but has limited range. Recently we published an article looking at the mmWave performance and recent developments.

Using Speedtest Intelligence background data, we can gain insights into which spectrum bands operators use for 5G. 

chart of spectrum band distribution

  • High band (mmWave) accounted for less than 1% of the scans in four countries: Japan, U.S., Qatar, and Australia.
  • Most countries used the mid-band spectrum.
    • C-band spectrum is used by all countries that have allocated it (21 out of 23 countries), with a notable exception of the Netherlands and Poland, which will finally auction the 3.5 GHz spectrum, set to take place in the summer of 2023. 
    • All countries we have analyzed, bar South Korea, use lower mid-band partially due to operators switching off their legacy networks (2G/3G) and refarming their existing spectrum holdings to support 5G networks rollout.
  • Low band was used by 78% of analyzed countries (18 out of 23) across our sample. 

Addressing spectral challenges via DSS and CA comes at a cost

The ITU minimum technical requirements to meet 5G performance requirements identify at least 100 MHz channel per operator and up to 1 GHz per operator in mmWave bands. This, however, is only sometimes the case. We can see imbalances in terms of operators’ performance within a country, which can be partially explained by having larger spectral resources. For example, Three UK benefited from having the largest, dedicated 5G spectrum — 140 MHz of frequency across several 5G spectrum bands, including a 100 MHz block of continuous spectrum in the 3.3-3.8 GHz band, which positions it well in terms of median download speeds compared to other U.K. operators.

In the absence of a dedicated 5G spectrum or to supplement the existing spectrum, operators can use two technologies to aid their 5G deployment: Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) and Carrier Aggregation (CA). DSS enables operators to allocate spectrum flexibly across low-, mid-, and high-bands and switch between LTE and 5G New Radio depending on network demand. However, there is a downside to that in terms of 5G performance. For example, in Poland, apart from Plus, all other operators deployed 5G using DSS in the 2.1 GHz spectrum band, which can partially explain why they have lower speeds.

Conversely, CA enables operators to use two or more bands together, integrating them as one big block to deploy 5G. This allows for the aggregation of non-contiguous spectrum blocks, but it impacts performance by introducing latency and signaling overhead. 

Access to low-band spectrum has a positive impact on 5G Availability, but it is not the only factor at play

chart of 5g availability and the use of low-band spectrum

Ookla® data indicates that 5G coverage, which is often enabled by having access to a dedicated low-band spectrum (600 – 900 MHz), is just one part of the puzzle when it comes to 5G Availability. Low-band (700 MHz) spectrum, initially used for LTE, is now allocated to 5G because it allows extended coverage. According to the GSA, the 700 MHz spectrum band is particularly precious. GSA’s data shows that spectrum at 700 MHz has generated an average of $0.309/MHz/pop in assignments and auctions since 2015, significantly above the average price for C-band. For example, India’s highly anticipated 5G spectrum auction garnered $0.380MH/pop for 700 MHz compared to $0.031/MHz/pop for C-band. 

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the U.A.E. don’t have any 5G devices using low-band spectrum simply because there has been no spectrum assigned in this band to 5G services. During the initial 5G auction in 2016, South Korea’s 700 MHz spectrum remained unsold. 

Other essential aspects driving 5G Availability are the affordability and availability of 5G-capable smartphones, 5G tariffs, and end-user demand. Case in point, despite the lack of low-band spectrum, South Korea reached a 5G Availability of 35.1% in Q4 2022, driven by customer adoption and 5G network densification. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, in November 2022, there were 27.5 million 5G subscriptions in South Korea, equivalent to 36% of all mobile subscriptions. According to its Communication Agency, there are 215,000 5G base stations, which translates into 319 people per 5G base station, nearly seven times more than the EU and 13 times more than the U.S.

A country’s geography impacts 5G coverage too. For example, in addition to having access to low band spectrum, the Netherlands benefits from being flatter and more densely populated, resulting in a greater ability to expand 5G coverage. 

Another factor at play is the spectrum license conditions that stipulate coverage requirements, for instance, as part of the 700MHz licenses in the Netherlands, there is a minimum speed of 8 Mbps in 98% of the cases in each municipality of the country in 2022.

While the relationship between low-band spectrum and 5G Availability is not a direct one, we wanted to investigate whether there is a link between the median 5G download speed and the C-band spectrum. 

Larger the share of the C-Band spectrum, the faster the 5G download speed

chart of 5g download speed and the use of c-band spectrum

Our analysis found that access to C-band spectrum typically translates into a faster median 5G download speed. Unsurprisingly, operators are keen to deploy 5G services using C-band spectrum. According to GSA, since the end of 2015, 54 countries have auctioned, assigned, or renewed licenses for C-band spectrum. 

All eyes on 5G Leaders

Countries where operators solely rely on the mid-band spectrum for 5G, and where 5G services have been available for more than 13 quarters have achieved over 300 Mbps median download speed in Q4 2022. Bulgaria is an exception, having launched services just over two years ago. We can also conclude that operators’ overall spectrum holding and whether they have access to a contiguous spectrum matters, too. Contiguous spectrum helps achieve faster speeds, lower latency, and improved spectral efficiency. 

U.A.E.: Emirati operators – Etisalat and Du –  use two carrier spectrum in the 3.5 GHz and 2.5 GHz frequency range, each carrier at 100 MHz, to establish a 5G network. This results in speeds exceeding 500 Mbps. The U.A.E. had a median 5G download speed of 511.70 Mbps in Q4 2022. 

South Korea: KT and SKT bought a 100 MHz channel each in 2018. In July 2022, LG+ secured an additional 20 MHz C-band spectrum, bringing its total spectrum holding to 100 MHz. Alongside the 5G spectrum auction, the government outlined the rollout milestones for the operators’ 3.5 GHz rollout: 22,500 base stations by the end of 2021, 45,000 by the end of 2023, and 150,000 at completion. Thanks to that, South Korea has the most base stations per population. South Korea is one of the early adopters of 5G, having commercialized 5G in 2019 and over a third of all mobile subscriptions on 5G. One of the reasons behind South Korea’s fast-paced 5G adoption is the support from the government, which adopted the 2021 action plan for the “Digital New Deal” to support 5G development and a wider digital transformation. 

Qatar: Qatar, clocking a median 5G download speed of 462.15 Mbps and 5G Availability of 50.7% in Q4 2022, delivers the best of the worlds — good speeds and 5G Availability. In November 2022, Qatar’s Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) amended the mobile licenses held by Vodafone Qatar and Ooredoo Qatar in early 2019, authorizing each operator to utilize 100 MHz of C-band spectrum and committing them to roll out commercial 5G networks before the end of 2020 in all densely populated areas. Operators’ heavy investment into their network to achieve near-universal service coverage and incentives to migrate users to 5G networks has paid off. We have closely monitored 5G performance during the recent World Cup. Not only did Qatari 5G networks manage to withstand the additional network load that World Cap brought, but it has also improved in performance, with the median 5G download performance hitting 472.13 Mbps in November 2022. 

Saudi Arabia: Operators in the KSA have access to more than 1000 MHz of licensed spectrum for IMT use in the low- and mid-band ranges. Saudi regulator – CST (Communication, Space and Technology Commission) – championed data-driven, evidence-based policy decisions to enable a 5G rollout by conducting analysis of spectrum usage, the performance of various bands, and existing network infrastructure to see where investments had been made within certain bands (e.g., extra capacity in specific bands in urban areas and coverage of rural areas using adequate bands). If you would like to find out more, read this case study. 

Bulgaria: In April 2021, Vivacom Bulgaria won 100 MHz in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band for BGN4.6 million (€2.35 million). Vivacom utilizes DSS, combining frequencies in 1.8, 2.1, and 3.6 GHz bands for 5G. A1 Bulgaria, on the other hand, uses a dedicated 100 MHz band.

We will continue to monitor 5G performance across the world and investigate the factors that impact 5G performance. If you want to learn more about 5G performance, head to Ookla ResearchTM and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with our latest analyses. 

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
Spectrum

About the Author

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| April 17, 2018

EU Roaming is Free! But is it Fast?

Global Speeds

When the European Commission put an end to roaming charges within the European Union (EU) last summer, they gave residents of member countries the freedom to take their mobile phones with them on vacation without fearing the bill when they got home. But how well are those phones performing when faced with foreign cell towers?

To find out, we took a look at Speedtest data from the first quarter of 2018 to see which countries’ residents are having the best (and worst) internet speed experiences abroad.

How much download speeds drop when you cross a border

The mean download speed in the EU when customers are at home is 30.57 Mbps, but that slows 16.6% to 25.50 Mbps when Europeans roam across a border.

Because your experience of speeds abroad is going to be based on what you’re used to, we compared countries based on the amount download speeds decreased rather than the actual speed abroad. Italians enjoyed a 15.4% increase in download speed when traveling. Estonians, Latvians and the Portuguese also saw faster downloads abroad.

Mobile Download Speeds
EU Countries | Q1 2018
Country Local (Mbps) Roaming (Mbps) % Change
Austria 31.62 28.66 -9.4%
Belgium 44.56 26.00 -41.7%
Bulgaria 35.71 22.31 -37.5%
Croatia 34.75 31.36 -9.8%
Cyprus 25.34 23.40 -7.7%
Czech Republic 38.30 25.78 -32.7%
Denmark 42.55 22.40 -47.4%
Estonia 31.98 34.24 7.1%
Finland 32.68 29.99 -8.2%
France 32.35 24.47 -24.4%
Germany 26.03 26.00 -0.1%
Greece 34.48 28.40 -17.6%
Hungary 46.10 26.01 -43.6%
Ireland 19.98 19.00 -4.9%
Italy 30.32 34.98 15.4%
Latvia 27.37 28.97 5.8%
Lithuania 36.80 28.28 -23.2%
Luxembourg 42.43 22.46 -47.1%
Malta 42.14 25.05 -40.6%
Netherlands 53.07 25.46 -52.0%
Poland 22.05 20.29 -8.0%
Portugal 26.45 27.44 3.7%
Romania 28.74 21.95 -23.6%
Slovakia 28.79 23.73 -17.6%
Slovenia 28.42 27.15 -4.5%
Spain 31.94 24.32 -23.9%
Sweden 38.23 26.13 -31.7%
United Kingdom 26.16 21.08 -19.4%

On the other end of the spectrum, Dutch travelers experienced a 52% decrease in download speed when using mobile phones elsewhere in the EU. Residents of Denmark, Luxembourg, Hungary, Belgium and Malta all saw decreases of more than 40% when roaming.

In some cases, the decrease in download speed is due to the country’s relative speed. For example, the Netherlands has recently had the third fastest mobile speeds in the world according to the Speedtest Global Index so its residents are likely to see much slower speeds when traveling anywhere but Norway and Iceland. Other differences are probably better explained by how carriers prioritize out of country traffic, a decision that’s made between each individual carrier in each individual country.

Slow or not, at least roaming no longer comes with extra fees for EU residents. Unless you’re British, of course. With Brexit looming, not only could citizens of the UK have to return to paying roaming fees, the download speed they’ll be paying for abroad will be 19.4% slower than it is at home.

Again, a lot of factors go into what speeds you experience while roaming the continent. We hope this data will help you make an informed choice about your carrier depending on what your roaming data needs are. Share your experience by taking a Speedtest on Android or iOS. 

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| September 4, 2019

In-Depth Analysis of Changes in World Internet Performance Using the Speedtest Global Index

Global Speeds

A lot has changed in the two years since 2017 when we first began ranking mobile and fixed broadband speeds of countries around the world with the Speedtest Global IndexTM. 5G is being deployed around the world and fiber continues to make gigabit speeds a reality in more and more countries. We’ve been tracking it all and are here to report on how much speeds have increased, which countries are leading internet performance and which are falling behind, and what trends we see across continents.

World mobile speed increased 21.4% with fixed broadband up 37.4%

World-Download-Speeds-2019-OG2

Looking just at the last year, the world’s mean download speed over mobile increased 21.4% from 22.81 Mbps in July 2018 to 27.69 Mbps in July 2019. Mean upload speed over mobile increased 18.1% from 9.13 Mbps to 10.78 Mbps. The world average for download speed over fixed broadband increased 37.4% from 46.48 Mbps in July 2018 to 63.85 Mbps in July 2019. Mean upload speed over fixed broadband increased 48.9% from 22.52 Mbps to 33.53 Mbps.

Shake-ups in the country rankings for internet performance

Fastest-Countries-Mobile-2018-2019

Mobile speeds in the fastest countries have skyrocketed in the past year which has dramatically shifted the rankings. South Korea, which was not even in the top ten a year ago, saw a 165.9% increase in mean download speed over mobile during the past 12 months, in large part due to 5G. Switzerland’s mean download speed increased 23.5%. Canada’s was up 22.2%, Australia 21.2%, the Netherlands 17.3%, UAE 11.1%, Malta 10.3% and Norway 5.8%. Qatar remained in the top ten, although the country’s mean download speed over mobile actually dropped 1.4% from July 2018 to July 2019.

Individual mobile operators can make a huge difference in a country’s speeds. In 2017 we were excited to see Telenor uncap their mobile speeds, which drove Norway to the top of the Speedtest Global Index. A big part of South Korea’s mobile success in the past year is the way KT, LG U+ and SK Telecom banded together to release 5G at the same time. Switzerland has also benefited from 5G and Sunrise leads the country with 262 5G deployments across the country while Swisscomm has 52.

Fastest-Countries-Fixed-2018-2019

Fixed broadband rankings on the Speedtest Global Index have not changed as dramatically during the past 12 months as those on mobile. Singapore remains the fastest country with an increase in mean download speed over fixed broadband of 5.6%. Taiwan had the largest jump in speeds among the top 10 with a 166.5% improvement in fixed download speed between July 2018 and July 2019. Mean download speed over fixed broadband increased 52.4% in South Korea, 26.4% in Macau, 21.7% in Romania, 21.0% in Switzerland, 19.3% in the United States and 3.5% in Hong Kong.

Monaco and Andorra did not have enough tests to qualify for the Speedtest Global Index one year ago, but massive fixed broadband improvements in both countries inspired us to lower our test count threshold for inclusion and also share these smaller countries’ success stories.

Technologies paving the way: 5G and gigabit

The presence of 5G is not enough to change a market

As discussed above, 5G has the potential to rocket a country to the top of the mobile rankings on the Speedtest Global Index. In practice, we’ve seen 5G speeds that were over 1000% faster than those on LTE.

Mobile-Download-Speeds-by-Country

In reality, though, unless 5G is commercially available widely across a country and from all mobile operators (as was the case in South Korea), the change in speeds at the country level is not that significant. Though commercial 5G was launched widely across Switzerland by Sunrise and Swisscom in April 2019, the country’s mean download speed only increased 2.8% in the three months since. The average mobile download speed in the U.S. has actually declined slightly since 5G was initially deployed. This is because 5G is still only available in a very limited number of markets to consumers with 5G-capable devices.

Visit the Ookla 5G Map for the latest on 5G deployments across the globe.

Gigabit is a game-changer, if you can get it

Unlike 5G, fiber connections have been rolling out since 2007, opening up the possibility of gigabit-speed fixed broadband. That said, it’s costly and time-intensive to lay miles and miles of fiber so progress has varied widely across the globe.

Gigabit-Test---Performance_Singapore-1

Geographically small countries like Singapore have the advantage when it comes to fiber, because It’s easier and cheaper to lay fiber optic cable across the country’s small footprint. Singaporean internet service providers (ISPs) have used this advantage to go beyond mere gigabit and offer connections as fast as 10 Gbps. This is reflected both in Singapore’s dominance of the fixed rankings on the Speedtest Global Index and in the fact that 2.87% of their total Speedtest results over fixed broadband are gigabit-speed (800 Mbps or higher).

Gigabit-Test---Performance_Brazil-1

Brazil offers a good contrast for how difficult it can be for gigabit to reach the masses. While the first Brazilian ISP to offer fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) initially did so in 2007, easy access to gigabit speeds was slow to follow. However, that may be starting to change. Between June and July 2019 we saw a large uptick in gigabit-speed results in Brazil, where the proportion of gigabit speed tests increased from 0.02% of total fixed broadband tests to 0.17%. This corresponded with a large increase in mean download speed at the country level.

Comparing world mobile and fixed broadband at a glance

We were curious to see just how different internet performance experiences were around the world, so we plotted average mobile download speed against average download speed on fixed broadband. All of the graphs below use a percentage difference from the global average, a number that changed between 2018 and 2019.

fade-Performance-vs-Global---Quadrant-All

Speed Leaders

There was not much change in the list of countries that showed above-average download speeds on both mobile and fixed broadband between July 2018 and July 2019, the “Speed Leaders.” What did change was that fixed broadband speeds increased significantly enough among the group to bring the whole pack closer to Singapore and Hong Kong. On the mobile axis, South Korea’s major increase in download speed made that country more of an outlier, pushing the boundaries of what great performance can look like.

Fixed-Focused countries

Between July 2018 and July 2019 we saw the number of countries considered to be “Fixed-Focused” (having faster download speeds over fixed broadband than the world average while their average mobile download speeds were slower than average) increase. Ireland was the only country that solidly fit this category in 2018. Thailand and Chile started near the midline for fixed speeds and below-average for mobile speeds in 2018. 2019 found both countries squarely in the Fixed-Focused category. Israel also edged into this category as their mobile download speed fell between July 2018 and 2019.

Mobile-Focused countries

The “Mobile-Focused” category saw the most movement between July 2018 and July 2019 as some countries (the UAE and Qatar) increased their fixed speeds sufficiently to join the Speed Leaders. Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s mobile download speed increased year-over-year to move them into the Mobile-Focused quadrant. Georgia’s mobile download speed decreased enough to move them from Mobile-Focused to Speed Laggers.

It will be interesting to see how many of these Mobile-Focused countries double down on their mobile investments and explore 5G alternatives to fixed broadband.

Speed Laggers

No country wants to be in the position of having slower than average mobile and fixed broadband speeds. We saw 57 countries in this “Speed Laggers” quadrant in July 2018 and 78 in July 2019. This increase is mostly due to our expansion of the number of countries we consider for the Speedtest Global Index based on test count. There were enough countries in this category that we’ve considered them separately by continent below.

Regional views of mobile and fixed broadband performance

Mobile-and-Fixed-Broadband-Improvement-by-Continent-02

We aggregated Speedtest results by continent to analyze mobile and fixed broadband performance by continent.

Mobile-and-Fixed-Performance-by-Continent-01

Asia had the highest percentage increase in mobile download speed followed by North America, Oceania, South America, Africa and Europe. Oceania had the fastest mean download speed in July 2019. North America placed second, Europe third, Asia fourth, South America fifth and Africa sixth.

On the fixed broadband side, South America saw the highest percentage increase in download speed. Asia came in second, Europe third, Africa fourth, North America fifth and Oceania sixth. North America had the fastest mean download speed in July 2019. Europe was second, Asia third, and Oceania fourth. As we saw with mobile, South America and Africa again ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.

A zoomed-in view of the speed quadrants separated by continent offers a more detailed view of each country’s role in these rankings.

Africa mostly lags in internet speeds

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Africa

In July 2019, all but two African countries in the Speedtest Global Index fell into the Speed Laggers category, having mobile and fixed broadband speeds that were below global averages. The exceptions were South Africa and Guinea, which both had fast enough mobile speeds to place them in the mobile-focused quadrant.

Asian markets show a wide breadth of internet performance

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Asia

Asia was the most diverse continent we examined in terms of internet performance. We saw a plurality of countries in each of the four quadrants in July 2019. Most of the Speed Leaders were in East Asia: China, Hong Kong (SAR), Japan, Macau (SAR), South Korea, and Taiwan. If we include Singapore, another Speed Leader, these are among the wealthiest nations in Asia (using GDP per capita). Two of Asia’s Fixed-Focused countries are in Southeast Asia (Malaysia and Thailand) and one is in the Middle East (Israel).

The Speed Laggers category contained countries from South Asia (including Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam) and the Middle East (Jordan). Mobile-Focused countries in Asia were mostly Middle Eastern, including Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

European mobile performance is mostly strong, fixed varies

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Europe

With the exception of Ireland, the European countries on the Speedtest Global Index fell into the Speed Leaders, Mobile-Focused, and Speed Laggers categories. All of the Speed Laggers (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine) were from Eastern Europe. Countries from Southeast Europe (including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia and Slovenia) and Central Europe (Austria and the Czech Republic) made up the bulk of the Mobile-Focused category.

Speed Leaders included countries from the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), the Nordics (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), Central Europe (Poland and Romania), and Western Europe (including Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain).

North American internet performance is sharply divided

2019-Performance-vs-Global---North-America

Canada and the U.S. are the only two North American countries in the Speed Leaders category. Panama is the only North American country under Fixed-Focused. Mexico and all of the Central American countries fall into the Speed Laggers category. There are no North American countries that are Mobile-Focused.

Each country in Oceania has a very different internet story

2019-Performance-vs-Global---Ocean

Oceania is represented in three of the four quadrants: Speed Leaders (New Zealand), Mobile-Focused (Australia) and Speed Laggers (Papua New Guinea) with Fiji straddling the divide between Speed Laggers and Mobile-Focused.

South America mostly lags in mobile and fixed internet speeds

2019-Performance-vs-Global---South-America

Most of the South American countries represented on the Speedtest Global Index are in the Speed Laggers quadrant (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela). Chile is an exception, being part of the Fixed-Focused group, as is Uruguay which sits in Mobile-Focused.

Global internet speeds are improving on average and 5G and gigabit are compounding those advances where available. However, not all countries are benefitting equally. We’ll be interested to see how 5G continues to push mobile speeds in the next year and also whether 5G Wi-Fi becomes a game changer for fixed broadband. Remember to check the Speedtest Global Index on a monthly basis for updated country rankings. And take a Speedtest to make sure your experience is represented in your country’s averages.

Editor’s Note: This article was edited on September 10, 2019 to correct an error in the labeling on the first image. The colors in a later image were updated for consistency.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| March 13, 2020

Tracking COVID-19’s Impact on Global Internet Performance (Updated July 20)

Global Speeds

We are no longer updating this article as internet speeds in most countries have stabilized to pre-pandemic levels. For ongoing information about internet speeds in specific countries, visit the Speedtest Global IndexTM or contact our press team.

Ookla® closely monitored the impact of COVID-19 on the performance and quality of global mobile and broadband internet networks in the early days of the pandemic. We shared regular information based on Ookla data to assist in the understanding of this unprecedented situation. You can still download the July 20, 2020 CSV here which contains all the public data we tracked in this article. If you are looking for information on internet or online service outages, please check Downdetector®.

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
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Ookla

Ookla Research™ Articles
| August 2, 2022

Find Out Which 50 Top European Vacation Destinations Have the Fastest Mobile Internet Speeds

Consumer

Vacation season is upon us with millions of tourists already flocking to Europe’s top summer destinations despite the heat. Whether you’re a European looking for the best “staycation” or an American taking advantage of the exchange rates, our analysis of mobile internet performance in 50 popular destinations across the continent should help you see how well you will be able to connect (or disconnect, should you so choose) on vacation this summer.

We divided these towns and cities into four categories that might appeal to different types of travelers: big cities, beach life, cultural havens, and forest getaways. Then we compared Speedtest Intelligence® data for median download speeds and multi-server latency across each category. Of course many of the best vacation destinations belong in multiple categories, so be sure to check each list to find your favorite locale, and you’ll want to remember that your experience may vary based on your carrier’s roaming agreement.

“Big cities” with internet performance as exciting as the lifestyle

Oslo, Norway topped our list of 15 European vacation destinations full of big city excitement with the fastest mobile internet with a median download speed of 156.99 Mbps during Q2 2022. Perfect if you’re planning to do live updates from the Øya Festival. Two other Nordic cities rounded out the top three with Stockholm, Sweden showing a median download speed of 136.74 Mbps and Copenhagen, Denmark coming in at 133.16 Mbps. With speeds like these you should be able to host as many “see how glorious my vacation is?” video calls as you want.

There was a large gap between these three cities and the next fastest group, led by Lisbon, Portugal at 86.49 Mbps. Istanbul, Turkey and Rome, Italy had the lowest median download speeds on this list. These are still adequate mobile speeds, especially if you want to lean into the vacation experience and report back on it later (if ever).

Nicosia, Cyprus had the lowest median multi-server latency on our “big city” list at 17 ms during Q2 2022. This metric measures how quickly your device gets a response after you’ve sent out a request during three stages so you can understand if you’ll run into unnecessary lags in your connection. We’ve previously reported how latency in Europe increased while roaming, and higher latency could mean that you encounter glitches in video calls or even have to shut down apps to get your phone to respond in a timely fashion. Rome had the highest latency on this list.

Where internet speeds are fit for “beach life”

Nothing says summer like relaxing on the beach. If your beach vacation needs fast internet access, surf the web in Biarritz, France and Korčula, Croatia. These two locales had the fastest median download speeds on our beach life list during Q2 2022 at 155.65 Mbps and 133.67 Mbps, respectively, though this is not a statistically significant difference. Varna, Bulgaria and Faro, Portugal rounded out the top four at 104.00 Mbps and 101.74 Mbps, respectively.

Amalfi, Italy and Cefalù, Italy are good beach destinations if you’re looking for encouragement to log off. With median download speeds of 31.40 Mbps and 38.18 Mbps, respectively, during Q2 2022, your internet connection should be adequate (though less inspiring than the Tyrrhenian Sea).

Piran, Slovenia had the lowest median multi-server latency (20 ms) on this list while Cefalù had the highest (56 ms).

“Cultural havens” with research-ready internet speeds

Travelers looking for maximum culture and fast internet speeds can do no better than Tromsø, Norway, which had a median download speed on mobile of 251.52 Mbps during Q2 2022, almost 2.3x faster than runner-up Amsterdam, Netherlands. Whether you’ve traveled to the northernmost bit of Norway for the wooden houses, one of the many summer festivals, or just to escape the heat, you’ll have fast enough internet to thoroughly research all the places you can go if you extend your vacation.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re traveling to Yerevan, Armenia or Florence, Italy to enjoy the museums and other cultural highlights of either, you might want to take pictures instead. With median download speeds of 24.11 Mbps and 29.84 Mbps, respectively, these cities were the slowest on this list. All the more reason to immerse yourself in the sights and wait to connect to Wi-Fi before uploading your photos.

Helsingør, Denmark had the lowest median multi-server latency, while Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom had the highest. High latency can impede the performance of your phone even when you’re in an area with great speeds — something to keep in mind if you’re relying on your phone to locate the next Fringe venue.

Navigate internet speeds in “forest getaways”

Some people swear by the forest for the best vacations, especially in the heat of summer. The Alpine cities of Innsbruck, Austria and Digne-les-Bains, France had the fastest median download speeds over mobile on our list of forest getaways during Q2 2022 at 87.34 Mbps and 67.30 Mbps, respectively, though there was no statistical winner between the two. There was also no statistically significant difference between the median download speeds in Zakopane, Poland (43.52 Mbps); Killarney, Ireland (35.90 Mbps); and Sighișoara, Romania (30.48 Mbps). While you may prefer to be offline in the woods, having a strong and fast internet connection available can help you navigate with GPS, check out the names of all the flora you’re encountering, or reach help in case of emergency.

Sighișoara and Killarney had the lowest median multi-server latency on this list at 24 ms and 25 ms, respectively. Digne had the highest latency at 36 ms.

Regardless of where you travel, mobile internet performance will affect your trip. We hope this list prepares you for the getaway you want. If we missed your favorite European vacation destination, take a Speedtest® on Android or iOS to show off your speeds and tweet us your suggestions for next year’s list or share your ideas via this Google form.

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.

Consumer

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| August 1, 2023

European Vacation: Your Guide to Roam Like at Home Performance this Summer

Consumer

Summer is here and with it the August vacation season that most of Europe has been waiting for. We’re here with fresh data from Speedtest Intelligence® to help you know in advance if your phone will be a help or a hindrance on your travels. We’ve examined results from Android devices in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (U.K.) during Q2 2023 and included data on 5G performance to see if “Roam Like at Home” is living up to its promise.

5G boosts European roaming speeds but latency varies 

Speed and latency are two important indicators of online performance. Speed will have a greater effect on streaming content while latency will affect gaming and video chatting. Both come into play while browsing online maps for that hot new gelato place your friends told you about. 

While the EU extended “Roam Like at Home” regulations until 2032, our previous analyses demonstrated that mobile speeds are usually slower when roaming than when exploring your home country. The actual speeds vary dramatically based on roaming agreements between mobile operators, something you can’t really control unless you’re prepared to do the research then shop for a whole new plan before your trip. What you can control is whether you spring for 5G before your big trip. The data below represents the local speeds and multi-server latency for each country as well as those experienced by residents of the named country while roaming in the EU or the U.K. during Q2 2023.

Roaming speeds can’t live up to local performance

Median Mobile Roaming Performance in Europe
Speedtest IntelligenceⓇ | Q2 2023
Country Local Download (Mbps) Roaming Download (Mbps) Local 5G Download (Mbps) Roaming 5G Download (Mbps)
Austria 59.28 42.77 161.00 80.51
Belgium 48.00 59.86 157.23 124.64
Bulgaria 78.27 48.97 252.75 93.24
Croatia 73.65 47.86 184.29 124.38
Cyprus 56.93 40.83 197.22 64.24
Czechia 46.50 31.96 104.36 72.26
Denmark 118.48 51.74 206.95 115.82
Estonia 64.99 77.51 * *
Finland 78.00 53.43 217.13 106.54
France 61.64 43.46 187.42 95.56
Germany 46.30 39.54 114.07 84.27
Greece 57.41 66.17 143.26 153.28
Hungary 40.44 48.28 85.12 132.98
Ireland 34.49 36.10 98.70 85.38
Italy 36.97 37.68 130.85 99.38
Latvia 59.73 65.13 220.51 146.15
Lithuania 64.70 53.04 * *
Luxembourg 74.86 46.88 * *
Malta 44.56 48.11 109.97 110.80
Netherlands 96.77 37.61 128.04 87.84
Poland 42.14 34.23 78.82 99.51
Portugal 57.86 39.91 212.95 79.88
Romania 43.34 59.59 153.35 99.84
Slovakia 43.16 41.53 139.53 85.16
Slovenia 52.73 49.86 145.83 95.50
Spain 32.33 35.77 85.75 116.48
Sweden 84.00 51.24 160.93 129.43
United Kingdom 40.74 48.06 108.74 98.92

Although EU residents can roam call, text, and surf without additional charges, a drop in speed is an issue while roaming according to Q2 2023 data. Residents from 17 countries showed faster local download speeds than roaming speeds when considering results over all technologies during Q2 2023. The 11 exceptions were Romania (which was much faster roaming), Belgium, Hungary, Estonia, the U.K, Greece, and Spain, which all showed faster roaming speeds, and Latvia, Malta, Ireland, and Italy which showed only slightly improved speeds.  

While roaming speeds varied widely based on country of origin, every country on this list saw much higher median download speeds when roaming on 5G than roaming on all technologies. Despite this uplift, 20 countries showed faster local 5G download speeds than roaming 5G speeds during Q2 2023. The exceptions were Hungary, Spain, and Poland, which all saw faster 5G roaming than locally, while Greece had marginally better 5G roaming than at home, and people from Malta didn’t really see any major difference. Estonia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg did not have enough 5G samples to qualify for analysis.

Latency suffers awfully when roaming

Median Mobile Roaming Latency in Europe
Speedtest IntelligenceⓇ | Q2 2023
Country Local Multi-server Latency (ms) Roaming Multi-server Latency (ms) Local 5G Multi-server Latency (ms) 5G Multi-server Latency (ms)
Austria 32.19 91.24 30.96 111.08
Belgium 36.51 84.96 31.89 67.61
Bulgaria 31.72 125.60 26.41 124.63
Croatia 39.03 85.25 35.96 80.37
Cyprus 27.90 200.18 23.52 184.68
Czechia 34.72 80.18 30.77 78.72
Denmark 29.47 94.77 28.08 81.85
Estonia 33.10 87.00 * *
Finland 33.67 102.84 32.16 99.14
France 46.97 92.61 44.39 87.49
Germany 41.78 87.19 39.07 77.57
Greece 38.16 137.29 34.63 132.91
Hungary 36.27 85.39 35.06 77.26
Ireland 36.21 116.62 31.70 118.47
Italy 50.87 100.20 49.96 93.87
Latvia 29.88 101.91 26.28 94.70
Lithuania 34.03 107.79 * *
Luxembourg 33.45 67.70 * *
Malta 47.44 146.57 38.69 135.43
Netherlands 33.24 83.25 31.17 79.81
Poland 42.41 108.69 40.25 100.36
Portugal 35.98 123.05 31.62 126.54
Romania 40.65 122.91 34.22 121.21
Slovakia 30.47 80.28 26.39 70.96
Slovenia 30.61 76.68 27.70 75.27
Spain 51.53 112.81 47.11 102.94
Sweden 37.52 114.69 32.97 99.48
United Kingdom 50.45 111.01 46.04 107.59

Residents of every country surveyed had a much higher multi-server latency when roaming during Q2 2023. This is because roaming signals are routed through a user’s home network, making latency a significant issue for Europeans when traveling. The difference was smallest in Italy and France where locals had about a 97% higher latency when roaming compared to at home. On the other end of the scale, residents of Cyprus saw over a 615% higher latency while roaming compared to at home. A high latency means a long response time for any request you send over the internet, perhaps adding more frustration to your vacation than you would want.

The results were similar over 5G with Italy showing the smallest difference between latency while roaming and at home (about 88% greater) and Cyprus having the largest difference (about 685%). Surprisingly, 5G did not reliably improve multi-server latency. 

What this data tells you is that it’s worth upgrading to 5G before a trip if speed is your main concern. Whether 5G will help you with your latency will depend heavily on which country you are traveling from. Regardless, you should expect a high latency while roaming. Plan ahead accordingly.

Outbound roaming speeds vary dramatically

As discussed above, roaming speeds depend heavily on where you are traveling from, where you are traveling to, and what agreements your home mobile operator has with operators in the country you’re visiting. That said, it’s fun to look at what’s possible, so we looked at the very best and very worst roaming speeds in Europe during Q2 2023.

Fastest roaming speeds in Europe

Customers from Italy roaming in Portugal saw one of the fastest median roaming download speeds over 5G in all of Europe during Q2 2023 at 317.94 Mbps. Estonians roaming in Finland saw a 278.69 Mbps median 5G download speed, and Finns in Sweden experienced a median 5G download of 252.57 Mbps. 

Looking at the highest results from all technologies combined, Latvians roaming in Finland experienced a median download speed of 137.49 Mbps, while Greeks saw median download speeds of 129.75 while roaming in Bulgaria and 125.83 Mbps while roaming in Austria.

Slowest roaming speeds in Europe

On the other end of the scale, Slovakian visitors to Poland had one of the slowest median download speeds over all technology while roaming during the same time period at 10.82 Mbps. Polish roamers saw a median download speed of 13.27 Mbps in the U.K. and 14.78 Mbps in Romania. Ten of the 20 slowest roaming speeds on our country-by-country list for all technologies were for Europeans roaming in the U.K. This means that travelers going to the U.K are not only seeing poorer performance, they could also be paying more for the privilege as they do not benefit from “Roam Like at Home” regulations.

Germans in Italy had the slowest median 5G download speed on our list during Q2 2023 at 33.64 Mbps. Austrians in the U.K. saw a median download speed over 5G of 41.57 Mbps, and Portuguese roamers in Spain experienced a median download speed over 5G of 44.18 Mbps.

Whether you choose to roam, pick up a local SIM or eSIM, or simply spend less time online, we hope this information helps you make the most of your vacation. If you have an extra minute between activities, take a Speedtest® to see how your performance compares. 

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.

Consumer

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 21, 2023

European 5G Performance Trails its International Peers

Global Speeds

The European Union’s Digital Decade target is rather ambitious. It wants gigabit connectivity for everyone and ubiquitous 5G coverage by the end of 2030 to assist with digital transformation. When we reflected on 5G progress last year, we concluded that Europe had fallen behind its international peers. In this article, we will assess 5G progress across Europe.  

  • Europe trails others’ performance. Although more spectrum has been awarded over the past year, European 5G performance trailed the likes of the UAE and South Korea. 
  • 5G Availability is on the up. Whilst still behind its international peers, 5G adoption has increased during 2022. This, combined with the greater availability of 5G smartphones and the rollout of 5G networks using low-band spectrum, resulted in higher 5G Availability across most European countries. 
  • A tale of two Europes. In the Nordics and some Eastern European markets (Bulgaria and Cyprus) 5G outperformed the big 5 European economies (U.K., Germany, France, Spain, and Italy). Operators call for more consolidation and regulatory intervention to facilitate 5G investment. 
  • A hotbed for private networks. European governments and regulators are keen supporters of enterprise digitization efforts, and 5G is heralded as a key enabler to assist with that. Over 40% of all private networks worldwide are in Europe, a growing proportion of which are utilizing 5G. 

Mid-band is most assigned spectrum across Europe

As per the European Commission’s 2016 5G Action Plan, EU countries are meant to make low-band (700 MHz) spectrum available for use by June 30, 2020, and mid- (3.6 GHz) and high-band/mmWave (26 GHz) spectrum by December 31, 2020. At the EU level, there are the so-called 5G pioneer bands. These are the changes compared to when we last reviewed 5G spectrum assignments across Europe: 

  • Four countries still needed to assign spectrum last year. Now, Poland is the only one without dedicated 5G spectrum. 
  • Over the course of last year, three more countries awarded spectrum across all of the 5G pioneer bands, making a grand total of eight countries. 
  • Four more countries awarded spectrum across both low- and mid-band spectrum, tallying up the count to 17.
  • Mid-band spectrum is the most popular spectrum band, with 28 countries already awarded mid-band spectrum — an additional five to when we last took stock. The remaining countries, Poland and Netherlands, will finally auction the 3.5 GHz spectrum in the summer of 2023.
  • 26 countries auctioned spectrum in the 700 MHz bands, compared to 21 a year ago.
  • Eight countries have awarded mmWave spectrum thus far. Spain is the only addition in 2022, raising €36 million. 

map of european spectrum award in 5g pinoeer bands

 

Legacy networks give way to 4G LTE and 5G 

5G pioneer bands are not the only frequencies that operators use to deploy 5G. As operators shut down legacy networks, they can refarm sub-3GHz frequencies for 4G LTE or 5G. European operators tend to support 2G in the short term, phasing out 3G networks instead. MNOs also look to optimize their network operations, and the upkeep of legacy networks comes with additional cost and complexity.

The rate of network shutdowns is increasing. So far, across Europe, 21 operators across 11 countries have retired 3G networks compared to only two 2G network shutdowns. 2G is still needed to support M2M/IoT use cases, e.g. ongoing long-term enterprise contracts with utility providers. In contrast, operators see less traffic carried over 3G networks hence the desire to retire them. For example, Magyar Telekom noted 2.3% and 0.84% of total voice and data traffic on the 3G network. Proximus stated that 2% of its data traffic uses 3G, while Telenet/Base shared that 3G devices account for just 1% of its network. Looking ahead, 43 operators across 26 countries announced their plans to switch off 2G networks, and 37 operators in 21 countries will pull the plug on 3G.

5G adoption lags, 5G performance doesn’t impress either 

Most European countries have commercial 5G networks in place. However, 5G adoption across Europe lags behind its global peers. According to GSMA Intelligence, in Q4 2022, 5G uptake in Europe accounted for 7.4 % of total mobile connections, a substantial increase over the Q4 2021 level of 2.5%. Across European countries, 5G adoption is at most 21% (Switzerland), compared to 43.1% in the United States, 42.4% in South Korea, China (36.3%), Australia (30.1%), and Japan (28.5%).

chart of 5g performance in europe with select international comparisons

 

Our recent article identified four broad clusters of 5G performance based on Speedtest Intelligence® data. Most European countries achieved median 5G download speeds under 200 Mbps, placing them within the 5G Improvers category. Bulgaria was the only country that made it into the 5G Leaders category, which includes the likes of the UAE, South Korea, Singapore, and Qatar, with a median 5G download speed of 342.71 Mbps, a slight decrease compared to last year (374.90 Mbps in Q4 2021). Five countries made it into the High Performers cluster, achieving a median 5G download speed exceeding 200 Mbps: Sweden, Cyprus, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. Interestingly enough, the big five European economies (U.K., Germany, France, Spain, and Italy) were outperformed by the Nordics and two Southern Eastern European markets (Bulgaria and Cyprus). The Nordics have always played a leading role in European telecoms, but the 5G performance gap between them and the big five points to challenges in those markets. 

Across most of Europe, median 5G speeds have actually decreased. This isn’t surprising, as increased adoption leads to higher network congestion, but other factors are at play. Operators feel the pressure of the economic crisis, higher energy costs, and reduced consumers’ spending power. Europe also suffers from fragmentation, low ARPU levels brought about by intense competition, and Capex levels that are half that of the U.S. and Canada. A report by the European Court of Auditors estimates the deployment cost of 5G across all EU member states at around €400 billion. Operators are yet to see additional revenue coming from 5G that can support that level of investment. The optimal market structure and role of governments in supporting the rollout of 5G remains a heavily debated topic as operators’ M&A activities heat up.

chart of top 5g performing providers in europe

 

Operators’ performance tells an interesting story as there are vast differences between countries and even within a country. The Nordics operators’ 5G performance tends to rank highly compared to other European countries thanks to having access to dedicated 5G spectrum and supportive regulatory environment. Denmark and Sweden have a greater level of network sharing as two operators share Multi-Operator Core Networks (MOCNs) and spectrum. In some countries, operators have to adhere to conditions stipulated by the 5G license, either in terms of network coverage or the number of 5G sites. For example, in France, each operator had to deploy 3,000 5G sites by the end of 2022. Challenger mobile operators often outperform incumbents — strong results from Three in the chart above are proof of that. 

5G Availability shows improvement

chart of 5g availablity in europe with select international comparisons

 

Given the growth in 5G adoption, not surprisingly, 5G Availability (the percentage of users on 5G-capable devices that spend most of the time with access to 5G networks) has been on the rise too. 5G Availability is a function of 5G network coverage, and 5G tariff and 5G-capable device adoption. At 56%, the U.S. continues to have the highest level of 5G Availability, having started 5G deployment in the 600 MHz (low band) range and with a large pool of customers owning 5G capable devices. The 600 MHz frequency band has further reach compared to 700 MHz and even the LTE mid-band. Within Europe, 5G Availability exceeds 40% in three countries: Cyprus, Switzerland, and Denmark, but the range is broad across those countries. Cyta Cyprus has reached 67.1% 5G Availability in Q4 2022, thanks to extending 5G coverage to 100% of Cypriots. Swisscom ranks highly too, with 61% Availability in Q4 2022. Its 2022 Annual Report notes that the operator covers 99% of the Swiss population with a basic version of 5G (using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing, which borrows capacity from its LTE spectrum) and 74% with 5G + (delivered using mid-band spectrum). 

One critical component driving 5G Availability is the affordability and availability of 5G-capable smartphones. According to Counterpoint Research, in Q4 2022, 5G smartphone sales across Europe totaled 26.8 million, equivalent to 67% of total smartphone sales, compared to 84% in North America and 87% across China, Japan, and South Korea. Europe still needs to catch up to other advanced markets in smartphone adoption. Within Europe, there is also wide variation, with Germany at 90%, Sweden at 88%, the UK at 86%, and Eastern European markets at 49%. Over time, smartphone sales will translate into a more extensive installed base of 5G devices and share of overall subscriptions.charts of 5g sales across select eupropean markets and 5g smartphones as proportional of total smartphone sales

A glimmer of hope for 5G investments

As per the EU Commission’s 5G Action plan, operators should extend 5G networks to all urban areas and major roads and railways by 2025 and populated areas by 2030. For Europe to catch up with its peers and to achieve its digital ambitions, it needs more investment. Operators frequently call for a more supportive policy and regulatory ecosystem to stimulate Capex. During Ookla’s Southeast Europe Regulatory Summit, Professor Konstantinos Masselos, President of Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission and BEREC Chair 2023, recognized that Europe is still behind the rest of the world, there is a need to fill the gap for investments, and Europe needs to solve demand issues and cost-effectiveness while not forgetting sustainability.

According to Assembly Research, an issue that came to the fore during 2022 was ‘fair share’ – i.e. the idea that tech companies should contribute to telecoms network costs. Many large telcos believe that deploying Europe’s digital infrastructure should be more evenly distributed among those generating traffic (and costs). However, some smaller operators and access seekers, such as MVNOs, are concerned by the possible implications of fair share, arguing that it could create a competitive distortion that puts them at a disadvantage. In addition, an October 2022 report by BEREC found little evidence that large content and application providers should contribute towards the cost of building telecom networks, considering that this model could risk harming Europe’s internet ecosystem.

Nevertheless, the European Commission is considering potential changes to how networks are funded. Commissioner Thierry Breton is poised to launch the EC’s fair share consultation at MWC23, which will reportedly outline proposals on Big Tech’s contribution towards telecoms network costs. Whether the European telcos’ lobbying campaign will bear fruit, only time will tell. But this will also depend on how well telcos outline what ‘fair share’ should look like. In Assembly’s view, the next step is to develop a practical means of implementing fair share, one which telcos have yet to set out in detail. In response to the EC’s forthcoming consultation, the onus is on operators to present compelling, justifiable policy actions, including how contributions to network costs should be calculated and applied.

European regulators support enterprise digitization efforts 

Digitization of different sectors of the economy is key to supporting sustainable development and climate goals. However, enterprise requirements differ. Some prefer to retain control over their networks, isolating them from the public network. Private mobile networks play an important role in broader digital transformation and addressing Industry 4.0 objectives. According to GSA, there were 954 private networks globally, of which almost half were in Europe (405). In terms of the number of private networks, the U.S. ranked first internationally, Germany was second, and the U.K. came fourth, followed by Japan, Finland, France, and Sweden. All of these countries embarked on digitization strategies to strengthen their position as manufacturing hubs, and it is no coincidence that these are also the markets where enterprises can purchase dedicated spectrum.

chart of top 15 countries by number of private networks

Historically, Wi-Fi has been the connectivity choice for private networks. However, mobile technologies such as 4G LTE and 5G are better suited to Operational Technologies’ network requirements of high volume, high reliability, mobility, and always-on operations. In Europe, almost half of the private networks run on 4G LTE (44%), 21% use a mix of 4G and 5G, with 5G accounting for close to 30% of deployments. As we have noted before, the introduction of industrial chipsets, based on Release 16, scheduled to come to market in 2023, will stimulate the private 5G networks market too.

Furthermore, regulators are creating an encouraging environment for enterprises to deploy their own networks to support their digital transformation targets. A dedicated spectrum for private mobile networks has already been allocated to industry players in France, the U.S., Germany, Japan, and the U.K., among others. Recently, Norwegian regulator Nkom opened up a 3.8 – 4.2 GHz band for interested parties to apply for a license to offer private 5G networks. Germany spearheads the Industry 4.0 movement, with some of the country’s biggest industrial players awarded their own 5G spectrum and experimenting with private 5G networks to address their particular needs. Other countries that look to support their national manufacturers standing in the global marketplace look to follow, as we have discussed the case for private networks in India.

Ookla will be at MWC Barcelona 2023 — visit us at our Stand 2i28 in Hall 2 to talk with us about telco trends and to learn about Ekahau’s private 5G offering. If you are interested in what are the new and exciting use cases as we enter the 5G Advance era, join us at the 5G Futures Summit. In the meantime, please contact us if you’re interested in discovering more about Ookla Speedtest Intelligence and its wealth of fixed and mobile consumer-initiated data and insights.

 

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
Europe

About the Author

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| May 23, 2022

5G in Central and Eastern Europe: Poland Still Waits for True 5G While Bulgaria Sprints Ahead

Global Speeds
Polski

Key takeaways

  • The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for digital transformation, part of the EU-level funding will be available to drive digital transformation. 
  • Spectrum auctions have been delayed across the region. While Slovenia and Croatia have already completed spectrum auctions across all of the 5G pioneer bands, Poland lacks clear timelines and risks being left behind.  
  • Bulgaria leads in 5G median download speeds and 5G Availability. Its capital, Sofia, takes the top spot across the capital cities when it comes to median 5G speed and 5G Availability.
  • Poland doesn’t fare well compared to other CEE countries. Poland came last in the median 5G download speeds ranking and its 5G speeds were just over double that of 4G. More importantly, though, it also seems that Polish end users don’t see the additional benefits 5G can bring, which depresses demand.
  • Plus has the fastest median 5G speeds while Play wins 5G Availability. Łódź has the fastest 5G network among major Polish cities.

The EU funds set to stimulate digital transformation

An unprecedented amount of funding available to European Union member states has been approved to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NextGenerationEU recovery fund totals €750 billion. The vast majority, €672.5 billion, is allocated to the Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRP), distributed between loans (€360 billion) and grants (€312.5 billion). All funds must be spent by 2026.

While not all these funds will drive investment into telecoms, some will have indirect impact such as green technology — see our thoughts on the discussions around Net Zero at MWC 2022. There are six pillars, one of which is digital transformation, which has over 20% of the national RRPs funding allocated. Digital transition projects include investment in R&D, deployment of new digital technologies including expansion of ultrafast broadband and 5G connectivity, and the digital transformation of the economy. The money is there for the taking, it is up to the countries to take advantage of it and funnel it into technology such as 5G to underpin economic growth. 

Mid-band is most assigned spectrum across Central and Eastern Europe

We have reflected on the progress across Europe in this article. Now, we turn our attention to Central Eastern European (CEE) countries. According to GSMA Intelligence data, the vast majority of operators across the eight CEE countries — 24 out of 31 — have already launched 5G services. 

As per the EC 2016 5G Action Plan, countries across the EU were meant to make low-band spectrum available for use by June 30, 2020, and mid- and high-band spectrums by December 31, 2020. At the EU level, there are three 5G pioneer bands as follows: 

  • Low-band: 700 MHz (703 – 733 MHz and 758 – 788 MHz)  
  • Mid-band: 3.6 GHz (3,400 – 3,800 MHz)  
  • High-band: 26 GHz (at least 1000 MHz within 24,250 – 27,500 MHz) 

The delays related to spectrum assignment range from the impact of COVID-19 on schedules to cross-border coordination with non-EU countries to weak demand from the operators’ side. However, most countries included in this analysis have already assigned at least one band for 5G, with a notable exception of Poland. 

Poland is yet to carry out a 5G spectrum auction — the planned sale of a C-band spectrum in Poland was postponed multiple times for various reasons. In March 2020, Poland announced the 3.6 GHz spectrum auction to be awarded by June 30, 2020. However, due to the pandemic, Polish authorities suspended all administrative proceedings, and the current holdup is due to legislative issues. 

Furthermore, Poland is also exploring a controversial law to establish a state-owned 5G network, which would be operated by a state run operator — Exatel — in the 700 MHz band. The 700 MHz band is problematic because it requires coordination across the eastern borders (Belarus, Russia and Ukraine), which will delay spectrum assignment. 

Slovenia and Croatia have forged ahead and become the only two countries that have already completed spectrum auctions across all of the 5G pioneer bands. In April 2021, Slovenia’s Agency for Communications Networks and Services (Akos) concluded the sale of frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3500 MHz and 26 GHz bands. In August 2021, the Croatian Regulatory Agency (Hakom) auctioned frequencies in the 700 MHz, 3600 MHz and 26 GHz bands. Furthermore, Miran Gosta, director of Hakom, recently announced that a new auction is being prepared for the frequencies that are already in use and will expire in 2024 such as 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2600 MHz bands. 

Bulgaria leads 5G speeds 

The important question is whether delays in spectrum assignments and supporting multiple network generations have affected the operators’ ability to deliver on 5G’s promise of faster speeds. According to Speedtest Intelligence®, the 5G median download speeds across the eight countries range from 73-407 Mbps. Bulgaria is the fastest at 406.97 Mbps, followed by Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Czechia and Poland are trailing behind, at 112.53 Mbps and 73.12 Mbps, respectively. 

Bulgarian operators took an active role in spearheading 5G development. In September 2020, Vivacom launched the first commercial 5G network via Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) in 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz, followed by A1 in Sofia using 3,600 MHz, and Telenor in early June 2021 in the biggest cities in Bulgaria in the 3,600 MHz band. 

In April 2021, Vivacom Bulgaria won 100 MHz in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band for BGN4.6 million (€2.35 million) but it had already launched the 5G network before with a temporary license in November 2020. András Pali, Vivacom CTO stated in an interview that the operator plans to invest €120 million in infrastructure in 2021. Vivacom utilizes DSS, combining frequencies in 1.8, 2.1 and 3.6 GHz bands for 5G, so there is no compromise between coverage and speed. A1 Bulgaria, on the other hand, uses a dedicated 100 MHz band. Between the commercial launch in April and October 2021, A1 Bulgaria has seen the number of active users rise by 448% and the traffic generated by them by 771%, in excess of 90 terabytes (TB) in October 2021. 

Furthermore, Bulgaria’s recovery and resilience plan assigned 26% of the €6.3 billion budget to digital transition. The plan includes measures to stimulate digital transformation, including significant investments and reforms in digital connectivity to increase the coverage of very high capacity networks in rural and sparsely populated areas and to create a favorable environment for the deployment of 5G networks and digital infrastructure.  

A few operators have rolled out 5G networks before having access to a dedicated 5G spectrum holding, instead using their existing spectrum holdings via DSS or temporarily allocated spectrum. Looking at the data for Poland, there is a link between lack of dedicated spectrum and median download speed. 5G speeds in Poland are just double the speeds of 4G, compared to Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia where 5G speeds are over five times faster than 4G. Since operators in Poland deployed 5G utilizing their existing spectral assets — in 2.6 GHz and 2.1 GHz — they are not able to take advantage of the benefits that mid-band spectrum brings to 5G deployments. We have reflected on how mid-band spectrum boosted 5G speeds and coverage in the U.S.  

5G Availability skyrocketed in Bulgaria during 2021

Speedtest Intelligence data put Bulgaria first in terms of 5G Availability (the proportion of users of 5G-capable devices who spend a majority of their time on 5G networks) within its regional peers. During 2021, 5G Availability in Bulgaria increased ten-fold, from 3.0% in Q1 2021 to 30.5% as of Q1 2022. This is partially thanks to operators broadening their portfolio of 5G capable devices, e.g. in June 2021, 55% of Telenor’s (now Yettel) smartphones on offer were 5G capable and offering 5G tariffs at no additional cost. 

Croatia performed relatively well when it comes to 5G Availability, which increased from 11% in Q1 2021 to 18.5% in Q1 2022.The Croatian operators’ 5G license comes with coverage obligations amounting to 90% of urban areas, 99% of highways and 95% of railways by 2025. Furthermore, the license obligations include 25% rural areas coverage by 2025 and 50% by 2027. According to Hakom, 5G coverage and availability is at 60-70%. 

However, five countries still had 5G Availability below 10% in Q1 2022, down from seven in Q1 2021. In Hungary, there is a public initiative in support of 5G uptake in a tune of HUF 5 billion (€13.15 million) to help consumers migrate away from 3G devices to 4G/5G smartphones in face of the upcoming 3G network sunset. On May 9, 2022 the Hungarian telecom regulator — NMHH — began a second phase of its mobile phone subsidy: owners of 2G or 3G devices can claim HUF 20,000 (€52.26) towards a purchase of a new 4G or 5G smartphone. 

It isn’t surprising to see that Hungary came first when it comes to 5G smartphone shipments across a number of CEE countries. According to Counterpoint Research, 5G smartphones accounted for 65.1% of total smartphone shipments in Hungary in Q4 2021. In Czechia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, 5G smartphones account for two in five smartphones shipped. In Poland, this is almost one in three. Romania comes last. Although, these figures do not directly translate into direct sales to customers as shipments refer to selling into retail channels and point to an increased appetite for 5G devices. A key driving factor behind this is a growing availability of lower price tiers 5G smartphones. For instance, realme is seeing success with affordable 5G smartphones in Europe. 

Sofia comes first in 5G median download speed and 5G Availability 

Given that Bulgaria had the fastest 5G and the best 5G Availability among its peers, it isn’t surprising its capital came first as well in the ranking of regional capitals, at 441.93 Mbps median download speed and 30% 5G Availability in Q1 2022. A1 Bulgaria started a test run already at the end of November 2020 in Sofia and Burgas, and they became the first 5G city in the country with an outdoor population coverage of over 90%. 

Prague performed well when it comes to 5G Availability. In April 2022, the Prague metro area was fully covered by 5G networks thanks to a cooperation between Czech operators: T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and CETIN, and the Prague municipality. All of the Czech operators sunset 3G networks in 2021 to refarm the frequencies for 4G and 5G. The largest operator by number of connections, T-Mobile Czechia had more than 600 5G base stations covering 10.4% of the population in September 2021, and it planned to increase coverage to 25% by the end of the year. T-Mobile uses Ericsson and Huawei for its 5G network, which utilizes the 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 700 MHz bands. The smallest operator, Vodafone Czechia, covered 70% of the population with a 5G network reaching 7 million Czechs in May 2022. Vodafone is committed to extending its network reach, at the moment it uses 3.5 GHz for 5G, but shortly it will start using the 700 MHz band as well as the refarmed 3G spectrum. 

Poles need more education on the benefits of 5G

When it comes to 5G performance, Poland doesn’t fare well compared to other CEE countries. Poland came last in the median 5G download speeds ranking and its 5G speeds were just over double that of 4G. It is the only country that has not yet awarded 5G spectrum. More importantly, though, it also seems that Polish end users don’t see the additional benefits 5G can bring, which depresses demand.

According to the UKE’s enterprise survey, 78.2% of enterprises in Poland have heard of 5G. Good. However, the majority of enterprises claim that the current mobile parameters are enough to carry out their business activities across three measures: speed (88.6%), reliability (86.7%), and performance (85.9%). Given that the current 5G networks in Poland do not deliver on gigabit speed promises, this isn’t surprising. 

From a Polish consumer point of view, 73.8% are familiar with the term 5G. This comes with a downside, though, just over half of respondents (57.4%) believe that 5G poses health risks. 

Asked what are the key benefits of 5G networks, almost half of respondents (47.5%) state that 5G will be faster and more efficient than 4G. Less than a third (31%) see 5G networks making people’s lives easier. The third preferred option is 5G’s ability to strengthen and modernize the Polish economy. Still, 18% do not see any positive outlook for using a 5G network. This can partially explain why 5G Availability in Poland is sub-10%.

5G is not only about speeds. 5G is seen as an avenue to bring additional value to the economy and society. According to a study from Ericsson Poland, the Polish economy could gain over €17 billion from 5G implementation by 2040. Considering the lack of a clear timeline for the 5G auction, the risk that Poland will fall further behind its peers is real. 

Plus led on 5G download speed in Poland

We compared 5G performance across Polish operators using Speedtest Intelligence. Plus was a clear winner, reaching median download speeds of 167.37 Mbps speeds in Q1 2022, ahead of Orange, T-Mobile, and Play. There isn’t a substantial difference in median upload speeds across the operators. 

All of the Polish MNOs rolled out 5G networks tapping into their existing spectrum in a Non Standalone (NSA) mode, which relies on the underlying 4G/LTE technology. The 5G auction is now dependent on ongoing consultations about the National Cybersecurity Law Project, to be discussed by the Polish Parliament. The Law may impact network equipment decisions amongst the players, e.g. Play is using Huawei and Ericsson for base stations.

Polkomtel, trading under the Plus brand, launched the country’s first commercial 5G network in the 2.6 GHz band, utilizing 50 MHz of spectrum in May 2020. Apart from Plus, all other operators deployed 5G using DSS in the 2.1 GHz spectrum band, which can partially explain why they have lower speeds. 

Orange Poland, like other countries within Orange Group, will roll out 5G Standalone (5G SA) in partnership with Ericsson. This will enable 5G network slicing and private networks development. In anticipation of the 5G auction, and to stimulate new 5G use cases, the operator launched Orange 5G Lab testing services such as AR, AI utilizing the spectrum allocated by the UKE for testing 5G in the 3.6 GHz band. 

Play had the best 5G Availability in Poland

According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone shipments in Poland have almost tripled during 2021, driven by the challenger brands such as realme, OPPO and Xiaomi (including Redmi and POCO). Polish operators also continue to promote the sale of 5G-capable devices. 5G smartphones as a proportion of smartphone sales ranged between 36% for Orange, 40% for T-Mobile, and 45% for Play. Yet, Play has sprinted ahead the pack when it comes to 5G Availability, and T-Mobile is catching up leaving Orange and Plus behind. 

This is surprising because the Play’s 5G network doesn’t necessarily have the widest reach. As of year-end 2021, Plus’ 5G network extended to 19 million people, followed by Play with over 13 million, T-Mobile (11 million) and Orange (6.3 million). Translating this into population coverage using 2021 census data (38.18 million people), this equates to 50%, 34%, 29%, and 17% population coverage.

Play, part of the Iliad Group, had the best 5G Availability, likely because of aggressive marketing and discounts combined with a large portfolio of 5G devices and the cheapest tariffs. Recently, Play had secured a PLN 500 million (€107 million) credit facility under the Operational Programme Digital Poland (POPC) from BGK, which will also use to roll out 5G services. 

The mobile operators continue to invest in 5G network rollouts. For instance, T-Mobile extended its partnership with Nokia to include the modernization of RAN as well as rollout of 5G services. The operator plans to use 4G and 5G DSS on the lower band and. when available, the 3.5 GHz band for dense urban areas. T-Mobile targets to finish 2022 with 3,500 5G base stations and 30% population coverage. T-Mobile shut down its 3G network in the 2,100 MHz frequency band in October 2021. It has also embarked on the 3G network shutdown, aiming to realize the 900 MHz used for 3G and refarm it to LTE and 5G in 2023. 

The spanner in the works to achieve wide 5G availability is the controversy around 5G auctions. In October 2019, the four leading mobile operators (Plus, Orange, Play and T-Mobile), the state-owned telecom operator Exatel and the Polish Development Fund (PFR) signed a memorandum of understanding to build a nationwide infrastructure. This will be owned by the state via a special-purpose entity called Polskie 5G. The Polish regulator has proposed to assign the entire 700 MHz band (2×30 MHz) to this new entity, with a view to first provide connectivity for public protection and disaster relief services, while making it available to all operators. Reserving spectrum for vertical use is not new, we have discussed this in our recent article; the novelty here is the band and amount. The 700 MHz band is key for providing wide coverage and in-building penetration. In our recent webinar, Eric Brands from KPN explained that KPN scores well in 5G Availability, partially because they have access to low band 5G spectrum (700 MHz).

Łódź has the fastest 5G network among major Polish cities 

Łódź came top as the fastest city in Poland with 90.25 Mbps in Q1 2022, it is also a hotspot for operators’ innovation. Orange deployed a 5G campus network in the Lodz Special Economic Area where 40 start-ups working in the accelerator will be able to use the infrastructure. Ericsson has provided the infrastructure for the economic area: ten antennas working on the 3.6 GHz and 2,100 MHz bands, covering approx.1,000 square meters.

T-Mobile is testing 5G SA in Łódź to enable new services for both consumer and B2B customers, including VoNR (Voice over New Radio) services on the 5G network. The 5G SA network is utilizing the 2,600 MHz band.

The Polish capital, Warsaw, is just slightly ahead of the rest in terms of 5G Availability. 

We’ll be watching 5G performance closely in Poland using Speedtest Intelligence. If you want to learn more about how Speedtest Intelligence can help you benchmark your 5G performance against competitors, please inquire here.

5G w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej: Polska wciąż czeka na prawdziwe 5G, podczas gdy Bułgaria pędzi do przodu

Kluczowe wnioski

  • Pandemia COVID-19 podkreśliła potrzebę transformacji cyfrowej, część funduszy unijnych zostanie przeznaczona na jej realizację.
  • Aukcje pasma zostały opóźnione w całym regionie. Podczas gdy Słowenia i Chorwacja zakończyły już aukcje pasma we wszystkich pionierskich pasmach 5G, Polsce brakuje jasnych harmonogramów i istnieje ryzyko pozostania w tyle.
  • Bułgaria jest liderem pod względem mediany szybkości pobierania i 5G Availability. Jej stolica, Sofia, zajmuje pierwsze miejsce wśród stolic pod względem mediany prędkości 5G i 5G Availability.
  • Polska nie wypada dobrze na tle innych krajów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Polska zajęła ostatnie miejsce w rankingu mediany prędkości pobierania 5G, a jej prędkości 5G były nieco ponad dwukrotnie wyższe niż 4G. Co jednak ważniejsze, wydaje się również, że polscy użytkownicy końcowi nie dostrzegają dodatkowych korzyści, jakie może przynieść 5G, co zmniejsza popyt.
  • Plus ma największą średnią prędkość 5G, a Play wygrywa pod względem 5G Availability. Łódź ma najszybszą sieć 5G wśród największych polskich miast

Fundusze unijne mają stymulować transformację cyfrową

W celu złagodzenia gospodarczych i społecznych skutków pandemii COVID-19 została zatwierdzona bezprecedensowa kwota środków dostępnych dla państw członkowskich Unii Europejskiej. Fundusz naprawczy The NextGenerationEU wynosi 750 mld euro. Zdecydowana większość środków, 672,5 mld euro, jest przeznaczona na Plany odbudowy i zwiększania odporności (ang. Recovery and Resilience Plans, RRP) i podzielona między pożyczki (360 mld euro) i dotacje (312,5 mld euro). Wszystkie środki muszą zostać wydane do 2026 r.

Chociaż nie wszystkie te fundusze będą napędzać inwestycje w telekomunikację, niektóre będą miały pośredni wpływ, np. zielone technologie — zobacz nasze przemyślenia na temat dyskusji na temat Net Zero na MWC 2022. Istnieje sześć filarów, z których jednym jest transformacja cyfrowa, która ma ponad 20% przydzielonego finansowania krajowych programów RRP. Projekty transformacji cyfrowej obejmują inwestycje w badania i rozwój, wdrażanie nowych technologii cyfrowych, w tym rozwój ultraszybkiej łączności szerokopasmowej i łączności 5G oraz cyfrową transformację gospodarki. Pieniądze są dostępne. To od krajów zależy, czy je wykorzystają i przekierują je do technologii, takich jak 5G, aby wesprzeć wzrost gospodarczy.

Średnie pasmo to najczęściej przydzielane pasmo w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej

W tym artykule zastanowiliśmy się nad postępami w Europie. Teraz zwracamy uwagę na kraje Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej (CEE). Według danych GSMA Intelligence zdecydowana większość operatorów w ośmiu krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej — 24 z 31 — uruchomiła już usługi 5G.

Zgodnie z planem działania KE na rzecz 5G z 2016 r., kraje w całej UE miały udostępnić do 30 czerwca 2020 r. pasmo niskich częstotliwości, a do 31 grudnia 2020 r. pasmo średnich i wysokich częstotliwości. Na poziomie UE istnieją trzy pionierskie pasma 5G, które przedstawiają się następująco:

– Dolne pasmo: 700 MHz (703 – 733 MHz i 758 – 788 MHz)

– Średnie pasmo: 3,6 GHz (3400 – 3800 MHz)

– Wysokie pasmo: 26 GHz (co najmniej 1000 MHz w zakresie 24 250 – 27 500 MHz)

Opóźnienia związane z przydziałem pasma wahają się od wpływu COVID-19 na harmonogramy, przez transgraniczną koordynację z krajami spoza UE, po słaby popyt ze strony operatorów. Jednak większość krajów uwzględnionych w tej analizie przypisała już co najmniej jedno pasmo dla 5G, z godnym uwagi wyjątkiem Polski.

Polska ma jeszcze przeprowadzić aukcję pasma 5G — planowana sprzedaż pasma C w Polsce była wielokrotnie przekładana z różnych powodów. W marcu 2020 r. Polska ogłosiła, że ​​aukcja pasma 3,6 GHz zostanie rozstrzygnięta do 30 czerwca 2020 r. Jednak w związku z pandemią polskie władze zawiesiły wszelkie postępowania administracyjne, a obecne wstrzymanie spowodowane jest kwestiami legislacyjnymi.

Co więcej, Polska bada również kontrowersyjne prawo dotyczące utworzenia państwowej sieci 5G, która byłaby obsługiwana przez państwowego operatora — Exatel — w paśmie 700 MHz. Pasmo 700 MHz jest problematyczne, ponieważ wymaga koordynacji przez granice wschodnie (Białoruś, Rosja i Ukraina), co opóźni przydział pasma.

Słowenia i Chorwacja posunęły się naprzód i stały się jedynymi krajami, które zakończyły już aukcje pasma we wszystkich pionierskich pasmach 5G. W kwietniu 2021 r. słoweńska Agencja ds. Sieci i Usług Komunikacyjnych (AKOS) sfinalizowała sprzedaż częstotliwości w pasmach 700 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3500 MHz i 26 GHz. W sierpniu 2021 r. Chorwacki Urząd Regulacji Branży Sieciowej (HAKOM) sprzedał na aukcji częstotliwości z pasm 700 MHz, 3600 MHz i 26 GHz. Co więcej, Miran Gosta, dyrektor HAKOM-u, ogłosił niedawno, że przygotowywana jest nowa aukcja na częstotliwości, które są już w użyciu i wygasną w 2024 roku, takie jak pasma 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz i 2600 MHz.

Bułgaria liderem prędkości 5G

Ważnym pytaniem jest, czy opóźnienia w przydziałach częstotliwości i obsługa wielu generacji sieci wpłynęły na zdolność operatorów do spełnienia obietnicy 5G dotyczącej większych prędkości. Według Speedtest Intelligence®, mediana prędkości pobierania 5G w ośmiu krajach waha się w granicach 73-407 Mb/s. Bułgaria jest najszybsza z 406,97 Mb/s, za nią plasują się Chorwacja, Węgry, Rumunia, Słowenia i Słowacja. Czechy i Polska pozostają w tyle, z prędkością odpowiednio 112,53 Mb/s i 73,12 Mb/s.

Bułgarscy operatorzy brali aktywny udział w inicjowaniu rozwoju 5G. We wrześniu 2020 roku Vivacom uruchomił pierwszą komercyjną sieć 5G za pośrednictwem Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) w 1800 MHz i 2100 MHz, następnie A1 w Sofii z wykorzystaniem 3600 MHz, a Telenor na początku czerwca 2021 w największych miastach Bułgarii w paśmie 3 600 MHz.

 W kwietniu 2021 r. firma Vivacom Bulgaria zdobyła 100 MHz w paśmie 3,7-3,8 GHz za 4,6 mln BGN (2,35 mln euro), ale już wcześniej uruchomiła sieć 5G z tymczasową licencją w listopadzie 2020 r. András Pali, dyrektor ds. technicznych Vivacom w wywiadzie oznajmił, że operator planuje zainwestować 120 milionów euro w infrastrukturę w 2021 roku. Vivacom wykorzystuje DSS, łącząc częstotliwości w pasmach 1,8, 2,1 i 3,6 GHz dla 5G, więc nie ma kompromisu między zasięgiem a prędkością. Z kolei A1 Bulgaria korzysta z dedykowanego pasma 100 MHz. Między komercyjnym uruchomieniem w kwietniu a październikiem 2021 r. liczba aktywnych użytkowników A1 Bulgaria wzrosła o 448%, a generowany przez nich ruch o 771%, przekraczając 90 terabajtów (TB) w październiku 2021 r.

Ponadto w planie naprawy i zwiększenia odporności Bułgarii, 26% z budżetu wynoszącego 6,3 mld euro przeznaczono na transformację cyfrową. Plan obejmuje środki stymulujące transformację cyfrową, w tym znaczne inwestycje i reformy łączności cyfrowej w celu zwiększenia zasięgu sieci o bardzo dużej przepustowości na obszarach wiejskich i słabo zaludnionych oraz stworzenia sprzyjającego środowiska dla wdrażania sieci 5G i infrastruktury cyfrowej. 

Kilku operatorów wdrożyło sieci 5G przed uzyskaniem dostępu do dedykowanego pakietu pasm 5G, zamiast tego wykorzystując swoje istniejące zasoby pasma za pośrednictwem DSS lub tymczasowo przydzielonego pasma. Patrząc na dane dla Polski, istnieje związek między brakiem dedykowanego pasma a medianą prędkości pobierania. Prędkości 5G w Polsce są dwukrotnie wyższe niż prędkości 4G w porównaniu z Rumunią, Słowacją, Węgrami i Słowenią, gdzie prędkości 5G są ponad pięć razy szybsze niż 4G. Ponieważ operatorzy w Polsce wdrożyli 5G, wykorzystując swoje istniejące zasoby pasmowe — w 2,6 GHz i 2,1 GHz — nie są w stanie wykorzystać korzyści, jakie dla wdrożeń 5G niesie ze sobą średnie pasmo. Zastanowiliśmy się, w jaki sposób pasmo średnie zwiększyło prędkości i zasięg 5G w USA.

5G Availability wzrosła w Bułgarii w 2021 r.

Dane Speedtest Intelligence stawiają Bułgarię na pierwszym miejscu pod względem 5G Availability (odsetek użytkowników urządzeń obsługujących 5G, którzy spędzają większość czasu w sieciach 5G) wśród swoich regionalnych partnerów. W 2021 r. 5G Availability w Bułgarii wzrosła dziesięciokrotnie, z 3% w I kwartale 2021 r. do 30,5% w I kwartale 2022 r. Jest to częściowo zasługą operatorów poszerzających portfolio urządzeń obsługujących 5G, m.in. w czerwcu 2021 r. 55% oferowanych przez Telenor (obecnie Yettel) smartfonów obsługiwało 5G i oferowało taryfy 5G bez dodatkowych kosztów.

Chorwacja radziła sobie stosunkowo dobrze, jeśli chodzi o 5G Availability, która wzrosła z 11% w I kwartale 2021 r. do 18,5% w I kwartale 2022 r. Licencja 5G chorwackich operatorów obejmuje zobowiązania dotyczące zasięgu wynoszące 90% obszarów miejskich, 99% autostrad i 95 % kolei do 2025 r. Ponadto obowiązki licencyjne obejmują 25% zasięgu obszarów wiejskich do 2025 r. i 50% do 2027 r. Według Hakom zasięg i 5G Availability wynosi 60-70%.

Jednak pięć krajów nadal miało 5G Availability poniżej 10% w I kwartale 2022 r., w porównaniu z siedmioma w I kwartale 2021 r. Na Węgrzech istnieje publiczna inicjatywa wsparcia upowszechnienia 5G na kwotę 5 mld HUF (13,15 mln EUR), konsumentom w migracji z urządzeń 3G na smartfony 4G/5G w obliczu zbliżającego się zaniku sieci 3G. 9 maja 2022 r. węgierski regulator telekomunikacyjny — NMHH — rozpoczął drugą fazę dotacji na telefony komórkowe: właściciele urządzeń 2G lub 3G mogą ubiegać się o 20 000 HUF (52,26 EUR) na zakup nowego smartfona 4G lub 5G.

Nie jest zaskoczeniem, że Węgry zajęły pierwsze miejsce, jeśli chodzi o dostawy smartfonów 5G w wielu krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Według Counterpoint Research smartfony 5G stanowiły 65,1% wszystkich dostaw smartfonów na Węgrzech w IV kwartale 2021 r. W Czechach, Słowacji i Bułgarii smartfony 5G stanowią dwa na pięć sprzedanych smartfonów. W Polsce to prawie co trzeci. Rumunia jest ostatnia. Chociaż liczby te nie przekładają się bezpośrednio na sprzedaż bezpośrednią do klientów, ponieważ dostawy odnoszą się do sprzedaży w kanałach detalicznych i wskazują na zwiększony apetyt na urządzenia 5G. Kluczowym czynnikiem jest rosnąca dostępność smartfonów 5G z niższej półki cenowej. Na przykład firma realme odnosi sukcesy dzięki przystępnym cenowo smartfonom 5G w Europie.

Sofia zajmuje pierwsze miejsce pod względem mediany prędkości pobierania i 5G Availability

Nie dziwi więc fakt, że stolica Bułgarii zajęła również pierwsze miejsce w rankingu stolic regionalnych, z medianą prędkości pobierania 441,93 Mb/s i 30% dostępnością 5G w I kwartale 2022 r.  A1 Bulgaria rozpoczęła testy już pod koniec listopada 2020 r. w Sofii i Burgas, które stały się pierwszymi miastami 5G w kraju z zasięgiem ponad 90% populacji na zewnątrz.

Praga spisała się dobrze, jeśli chodzi o 5G Availability. W kwietniu 2022 r. obszar praskiego metra został w pełni pokryty sieciami 5G dzięki współpracy czeskich operatorów: T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 i CETIN oraz władzami samorządowymi Pragi. Wszyscy czescy operatorzy zrezygnowali z sieci 3G w 2021 r., aby zmienić częstotliwości na 4G i 5G. Największy operator pod względem liczby połączeń, T-Mobile Czechy, miał we wrześniu 2021 r. ponad 600 stacji bazowych 5G obejmujących 10,4% populacji, a do końca roku planował zwiększyć zasięg do 25%. T-Mobile używa Ericssona i Huawei do swojej sieci 5G, która wykorzystuje pasma 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz i 700 MHz. Najmniejszy operator, Vodafone Czechia, objął 70% populacji siecią 5G docierającą do 7 milionów Czechów w maju 2022 roku. Vodafone jest zdeterminowany do poszerzenia zasięgu swojej sieci, w tej chwili używa 3,5 GHz dla 5G, ale wkrótce zacznie używać pasmo 700 MHz oraz refarmowane pasmo 3G.

Polacy potrzebują więcej edukacji na temat korzyści 5G

Jeśli chodzi o prędkość 5G, Polska nie wypada najlepiej na tle innych krajów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Polska zajęła ostatnie miejsce w rankingu mediany prędkości pobierania 5G, a jej prędkości 5G były nieco ponad dwukrotnie wyższe niż 4G. To jedyny kraj, który nie przyznał jeszcze pasma 5G. Co jednak ważniejsze, wydaje się również, że polscy użytkownicy końcowi nie widzą dodatkowych korzyści, jakie może przynieść 5G, co zmniejsza popyt.

Według badania przedsiębiorstw UKE, 78,2% przedsiębiorstw w Polsce słyszało o 5G. To dobry wynik. Jednak większość przedsiębiorstw twierdzi, że obecne parametry mobilne są wystarczające do prowadzenia działalności biznesowej w trzech miarach: szybkości (88,6%), niezawodności (86,7%) i wydajności (85,9%). Biorąc pod uwagę, że obecne sieci 5G w Polsce nie spełniają obietnic dotyczących szybkości gigabitowej, nie jest to zaskakujące.

Z punktu widzenia polskiego konsumenta termin 5G zna 73,8%. Ma to jednak wadę, ponieważ nieco ponad połowa respondentów (57,4%) uważa, że ​​5G stanowi zagrożenie dla zdrowia.

Na pytanie, jakie są kluczowe zalety sieci 5G, prawie połowa respondentów (47,5%) twierdzi, że 5G będzie szybsze i wydajniejsze niż 4G. Mniej niż jedna trzecia (31%) widzi, że sieci 5G ułatwiają ludziom życie. Trzecią preferowaną opcją jest zdolność 5G do wzmocnienia i modernizacji polskiej gospodarki. Jednak 18% nie widzi pozytywnych perspektyw korzystania z sieci 5G. To może częściowo tłumaczyć, dlaczego 5G Availability w Polsce wynosi poniżej 10%.

W 5G nie chodzi tylko o szybkość. 5G jest postrzegane jako sposób na wniesienie dodatkowej wartości do gospodarki i społeczeństwa. Według badania przeprowadzonego przez Ericsson Polska, polska gospodarka może zyskać ponad 17 miliardów euro na wdrożeniu 5G do 2040 roku. Biorąc pod uwagę brak jasnego harmonogramu aukcji 5G, ryzyko, że Polska będzie dalej odstawać od swoich konkurentów jest realne.

Plus prowadzi w prędkości pobierania 5G w Polsce

Porównaliśmy prędkość 5G u polskich operatorów za pomocą Speedtest Intelligence. Operator Plus był wyraźnym zwycięzcą, osiągając medianę prędkości pobierania 167,37 Mb/s w I kwartale 2022 r., wyprzedzając Orange, T-Mobile i Play. Nie odnotowano znaczącej różnicy w medianie prędkości wysyłania u operatorów.

Wszyscy polscy operatorzy sieci komórkowych uruchomili sieci 5G, wykorzystując istniejące częstotliwości w trybie Non Standalone (NSA), który opiera się na bazowej technologii 4G/LTE. Aukcja 5G jest obecnie uzależniona od trwających konsultacji dotyczących projektu ustawy o krajowym systemie cyberbezpieczeństwa, który ma być przedmiotem obrad polskiego parlamentu. Ustawa może wpłynąć na decyzje dotyczące sprzętu sieciowego wśród graczy, np. Play używa Huawei i Ericsson dla stacji bazowych.

Polkomtel, działający pod marką Plus, w maju 2020 roku uruchomił pierwszą w kraju komercyjną sieć 5G w paśmie 2,6 GHz, wykorzystującą pasmo 50 MHz. Oprócz Plusa, wszyscy pozostali operatorzy wdrożyli 5G z wykorzystaniem DSS w paśmie 2,1 GHz, co może częściowo wyjaśniać, dlaczego mają niższe prędkości.

Orange Polska, podobnie jak inne kraje Grupy Orange, wdroży 5G Standalone (5G SA) we współpracy z firmą Ericsson. Umożliwi to “krojenie sieci” (ang. network slicing) 5G i rozwój sieci prywatnych. W oczekiwaniu na aukcję 5G oraz w celu stymulowania nowych zastosowań 5G, operator uruchomił usługi testowe Orange 5G Lab, takie jak AR, AI wykorzystujące pasmo przydzielone przez UKE do testowania 5G w paśmie 3,6 GHz.

Play miał najlepszą 5G Availability w Polsce

Według Counterpoint Research, w 2021 r. dostawy smartfonów w Polsce prawie się potroiły, napędzane przez konkurencyjne marki, takie jak realme, OPPO i Xiaomi (w tym Redmi i POCO). Polscy operatorzy również w dalszym ciągu promują sprzedaż urządzeń obsługujących 5G. Smartfony 5G jako udział w sprzedaży smartfonów wahały się od 36% dla Orange, 40% dla T-Mobile oraz 45% dla Play. Jednak Play wyprzedził konkurencję, jeśli chodzi o 5G Availability, a T-Mobile nadrabia zaległości, pozostawiając w tyle Orange i Plus. 

Jest to o tyle zaskakujące, że sieć 5G Play niekoniecznie ma największy zasięg. Na koniec 2021 r. sieć 5G Plusa powiększyła się do 19 mln osób, następny był Play z ponad 13 mln, T-Mobile (11 mln) i Orange (6,3 mln). Przekładając to na pokrycie populacji przy użyciu danych ze spisu powszechnego z 2021 r. (38,18 mln osób), oznacza to pokrycie populacji 50%, 34%, 29% i 17%.

Play, część Grupy Iliad, miał najlepszą 5G Availability, prawdopodobnie ze względu na agresywny marketing i rabaty w połączeniu z dużym portfolio urządzeń 5G i najtańszymi taryfami. Niedawno Play pozyskał z BGK kredyt w wysokości 500 mln zł (107 mln euro) w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Polska Cyfrowa (POPC), który posłuży również do uruchomienia usług 5G.

Operatorzy komórkowi nadal inwestują w rozwój sieci 5G. Na przykład T-Mobile rozszerzył swoją współpracę z Nokią o modernizację sieci RAN, a także wdrożenie usług 5G. Operator planuje wykorzystanie 4G i 5G DSS w dolnym paśmie oraz gdy będzie to możliwe, w paśmie 3,5 GHz na gęstych obszarach miejskich. T-Mobile planuje zakończyć 2022 rok z 3500 stacjami bazowymi 5G i 30% pokryciem populacji. T-Mobile wyłączył swoją sieć 3G w paśmie częstotliwości 2100 MHz w październiku 2021 roku. Rozpoczął również zamykanie sieci 3G, mając na celu wykorzystanie 900 MHz dla 3G i zmianę jej na LTE i 5G w 2023 roku.

Przeszkodą w osiągnięciu szerokiej dostępności 5G są kontrowersje wokół aukcji 5G. W październiku 2019 r. czterej czołowi operatorzy komórkowi (Plus, Orange, Play i T-Mobile), państwowy operator telekomunikacyjny Exatel oraz Polski Fundusz Rozwoju (PFR) podpisali porozumienie w sprawie budowy ogólnopolskiej infrastruktury. Będzie on własnością państwa za pośrednictwem jednostki specjalnego przeznaczenia – Polskie 5G. Polski regulator zaproponował przydzielenie temu nowemu podmiotowi całego pasma 700 MHz (2×30 MHz), z myślą o zapewnieniu w pierwszej kolejności łączności dla służb porządkowych i ratowniczych, a jednocześnie udostępnienie go wszystkim operatorom. Zarezerwowanie pasma do użytku pionowego nie jest niczym nowym, omówiliśmy to w naszym ostatnim artykule; nowością jest tu pasmo i ilość. Pasmo 700 MHz ma kluczowe znaczenie dla zapewnienia szerokiego zasięgu i penetracji wewnątrz budynków. W naszym ostatnim webinarze Eric Brands z KPN wyjaśnił, że KPN osiąga dobre wyniki w zakresie 5G Availability, częściowo dlatego, że ma dostęp do niskiego pasma 5G (700 MHz).

Łódź ma najszybszą sieć 5G wśród największych polskich miast

Łódź zajęła pierwsze miejsce jako najszybsze miasto w Polsce z prędkością 90,25 Mb/s w I kwartale 2022 r., jest także hotspotem dla innowacji operatorów. Orange wdrożył kampusową sieć 5G na terenie Łódzkiej Specjalnej Strefy Ekonomicznej, gdzie 40 start-upów pracujących w akceleratorze będzie mogło korzystać z infrastruktury. Ericsson dostarczył infrastrukturę dla obszaru gospodarczego: dziesięć anten pracujących w pasmach 3,6 GHz i 2100 MHz, obejmujących około 1000 m2.

T-Mobile testuje 5G SA w Łodzi, aby umożliwić nowe usługi zarówno klientom indywidualnym, jak i klientom B2B, w tym usługi VoNR (Voice over New Radio) w sieci 5G. Sieć 5G SA wykorzystuje pasmo 2600 MHz.

Stolica Polski, Warszawa, nieznacznie wyprzedza resztę pod względem 5G Availability.

Będziemy uważnie obserwować prędkość 5G w Polsce za pomocą Speedtest Intelligence. Jeśli chcesz dowiedzieć się więcej o tym, jak Speedtest Intelligence może pomóc Ci porównać prędkość 5G z konkurencją, zapytaj tutaj.

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

About the Author

Sylwia Kechiche

Ookla Research™ Articles
| February 20, 2019

An Expansive Analysis of European Mobile Roaming Speeds and Behaviors

Global Speeds

Last year we took a look at how free roaming was working out for EU citizens in terms of speeds and latency. This year we’ve expanded our analysis to all European countries and included data on Wi-Fi roaming behavior. We’ve also added a little insight into how roaming might affect download speeds for visitors to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from February 25- 28, 2019.

Except where noted, this analysis is based on Speedtest data from Android devices on 4G LTE cellular connections during Q3-Q4 2018. We included data on any country with greater than 30 samples in all categories.

Most Europeans experience slower downloads while roaming

Roaming traffic is subject to deals struck between individual mobile operators on how that traffic will be prioritized, so roaming speeds can depend not only on the country of origin but also the country of destination and the plan a subscriber has selected.

Consider the following table where an Albanian experiences a mean download speed of 54.56 Mbps at home and then 38.47 Mbps while roaming elsewhere in Europe. This is expected as a roamer does not usually have a direct relationship with the mobile operator handling their data and calls abroad.

Mean Mobile Download Speeds in Europe
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country Local Speed (Mbps) Roaming Speed (Mbps) % Difference
Austria 38.23 35.78 -6.4%
Belarus 16.15 19.49 20.7%
Belgium 52.58 35.42 -32.6%
Bulgaria 47.28 32.35 -31.6%
Croatia 43.83 43.60 -0.5%
Cyprus 37.13 20.58 -44.6%
Czech Republic 44.91 13.43 -70.1%
Denmark 48.83 34.89 -28.6%
Estonia 36.43 38.98 7.0%
Finland 39.33 38.20 -2.9%
France 39.94 34.97 -12.5%
Germany 33.77 28.57 -15.4%
Greece 41.35 38.08 -7.9%
Hungary 49.57 28.19 -43.1%
Iceland 69.27 35.58 -48.6%
Ireland 28.23 31.49 11.6%
Italy 32.18 43.12 34.0%
Kazakhstan 22.93 13.80 -39.8%
Latvia 30.88 33.79 9.4%
Liechtenstein 56.48 36.66 -35.1%
Lithuania 41.49 33.43 -19.4%
Luxembourg 50.91 25.08 -50.7%
Malta 56.34 34.27 -39.2%
Montenegro 45.45 49.97 10.0%
Netherlands 56.06 33.86 -39.6%
Norway 68.49 38.69 -43.5%
Poland 28.74 29.71 3.4%
Portugal 32.06 36.95 15.3%
Romania 36.64 30.74 -16.1%
Russia 20.91 20.47 -2.1%
Serbia 43.41 21.64 -50.1%
Slovakia 33.47 31.80 -5.0%
Slovenia 35.51 36.41 2.5%
Spain 36.07 22.37 -38.0%
Sweden 44.87 34.59 -22.9%
Switzerland 47.59 30.36 -36.2%
Turkey 38.19 28.77 -24.7%
Ukraine 26.07 25.48 -2.3%
United Kingdom 30.84 38.76 25.7%

Residents of the Czech Republic will face massive speed disappointment when roaming through the rest of Europe. Other countries with much better speeds at home than abroad include Luxembourg, Serbia, Iceland and Cyprus.

In ten European countries, citizens experience faster mobile downloads while roaming than they do at home. These include: Italy, the United Kingdom, Belarus, Portugal, Ireland, Montenegro, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Slovenia. Most of these are among the slowest countries on this list, so it would make sense that their citizens would experience better speeds elsewhere in Europe than they do at home.

Europeans are connected to Wi-Fi most of the time

Customers sometimes try to get better speeds and avoid roaming fees (for those outside the E.U.) and data overages by connecting to Wi-Fi. The following table compares the percentage of time spent on Wi-Fi by a resident of a country with that of a visitor to the country.

Percentage of Time Spent on Wi-Fi in Europe
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country Local Customers Visitors % Difference
Albania 61.9% 59.8% -3.4%
Andorra 73.6% 69.0% -6.2%
Armenia 61.5% 68.1% 10.7%
Austria 65.6% 36.7% -44.1%
Azerbaijan 67.0% 70.7% 5.5%
Belarus 63.9% 58.3% -8.9%
Belgium 71.1% 32.9% -53.7%
Bosnia and Herzegovina 71.9% 66.0% -8.2%
Bulgaria 65.2% 46.8% -28.2%
Croatia 66.1% 41.0% -38.0%
Cyprus 70.9% 58.4% -17.7%
Czech Republic 75.1% 38.9% -48.1%
Denmark 70.4% 52.9% -24.9%
Estonia 61.2% 45.6% -25.4%
Finland 56.6% 47.1% -16.7%
France 60.2% 43.1% -28.5%
Georgia 61.4% 62.2% 1.3%
Germany 72.2% 42.4% -41.3%
Greece 73.5% 52.2% -28.9%
Hungary 71.9% 35.0% -51.3%
Iceland 65.7% 58.2% -11.4%
Ireland 67.2% 52.4% -22.0%
Italy 64.1% 48.9% -23.7%
Kazakhstan 57.7% 64.7% 12.3%
Latvia 60.9% 43.8% -28.1%
Liechtenstein 71.7% 58.2% -18.9%
Lithuania 66.8% 43.3% -35.1%
Luxembourg 63.6% 26.0% -59.1%
Macedonia 65.3% 52.9% -18.9%
Malta 74.3% 58.0% -22.0%
Moldova 67.2% 67.3% 0.2%
Montenegro 63.6% 65.2% 2.5%
Netherlands 73.0% 42.5% -41.7%
Norway 74.7% 59.7% -20.1%
Poland 62.5% 48.1% -23.1%
Portugal 69.1% 54.7% -20.9%
Romania 62.4% 48.7% -21.9%
Russia 58.8% 65.9% 12.2%
San Marino 66.8% 39.7% -40.6%
Serbia 68.6% 61.2% -10.7%
Slovakia 69.6% 35.1% -49.6%
Slovenia 63.3% 26.4% -58.3%
Spain 70.8% 53.0% -25.2%
Sweden 71.8% 44.9% -37.4%
Switzerland 62.4% 47.2% -24.4%
Turkey 61.7% 73.0% 18.4%
Ukraine 61.5% 62.4% 1.5%
United Kingdom 71.3% 54.0% -24.3%

Finland showed the lowest time spent on Wi-Fi by residents at 56.6%. Kazakhstan was second at 57.7% followed by Russia (58.8%), France (60.2%) and Latvia (60.9%). The Czech Republic showed the highest time spent on Wi-Fi by residents at 75.1%. Norway was second at 74.7% followed by Malta (74.3%), Andorra (73.6%) and Greece (73.5%).

When it comes to time spent on Wi-Fi by visitors, Luxembourg had the lowest percentage at 26.0%. Slovenia was second at 26.4% followed by Belgium (32.9%), Hungary (35.0%) and Slovakia (35.1%). Turkey showed the highest time spent on Wi-Fi by visitors at 73.0%. Azerbaijan was second at 70.7% followed by Andorra (69.0%), Armenia (68.1%) and Moldova (67.3%).

Luxembourg saw the largest difference in time spent on Wi-Fi between residents and visitors with visitors using Wi-Fi 59.1% less than residents. Slovenia was close behind at 58.3%, followed by Belgium (53.7%) and Hungary (51.3%). On the other end of the spectrum, visitors to Turkey were on Wi-Fi 18.4% longer than residents followed by Kazakhstan (12.3%) and Russia (12.2%).

Roaming dramatically increases latency in Europe

Because roaming signals are routed through a user’s home network, latency is always an issue in roaming. Speedtest data shows that latency while roaming is a much larger issue for residents of some countries than it is for others.

Comparing European Latency In-Country and Abroad
Speedtest Data | Q3-Q4 2018
Country Local Latency (ms) Roaming Latency (ms) % Difference
Austria 24 83 245.8%
Belarus 32 75 134.4%
Belgium 24 81 237.5%
Bulgaria 24 126 425.0%
Croatia 32 86 168.8%
Cyprus 20 194 870.0%
Czech Republic 24 86 258.3%
Denmark 24 98 308.3%
Estonia 23 78 239.1%
Finland 26 104 300.0%
France 42 87 107.1%
Germany 33 87 163.6%
Greece 27 137 407.4%
Hungary 22 94 327.3%
Iceland 18 163 805.6%
Ireland 34 114 235.3%
Italy 52 116 123.1%
Kazakhstan 35 164 368.6%
Latvia 24 94 291.7%
Liechtenstein 40 90 125.0%
Lithuania 26 108 315.4%
Luxembourg 23 73 217.4%
Malta 18 141 683.3%
Montenegro 18 42 133.3%
Netherlands 26 81 211.5%
Norway 36 109 202.8%
Poland 33 104 215.2%
Portugal 27 102 277.8%
Romania 26 131 403.8%
Russia 42 161 283.3%
Serbia 22 76 245.5%
Slovakia 30 69 130.0%
Slovenia 21 69 228.6%
Spain 45 118 162.2%
Sweden 30 118 293.3%
Switzerland 26 75 188.5%
Turkey 26 115 342.3%
Ukraine 35 116 231.4%
United Kingdom 37 107 189.2%

Residents of Cyprus saw an average latency of 194 ms while roaming in Europe. The country with the second highest latency for residents roaming abroad was Kazakhstan at 164 ms, followed by Iceland (163 ms). Russia (161 ms) and Malta (141 ms). In contrast, Montenegro had a lower latency for residents roaming abroad than Italy did for residents using their mobile phones locally.

Roaming performance at MWC

MWC, the largest mobile conference in the world, has Barcelona teeming with visitors from across the globe all trying to connect to their home networks. During February 2018 we saw an average download speed of 34.31 Mbps while roaming in Barcelona and a mean latency of 201 ms. Visitors from the U.K. saw an average download speed of 49.00 Mbps and a mean latency of 111 ms, while those from Italy averaged a download of 32.88 Mbps and a latency of 128 ms.

What will the performance look like at this year’s conference? Schedule a meeting or come see us in Hall 2 at Booth 2i25 to learn more about our roaming data.

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

About the Author

Isla McKetta

Ookla Research™ Articles
| November 30, 2021

5G in Europe: EU Targets Require a Rethink

Global Speeds

Monitoring progress of the EU’s Digital Decade

We recently attended the European 5G Observatory’s workshop, “5G in the Digital Decade,” which provided an overview of progress towards the EU’s 5G Action Plan targets and also looked ahead to the new targets as set out in the EU Digital Decade. The European Commission presented its vision of the region’s Digital Decade in March 2021, providing targets (the Digital Compass) for the digital transformation of Member States by 2030. Progress towards these targets is measured through the existing Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), a key component of which focuses on connectivity. The relevant 2030 goals here are to provide Gigabit access to all EU households and 5G coverage in all populated areas.

The connectivity component of DESI is made up of a mix of demand and supply-side factors, including fixed and mobile broadband coverage and take-up, 5G spectrum availability and broadband pricing. The latest iteration was published in November using 2020 data, with Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain securing the top three spots for connectivity, and Greece and Bulgaria the bottom two.

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As 5G evolves, so should the Commission’s 5G targets

The Commission’s DESI has evolved from its inception in 2014 to now track the Digital Compass’ targets. However, 5G is a rapidly evolving technology, and it was clear from the discussion during the Observatory’s workshop that there will be a need to review the actual targets and by implication the measurement criteria. The key concern lies in the “5G everywhere” target, both from a coverage and a performance perspective. As the end goal is the digital transformation of Member States, 5G coverage should be extended beyond the current target of all populated areas, to provide greater geographical coverage — in particular to support emerging vertical industry needs, for example in agriculture or logistics.

In terms of 5G performance, the ITU’s IMT-2020 requirements are for a user-experienced data rate of 100 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload. However, not all 5G networks are created equally. The increasing use of dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) means that operators can boost 5G coverage and capacity by using existing spectrum formerly dedicated to other generations of mobile technology. As a result, network performance will vary widely based on the bands used. There are also differences in 5G rollout, with initial 5G radio equipment tending to be deployed on existing tower infrastructure, and the coverage of higher capacity C-band spectrum will be limited relative to that of lower frequency bands as result.

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Divergence between the DESI and end-user internet speed

What’s also interesting are the outliers and how their performance differs from their position within the DESI. Bulgaria (which came second to last in the connectivity portion of the DESI), does lag behind the European average on fixed broadband speeds, but is significantly faster on mobile speeds. Bulgaria’s median mobile download speed of 83.71 Mbps makes it the seventh fastest market globally. The reverse is true for Spain, which came third in the DESI, and where median fixed download speeds of 118.25 Mbps are well above the European average, putting it in 11th place globally, but where mobile speeds of 34.63 Mbps lag well behind the European average, and place it 51st globally. Other examples of divergence between the DESI and actual internet speeds on the ground include markets such as Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia and Lithuania.

To support Member States, the Commission has proposed a “Path to the Digital Decade”, a governance framework which in addition to the development of roadmaps at a Member State level and regular reporting on progress, will also include a framework to address progress shortfalls and support for multi-country projects. Member States have been encouraged to make use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, an EU-wide fund of EUR 723.8 billion designed to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, from which they are required to devote at least 20% of their allocation to digital projects. As of October 2021, digital investment plans totalled 26% of the fund, of which 11% is dedicated to connectivity. With such significant public funds directed at improving connectivity, and the digital services that it underpins, the Commission must ensure that its targets and measurement methodology keep pace with the evolution of network technologies.

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Global Speeds

About the Author

Mark Giles