Key Takeaways

• Operator Three UK led the U.K. market for 5G performance with a median download speed of 258.80 Mbps in Q3-Q4 2021.
• EE led on 5G Availability at 19.3% during Q3-Q4 2021, but this remains low at a market level.
• Like other European markets, the requirement to remove network equipment from Chinese vendors has negatively impacted the speed of 5G deployments in the U.K.
• Based on the number of people per 5G base station, the U.K. lags behind other 5G pioneer markets, indicating a change in deployment is required.
• U.K. regulator Ofcom has highlighted the need to drive greater mobile network capacity to meet future demand, with the release of mmWave spectrum and further network densification key levers. However, attention is likely to turn once again to market consolidation to help accelerate network densification — an area where Ofcom has felt the need to clarify its position.

5G network investment accelerating

The United Kingdom (U.K.) was among the first markets to launch 5G globally, with EE launching the 5G in May 2019. Since then, despite U.K. operators ramping up 5G investment, the market has been on par with many other European markets in terms of 5G performance, but the U.K. still lags behind 5G pioneers like South Korea and China as we saw in Q1-Q2 2021.

According to the Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2021 report, 5G network investment in the U.K. is accelerating, hitting £330 million in 2020 — an increase of over £150 million (88%) vs. 2019. Dense urban areas are mostly supported by high capacity C-band spectrum (awarded in 2018 and in 2021), increasingly augmented by hotspot deployments in suburban areas and around main transport corridors. The number of mobile base stations providing 5G services more than doubled last year — from 3,000 sites in 2020 to over 6,500 sites in 2021. Based on the U.K.’s population as of 2020, this would equate to over 10,000 people per 5G base station, placing it well behind South Korea, China, the EU average, and even the U.S. according to the EU 5G Observatory’s International Scoreboard.

In order to reduce costs and optimize network deployment, the U.K.’s mobile network operators already deploy and run a portion of their radio access network (RAN) via network sharing agreements. Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), is a 50-50 joint venture between EE and Three UK, to manage the design and operation of their shared network. Additionally, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (CTIL) is a 50-50 joint venture between O2 and Vodafone that owns and oversees the operators’ passive tower infrastructure. 

O2 and Vodafone announced in 2019 that they would share 5G- active equipment, such as radio antennas, in order to reduce the time to launch and cost effectively deploy 5G. This excludes around 2,700 sites in densely populated areas (in over 20 cities) where the operators will maintain separate active RAN components to give them greater autonomy and enable more flexibility to meet customer requirements. In January 2021, Vodafone transferred its 50% share to Vantage Towers.

Ofcom highlights need for greater network capacity

A recent discussion paper by U.K. regulator Ofcom illuminated its future approach to mobile markets, and while it shied away from further regulation, it did highlight the need to plan for more network capacity to meet future demand. Additionally, Ofcom’s discussion paper highlighted releasing further spectrum, looking to technological advances to improve spectral efficiency, and the need for further network densification. However, the challenge for operators lies in supporting the level of network investment required given the current mobile market structure in the U.K..

There is a clear desire for further mobile network consolidation in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, with recent examples including the agreed joint venture between MasMovil and Orange in Spain, and Iliad’s recent bid for Vodafone Italy. The last time the U.K. market saw mobile consolidation was in 2010 with the merger of T-Mobile and Orange to form EE. Since then, subsequent attempts to drive further mobile consolidation — Three UK’s planned merger with O2 in 2016 — have been blocked by Ofcom and the European Commission. During Three UK’s  recent 2021 results announcement, Robert Finnegan, Three UK’s Chief Executive Officer, warned that despite achieving positive results, “the U.K. market with four operators continues to remain dysfunctional and requires a structural change to improve the overall quality of infrastructure that U.K. customers should expect.”

Ofcom’s latest discussion paper alludes to a potential softening in its stance on mobile mergers, indicating that it would be “informed by the specific circumstances of that particular merger, taking into account how markets are evolving.” Given the strong move towards convergence, such as BT’s acquisition of EE and the more recent O2 and Virgin Media merger, further market consolidation cannot be ruled out. 

Freeing up further spectrum for 5G use remains a priority

Since early 5G deployments, all four operators in the U.K. have been utilizing mid-band spectrum for 5G, which is considered a spectrum “sweet spot” that offers both fast speeds and broad geographic coverage. In April 2021, every operator boosted their spectrum holdings across the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands. O2, for example, has started using low-band spectrum for 5G, and has recently committed to invest at least £10 billion in the U.K., delivering 5G to over 2,000 sites across the country in 2021. The operator’s 5G coverage currently extends to 300 towns and cities and is set to reach 50% of the U.K.’s population with its 5G services in 2023. 

Operators have been also re-farming their legacy 2G and 3G spectrum for 5G and utilizing dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to facilitate dynamic use of 4G and 5G in the same bands. In December 2021, the government also announced the goal of switching off 2G and 3G networks by 2033 to free up spectrum for 5G. Ofcom’s recently published discussion paper on mobile networks and spectrum, identifies a large amount of mobile spectrum in the mmWave frequencies, which if allocated, will help boost network capacity. The regulator will consult on proposals to enable mmWave band in Q1 2022/23.

On the road to 5G standalone networks 

5G is currently rolled out in a non-standalone (NSA) mode in the U.K., meaning that it still relies on the 4G LTE core network. We expect all operators to upgrade to 5G standalone (SA) in time, with 5G core networks and 5G RAN, especially as additional 5G capabilities proliferate such as ultra-low latency communication (URLC)  and virtual network functions such as network slicing which will enable new 5G use cases. Operators in the U.K. are already trialing 5G SA:  in June 2021 Vodafone launched a commercial pilot of 5G SA in London, Manchester, and Cardiff, which built on an earlier trial carried out with Coventry University in the summer of 2020. In March 2022, Vodafone and Ericsson completed the U.K.’s first 5G SA network slicing trial. It was a lab demonstration of 5G network slicing with on-demand quality of service control for virtual reality use case in a retail store. The slice guaranteed a download speed of 260 Mbps and latency of 12 milliseconds. It isn’t clear when Vodafone plans to commercially launch 5G SA but Vodafone Germany became the first operator to launch 5G SA in Europe last year.

The recent 5G SA collaboration between EE, the BBC, and Ericsson, “The Green Planet AR Experience,” showcased the unique capabilities of 5G SA and edge computing. Additionally, EE plans to extend 5G coverage to 90% of the U.K. geographical area by 2028, which will be facilitated by the migration to a cloud-based core and the launch of 5G SA by 2023. EE is also planning to sell 5G SA in a way that will resonate with the customers and bring “technology to them in a really human way”. This is a move away from EE advertising the benefits of 5G as being able to get a real-time close shave with a robotic arm. However, Marc Allera, CEO of BT Consumer (EE’s parent company), does not rule out metaverse as a possible proposition blending entertainment, sports broadcasting, gaming, and e-commerce. 

Security worries pave the road to Open RAN 

Huawei kit needs to be removed from a number of European countries, including the U.K. In July 2020, in response to U.S. sanctions against Huawei, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) announced that it overturned its earlier decision to exclude Huawei’s access from core and sensitive networks and, instead, completely remove Huawei’s kit from the U.K.’s 5G networks by the end of 2027. The government further pushed Open RAN expectations in December 2021 by setting a goal of having 35% of its telecom network traffic carried over Open RAN by 2030. This target is an aspirational one, rather than a hard mandated quota and is apparently supported by all mobile operators. It does come with a £250 million funding to support and accelerate the development of open and interoperable RAN, which is significantly less than €2 billion the German government has  specifically dedicated for Open RAN as part of €50 billion Package for the Future.

In January 2022, Vodafone switched on the U.K.’s first 5G Open RAN site in Bath, Somerset, which is the first of 2,500 planned sites and marks the beginning of the first scaled Open RAN project in Europe. EE’s parent company, BT Group, is more skeptical about the technology, with Neil McRae, MD of Architecture and Strategy and chief architect at BT Group, reminding the MWC 2022 audiences that there are different paths operators can take to drive down costs and improve performance. Nonetheless, BT is trialing Open RAN in Hull to see how the technology can improve the customer experience of EE’s 5G network. We have discussed the current progress on Open RAN across Europe in our latest article 5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future and reflected on the discussions on this topic at MWC 2022 here. 

U.K. compared to its European peers 

In our recent post “5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future”, we looked at how different European countries stacked up against each other and international peers. Using Speedtest Intelligence®,  we compared 5G in the U.K. against its peers’ 5G performance.France (190.17 Mbps) and Switzerland (188.27 Mbps) topped our list with the fastest median 5G download speeds  during the second half of 2021, followed by the U.K. (176.22 Mbps), Ireland (162.46 Mbps), Germany (155.87 Mbps), and Netherlands (142.55 Mbps). Interestingly, despite all of the French operators launching 5G service in December 2020, relatively late compared to other analyzed countries, they achieved top median download speeds due to substantial network investments. 

Switzerland, however, had the fastest median upload speed over 5G at 35.51 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, followed by the Netherlands (31.29 Mbps), Germany (25.80 Mbps), Ireland (21.20 Mbps), France (15.19 Mbps), and the U.K. (14.79 Mbps). 

The Netherlands had the highest 5G Availability among the U.K’s peers

The ranking shifts when it comes to 5G Availability — the percentage of users on 5G-capable devices that spend most of the time with access to 5G networks. The Netherlands had the highest 5G Availability at 45.3%, followed by Switzerland (32.2%), the U.K. (12.4%), Ireland (11.7%), and France (11.5%). 

The telecom regulator Ofcom in its Connected Nations report stated that the uptake of 5G-enabled handsets across the U.K. increased from 800,000 in 2020 to over six million in September 2021, accounting for around 10% of all devices. This is still far behind South Korea, which was the first country to commercialize 5G in 2019 and where the number of smartphone users on the 5G network reached roughly 20.2 million in November 2021, equivalent to 28% of mobile subscriptions.

According to Counterpoint Research, the U.K. is the leader in Western Europe in terms of 5G penetration of smartphone sales. In Q4 2021, 83% of smartphones sold in the U.K. were 5G enabled, compared to the regional average of 73%. In time, this will translate into a larger install base of 5G devices and share of overall subscriptions. 

Three UK was the fastest 5G operator in the U.K.

Three UK had the fastest median 5G download speed among top operators, achieving 258.80 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021, far ahead of Vodafone (170.39 Mbps), EE (166.87 Mbps), and O2 (139.61 Mbps). Median 5G upload speeds across all operators were very similar with Vodafone at 17.86 Mbps, EE at 15.89 Mbps, Three UK at 13.94 Mbps, and O2 at 11.47 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2021. Three UK benefited from having the largest, dedicated 5G spectrum — 140MHz frequency across several 5G spectrum bands, including 100 MH block of continuous spectrum in the 3.3-3.8 GHz band. Three UK’s 5G coverage extended to more than a third of the U.K. population across 370 towns and cities with 2,500 live sites. The operator launched fixed wireless access (FWA) 5G services in August 2019, followed by mobile 5G services in February 2020, which were built upon the 5G-ready, cloud-native core network provided by Nokia in July 2019. Three UK has invested over £2 billion to transform its network and IT infrastructure, as part of a five-year program. 

EE leads on 5G Availability 

EE had the highest 5G Availability at 19.3% during Q3-Q4 2021, ahead of Three UK (14.4%), Vodafone (9.8%), and O2 (7.8%). In a bid to extend its 4G LTE network coverage, EE has deployed small cells to boost capacity in high-demand areas. Soon, the operator will begin trials to extend the use of small cells to 5G networks by upgrading Nokia’s AirScale portfolio.

5G in the U.K. is rapidly expanding and we’ll be following the market closely

Mobile operators are actively expanding 5G networks and the 5G adoption in the U.K. is growing, stimulated by greater smartphone availability and operators’ innovative services. We’ll be watching 5G performance closely in the U.K. 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 is in the news as competing operators roll out deployments in a race to have the fastest service in the most places. At Ookla®, we’ve observed astonishing 5G speeds that live up to the hype. But 5G headlines can be confusing for consumers who are trying to sift through conflicting claims that are often based on limited (if not deeply flawed) data. 5G as a technology is also rapidly evolving, which makes sound data collection that addresses the nuances of these shifts even more important.

As the industry leader in internet testing, Ookla has over 15 years of experience measuring emerging technologies. We’re here to share some lessons learned about what goes into making an authoritative claim that consumers can rely on. We’ll also look closely at some recent examples from the United Kingdom where a multitude of methodological shortcomings from unseasoned data providers have led to unreliable network claims. While this article is focused on U.K. examples, the same methodology critiques apply to active 5G claims from the same data providers in other markets.

Poor data leads to spurious claims, examples from the U.K.

Operators are eager to use designations like “fastest,” “best coverage” and “most improved” because these messages resonate with customers. But without proper data and careful analysis backing them, these labels are meaningless and potentially misleading. Ookla has a team of data scientists dedicated to ensuring our claims about networks are accurate, representative and fair.

In recent months we’ve seen a series of conflicting claims being made in the U.K. market. These claims are not based on robust, proven data collection and processing practices. As a result, consumers are being misled about which operators are truly providing the best experience.

Poor 5G identification muddles what’s being measured

As 5G is an emerging technology, it needs to reach a certain level of both adoption and maturity before comparative performance claims can be made in new markets. The U.K. is one such hotbed of 5G activity where every operator is racing to be crowned the best. This well-intended desire of operators to show off new capabilities has led to dubious claims being made in the market. Namely, competing operators are making similar claims about their network capabilities, while differing data providers are publishing reports based upon very limited and flawed data. This can lead consumers to make decisions based on questionable reporting — or to purchase services that aren’t even available in their area.

Not all 5G-capable devices natively identify 5G when reporting the connection type to applications. That’s why Ookla has directly partnered with device manufacturers worldwide to implement accurate in-app 5G detection in Speedtest®. Data providers who do not couple robust in-app detection with strict filtering criteria are highly likely to mis-identify a wide range of 5G connections and ultimately show speeds that do not accurately reflect the network’s actual 5G service capability.

Failure to measure full throughput undervalues high-speed connections

Modern technologies like 5G are capable of achieving gigabit speeds and beyond. Unless a testing solution is capable of measuring the full throughput of a user’s connection, measured speeds will not reflect the network’s real-world performance. The Ookla Speedtest Methodology uses a distributed network of servers to fully maximize a connection in the foreground, on demand, that can accurately measure speeds up to 10 Gbps. Other data providers like Opensignal, nPerf and umlaut either test to remote CDNs, test in the background or — worse still — hide their tests in third-party apps that are completely unrelated to network diagnostics.

The Opensignal methodology allows for a blend of testing methods. However, their public reporting consistently makes no distinction between results derived from these differing methodologies and presents them as a simple national average. This mix of methodologies introduces the possibility that any reported differences in download speed among operators may be due to differences in testing and not due to differences in the actual services that they provide.

Opensignal’s test methodology also tends to seriously undervalue the full capability of networks. Because a significant amount of demand must be generated on the network before 5G carrier aggregation can even take effect, shorter-duration and background tests are incapable of ensuring that the network assigns a sufficient number of component carriers to the user equipment (UE) to trigger a 5G connection. Data providers that only pass along a small file do not fully saturate a network connection and often cannot place enough demand on the network to trigger a 5G connection, leaving devices — and speeds — stuck registering 4G.

For example, Opensignal recently reported that the average 5G download speed in the U.K. was 130.1 Mbps. Ookla’s data for that same time period, on the other hand, reported a dramatically higher mean download speed of 187.49 Mbps (95%CI [185.57, 189.42]). This range of 185.57-189.42 Mbps is a 95% confidence interval, which represents the range of values in which the true value is likely to be. Ookla’s large sample sizes combined with rigorous statistical testing ensure that all claims that we make stand on solid ground. To their credit, Opensignal also includes uncertainty in their reported speeds, but because it is unclear — though important — what their confidence intervals represent, we cannot compare them directly.

If networks wish to demonstrate that they truly are the fastest, they must employ methodologies that test using the full capacity of the connection, rather than a small file passed to a distant server. This is especially true when considering the high speeds achieved with 5G.

Inadequate sample sizes falsely represent reality

Data providers with small test volumes from a limited number of locations do not have the statistical power needed to draw sound conclusions about network performance.

As the industry’s most trusted source for consumer throughput testing, Speedtest users performed over 19.4 million tests daily during Q3 2020. We see real-time results on almost every mobile and fixed broadband network in the world — including just about every device make and model — which provides an unmatched view of how the internet is currently performing at a global scale.

For example, nPerf published a U.K. report which was based on less than 36,000 test samples taken over a 12-month period. For comparison, Ookla collects over 15,000 tests every day in the U.K. It took Ookla less than three days to collect the same amount of data that nPerf collected in a year. Generally speaking, lower sample counts tend to produce results with much less statistical certainty. This particular report from nPerf showed wildly different results than all others released in the market — unsurprisingly, given their limited sample size. This put Vodafone on the defensive as rivals ran TV ads to debunk nPerf’s claim, which was meant to bolster Vodafone’s network offerings.

Drive testing misses areas where users are most likely to connect

Driving pre-configured test equipment on pre-configured routes in static, lab-like conditions has been a staple of network reporting for a long time. While drive testing removes several potentially confounding variables, this data is not representative of real users’ experiences. Using drive testing as a proxy measurement of user experience always proved troublesome, given the optimized nature of the pre-selected routes and equipment involved. When you take into consideration that 5G is an emerging technology — with limited network coverage and limited device penetration — using drive testing as a tool to back claims about how a customer may experience a 5G network is disingenuous, at best.

5G speeds are only important to measure where customers actually have access to that service. Both umlaut and Rootmetrics have reported on 5G performance in London based on drive testing results. Only the Rootmetrics report included an availability metric, which showed that while Vodafone was slightly faster in London, their 5G signal was only available on 5% of the route driven — compared to 28% for EE. Narrow measurements taken from a small number of devices, in cars, in a test environment, on a small number of routes over a small time period do not provide a sufficient sample to underpin the claim of “fastest 5G” in one of the world’s foremost cities.

Each time a user takes a Speedtest, a snapshot of the internet is captured for that specific time, place, device and network. Because these tests are initiated by consumers when and where they need performance data, Speedtest gives users accurate information about internet speeds at the times and locations that are important to them. When aggregated, these measurements describe the network’s real-world, round-the-clock performance and its ability to meet the needs of its users. Our volume of data allows us to accurately describe and compare performance, including how much time consumers spend connected to 5G. For example, we can look at results across all devices to quantify the performance that the average user is experiencing or narrow our focus to 5G-capable devices, which allows us to fully assess the high-end capabilities offered in modern deployments.

Poor data science causes untrustworthy results

Other telecommunications data providers each have their own indices that they use when awarding “winners.” Unfortunately, most of these are based upon unclear and, at times, unsound ranking systems. From nPoints to Rootscores, compound scores hide an operator’s actual performance from consumers who simply want to know what performance they can expect. Arbitrary data periods seem altered to suit the highest bidder among network operators, device definitions are unclear, and data samples are minuscule. This produces the desirable commercial outcome for the data providers, but it does not give consumers transparent information about which operator will actually serve them best.

Basing claims on flawed data confuses consumers. Worse still, conflicting or misleading claims can substantially degrade a customer’s perception and trust in their network operator. Basing regulatory policy on this flawed data can lead to devastating consequences, such as poorly allocating government funding and deepening the digital divide for underserved populations, particularly in a world where we are all relying on connectivity more than ever before.

Good data makes for justifiable claims

As we found in our recent U.K. market analysis, the 3 network has by far the fastest median download speed over 5G in the U.K. This analysis is based on over 60,000 Speedtest results taken over 5G by more than 16,000 devices in the U.K. during Q3 2020. In all, there were over 500,000 samples of Speedtest results in the U.K during Q3 2020. EE shows the highest Time Spent on 5G by 5G-capable devices at 10.9%, with 3 coming in at a distant second and Vodafone third.

Squandering marketing budgets to promote claims based on unsound data or unsound methodologies helps no one — not the customer, the operator or even the company providing the unsound claim. When Ookla stands behind a claim of “fastest” or “best” network in a country, we do so only when a strict set of conditions has been met. Being a trusted source of consumer information was our first function and it remains the driver behind our mission.

The United Kingdom has seen considerable advances in 5G during the past year, but access to this emerging technology continues to be uneven across countries of the U.K. Looking at Q3 2020, data from Speedtest Intelligence® and Ookla Cell Analytics™ reveals how 5G affected overall mobile speeds, which country had the fastest 5G and where access was lacking. We also shed light on which operator had the fastest 5G in the U.K. as a whole and in London, specifically.

5G is 518% faster than 4G in the U.K.

5G speeds in the U.K. far exceeded those on 4G during Q3 2020 with the mean download speed over 5G coming in 517.8% faster than median download speed over 4G. The U.K’s mean upload speed over 5G was 121.5% faster than that over 4G.

Mean Mobile Speeds in the United Kingdom

Speedtest Intelligence^® | Q3 2020

Scotland had the fastest 5G download speed

Scotland brought up the national average for 5G speeds in the U.K. during Q3 2020 with a 6.1% faster mean download speed than we saw in the U.K. as a whole. England was the second fastest country in the U.K. for mean download speed over 5G and Wales was third. While 5G download speeds were promising in Northern Ireland, the volume of data did not meet our rigorous sampling guidelines. We’ll be interested to see how speeds there develop as more users access the networks.

Mean Mobile Speeds in the United Kingdom

Speedtest Intelligence^® | Q3 2020

Three was the fastest operator for 5G in the U.K.

As we’ve previously reported, 3 was the fastest mobile operator over 5G in the U.K during Q3 2020 with a median download speed of 201.12 Mbps. EE had the highest percentage of 5G Time Spent (when subscribers’ 5G-capable devices are connected to 5G).

How operators in the U.K. are using spectrum for 4G

The distribution of low, mid and high spectrum bands is evenly spread across all mobile operators in the U.K. All four operators hold licenses in the 800 MHz frequency band, while Vodafone and O2 hold additional 900 MHz licenses — some of which are still used to support the legacy 2G and 3G services. Three and Vodafone hold 20 MHz each of the 1500 MHz supplemental downlink band 32, and all four operators hold 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz licenses. It’s worth noting that EE holds a massive 40 MHz contiguous slice in the 1800 MHz band and 20 MHz in the 2100 MHz band.

O2 holds an additional 40 MHz contiguous spectrum block in the 2300 MHz (TDD) band. In the 2600 MHz capacity band, O2 holds a single 20 MHz block, Vodafone holds two 20 MHz blocks, while EE operates on a whopping 50 MHz slice of spectrum.

Given the spectrum distribution in the mid- and high-capacity bands, and the increased proliferation of devices with modern chipsets capable of aggregating multiple LTE component carriers, it’s fairly easy to see why EE has been able to consistently deliver the fastest LTE speeds in recent years.

5G-specific spectrum allocation in the U.K.

When it comes to 5G, all operators have deployed 5G non-standalone networks in the 3.5GHz to 3.6GHz band (n78). EE and O2 operate their 5G networks using 40 MHz slices, Vodafone holds a 50 MHz license, while 3 was able to secure a 100 MHz license during the 5G auction — the largest possible channel width defined for FR1 networks. Given the massive advantage over its 5G competitors, 3 is able to consistently deliver the fastest 5G speeds.

The upcoming Ofcom spectrum auction in early 2021 should offer additional capacity in the 3.6-3.8 GHz range as well as the 700 MHz band, which should enable much wider 5G coverage across the U.K. Devices capable of aggregating low and mid 5G spectrum bands are also expected in the first half of 2021, which should allow operators to efficiently roll out standalone 5G and deliver broader 5G coverage with even faster speeds and ultra low latency.

England has the majority of 5G deployments in the U.K.

The Ookla 5G Map^TM showed 5G deployments in 199 cities or towns in the U.K. as of November 4, 2020. 5G was commercially available in 176 English cities, and there were 14 5G cities or towns in Scotland, five in Wales and four in Northern Ireland.

This compares with 29 5G cities in the whole U.K. at this time last year: 22 in England, three each for Scotland and Wales and one in Northern Ireland.

5G coverage varies by operator

Not all operators are deploying 5G cell sites in the same areas. Data from Cell Analytics measures where customers of each operator are accessing 5G and how strong that 5G signal is in each area. The following maps show 5G signal strength greater than -110 dBm for each operator.

Three and EE show larger areas of measured coverage in most parts of the U.K., especially in and around Belfast, Birmingham and London. Vodafone shows a larger area of coverage around Glasgow and Newcastle upon Tyne. O2 shows a much smaller coverage area with clusters in and around Belfast, Leeds and London.

London’s 5G download speed was slower than the national average

London saw a mean download speed over 5G of 167.06 Mbps in Q3 2020, 10.6% slower than that in the U.K. as a whole. London’s median 5G upload speed of 22.92 Mbps was 7.2% faster than that in the U.K as a whole.

Mean 5G Performance in London

Speedtest Intelligence^® | Q3 2020

We’d like to be able to report which country’s capital city had the fastest 5G, but this technology is still emerging and there were not enough samples to responsibly determine a winner outside of London. We will be watching these markets carefully and will report back when there is additional information.

Three was the fastest operator in London

Three showed the fastest mean download speed over 5G among mobile operators in London during Q3 2020. O2 was second, an important distinction as many other data providers do not have sufficient samples to include O2 in their analyses. Vodafone was third and EE fourth.

5G Performance by Operator in London

Speedtest Intelligence^® | Q3 2020

We also analyzed the fastest 10% of Speedtest results over 5G for each operator to evaluate what speeds each network is capable of reaching at this time. Three had the fastest download speed in this category by far and EE led for upload speed.

England showed the highest time spent on 5G

We calculated the proportion of time that users with 5G-capable devices spent on 5G in the United Kingdom and found that England had the highest 5G Time Spent during Q3 2020 at 5.6%. This was higher than the average 5G Time Spent for the U.K. of 5.3%. Scotland had the second highest 5G Time Spent in the U.K. at 3.0% and Wales was third. As above, we have not included data for Northern Ireland because samples were too few. 5G Time Spent includes time spent on both 5G and 5G roaming.

While the rapid spread of 5G across the U.K. is exciting and speeds are promising, the benefits of 5G are spread unevenly across the nation — and time spent on 5G is still very low. We’ll be excited to see this technology expand and to analyze how 5G improves mobile performance across the U.K.