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.
Muslims across the world recently observed the month of Ramadan. During this sacred time, observing Muslims abstain from eating and drinking sunrise to sunset, acts of charity are encouraged, and work hours are often shortened. People often gather with friends and family during the evening meal, iftar, and new entertainment programming is often released for people to enjoy together. We were curious how this observance affected internet usage, so we analyzed Speedtest Intelligence® data from a variety of Muslim-majority countries around the world. We looked specifically at test volume during local fast times and iftar (when the fast is broken) and how those numbers compared to test volume during the month prior.
Only some countries showed fewer tests during fast times
We analyzed Speedtest Intelligence data from Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Turkey during Ramadan to see how the distribution of Speedtest results between fast and iftar times varied by country. It should be noted that while all of the countries we surveyed have a majority Muslim population, the percentage of the population that is Muslim (and therefore likely to observe Ramadan) varies from Somalia (99.8%) to Malaysia (61.3%).
Internet usage patterns changed during Ramadan
Speedtest Intelligence showed that testing behavior changed during Ramadan when compared with the month prior. There was a decrease in the percentage of tests completed in the daytime between Ramadan and the month prior in all of the countries we surveyed. Somalia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia showed the highest change in trends of daytime Speedtest results when comparing the fasting part of the day during Ramadan to daytime during the month prior. Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan showed the smallest difference between the two periods.
There was also an increase in the percentage of Speedtest results from iftar when comparing Ramadan to the month prior. Somalia and Algeria saw the largest increase when compared with the month prior. Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Pakistan saw the smallest increases. This corresponds with the idea that people shift their online activity to iftar during Ramadan, connecting with friends and family, donating to charity, and enjoying the variety of new shows that networks release to coincide with the holiday.
This is a good reminder that every country has special events that their network operators need to prepare in advance for as we saw recently with Expo 2020 Dubai. If you’re interested in coverage of major network events from around the world, subscribe to Ookla® InsightsTM.
Les Musulmans du monde entier ont récemment observé le mois du Ramadan. Pendant ce temps sacré, les Musulmans pratiquants ne mangent pas et ne boivent pas de l’aube au coucher du soleil, les actes de charité sont encouragés et les heures de travail sont souvent réduites. Les gens se retrouvent fréquemment entre amis et en famille pour le repas du soir, l’iftar, et de nouveaux programmes de divertissement sont souvent diffusés pour que les gens puissent en profiter ensemble. Nous étions curieux de savoir comment cette observance affectait l’utilisation d’Internet. Nous avons donc analysé les données de Speedtest Intelligence® provenant de divers pays à majorité musulmane dans le monde. Nous avons particulièrement examiné le volume des tests pendant les heures de jeûne locales et l’iftar (lorsque le jeûne est rompu), puis nous avons comparé ces chiffres au volume des tests du mois précédent.
Seuls quelques pays témoignent d’une réduction de tests pendant les périodes de jeûne
Nous avons analysé les données de Speedtest Intelligence provenant d’Algérie, du Bangladesh, d’Égypte, d’Indonésie, de Malaisie, du Maroc, du Pakistan, d’Arabie Saoudite, de Somalie, du Soudan, de Tunisie et de Turquie pendant le Ramadan pour voir comment la répartition des résultats de Speedtest entre les heures de jeûne et l’iftar variait selon les pays. Il convient de noter que si tous les pays étudiés ont une population majoritairement Musulmane, le pourcentage de la population Musulmane (et donc susceptible d’observer le ramadan) varie de la Somalie (99,8 %) à la Malaisie (61,3 %).
La Turquie, le Bangladesh, la Malaisie, l’Indonésie et le Pakistan ont montré un pourcentage plus élevé de résultats Speedtest pendant le jeûne que pendant l’iftar tout au long du Ramadan 2022. Les pourcentages de tests pendant le jeûne et l’iftar étaient presque équivalents au Maroc, en Égypte, en Algérie, en Tunisie et en Somalie. L’Arabie Saoudite et le Soudan avaient plus de résultats Speedtest pendant l’iftar que pendant le jeûne.
Les habitudes d’utilisation d’internet ont changé pendant le Ramadan
Speedtest Intelligence a montré que le comportement de test a changé pendant le Ramadan par rapport au mois précédent. Il y a eu une diminution du pourcentage de tests effectués dans la journée entre le Ramadan et le mois précédent dans tous les pays que nous avons étudiés. La Somalie, l’Algérie, l’Arabie Saoudite et la Tunisie ont enregistré la plus forte baisse du pourcentage de résultats de Speedtest effectués dans la journée lors de la comparaison entre la journée de jeûne au cours du Ramadan à la journée du mois précédent. La Malaisie, le Bangladesh, la Turquie, l’Indonésie et le Pakistan ont montré la plus petite différence entre les deux périodes.
Une augmentation du pourcentage de résultats Speedtest a été observée lors de l’iftar en comparant le Ramadan au mois précédent. La Somalie et l’Algérie ont connu la plus forte augmentation par rapport au mois précédent. La Malaisie, le Bangladesh, la Turquie et le Pakistan ont connu les plus faibles augmentations. Ces résultats correspondent à l’idée que les gens reportent leur activité en ligne à l’iftar pendant le Ramadan, pour passer du temps avec leurs amis et leur famille, faire des dons à des œuvres de charité et profiter de la variété des nouveaux programmes que les réseaux diffusent pour coïncider avec la période des fêtes.
Cette étude est un bon rappel que chaque pays a des événements spéciaux auxquels ses opérateurs de réseau doivent se préparer à l’avance, comme nous l’avons vu récemment avec l’Expo 2020 Dubaï. Si vous êtes intéressé par la couverture des grands événements réseau du monde entier, abonnez-vous à Ookla® Insights™.
Umat Islam di seluruh dunia baru-baru ini merayakan bulan Ramadan. Selama bulan suci ini, umat Islam menjalani ibadah puasa sejak matahari terbit hingga terbenam, banyak beramal, dan sering kali mengurangi jam kerja. Orang-orang berkumpul dengan teman dan keluarga saat makam malam, berbuka puasa, dan program hiburan baru seringkali dirilis untuk dinikmati bersama. Kami penasaran bagaimana kepatuhan ini memengaruhi penggunaan internet, jadi kami pun menganalisis data Speedtest Intelligence® dari berbagai negara mayoritas Muslim di seluruh dunia. Kami secara khusus mencermati volume tes pada waktu puasa dan berbuka (saat puasa dihentikan) setempat dan bagaimana perbandingan angka-angka tersebut dengan volume tes di bulan sebelumnya.
Hanya beberapa negara yang menunjukkan tes yang lebih sedikit di waktu puasa
Kami menganalisis data Speedtest Intelligence dari Aljazair, Bangladesh, Mesir, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maroko, Pakistan, Arab Saudi, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, dan Turki selama Ramadan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana distribusi hasil Speedtest antara waktu puasa dan waktu berbuka puasa bervariasi antarnegara. Perlu dicatat bahwa meskipun semua negara yang kami survei berpenduduk mayoritas Muslim, persentase penduduk yang beragama Islam (dan, karena itu, mungkin merayakan Ramadan) itu bervariasi, dari Somalia (99,8%) hingga Malaysia (61,3%).
Data dari Turki, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, dan Pakistan menunjukkan persentase hasil Speedtest yang lebih tinggi selama waktu puasa dibandingkan waktu berbuka selama Ramadan 2022. Adapun menurut data dari Maroko, Mesir, Aljazair, Tunisia dan Somalia, persentase tes waktu puasa dan berbukanya kurang lebih sama. Sementara Arab Saudi dan Sudan hasil Speedtest-nya selama waktu berbuka lebih banyak daripada waktu puasa.
Pola penggunaan internet berubah selama Ramadan
Speedtest Intelligence menunjukkan bahwa perilaku pengujian berubah selama Ramadan jika dibandingkan dengan bulan sebelumnya. Terjadi penurunan persentase tes yang dilaksanakan pada siang hari antara bulan Ramadan dan bulan sebelumnya di semua negara yang kami survei. Somalia, Aljazair, Arab Saudi, dan Tunisia menunjukkan penurunan persentase hasil Speedtest terbesar di siang hari bulan Ramadan dibandingkan siang hari di bulan sebelumnya. Data dari Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turki, Indonesia, dan Pakistan menunjukkan selisih terkecil di antara kedua periode tersebut.
Juga terjadi peningkatan persentase hasil Speedtest mulai waktu berbuka puasa di bulan Ramadan dengan bulan sebelumnya. Somalia dan Aljazair mengalami peningkatan terbesar jika dibandingkan dengan bulan sebelumnya. Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turki, dan Pakistan mengalami peningkatan terkecil. Ini selaras dengan asumsi bahwa orang-orang mengalihkan aktivitas online mereka ke waktu berbuka selama Ramadan, berbaur dengan teman dan keluarga, bederma, dan menikmati berbagai acara baru yang dirilis oleh jaringan bertepatan dengan hari raya.
Orang islam di seluruh dunia baru-baru ini telah menyambut bulan Ramadan. Semasa bulan suci ini, mereka menahan diri dari makan dan minum bermula dari waktu matahari terbit hingga matahari terbenam, aktiviti kebajikan digalakkan, dan waktu bekerja kebiasaannya dipendekkan. Orang ramai biasanya akan berkumpul bersama-sama rakan dan keluarga semasa waktu berbuka puasa, iftar, dan rancangan hiburan baru sering disiarkan untuk ditonton dan dinikmati bersama-sama.
Kami ingin tahu bagaimana sambutan bulan Ramadan ini memberi kesan terhadap penggunaan internet, jadi kami telah menganalisis data Speedtest Intelligence® dari pelbagai negara dengan majoriti Muslim di seluruh dunia. Kami melihat secara khusus jumlah ujian semasa waktu berpuasa dan iftar (waktu berbuka puasa) tempatan dan membandingkan nilai tersebut dengan jumlah ujian semasa bulan sebelumnya.
Hanya beberapa negara yang menunjukkan bilangan ujian lebih rendah semasa waktu berpuasa
Kami telah menganalisis data Speedtest Intelligence dari Algeria, Bangladesh, Mesir, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maghribi, Pakistan, Arab Saudi, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, dan Turki semasa bulan Ramadan untuk melihat pengagihan keputusan Speedtest di antara waktu berpuasa dan iftar yang berbeza mengikut negara. Perlu dinyatakan bahawa, walaupun semua negara yang diselidik mempunyai penduduk majoriti Muslim, peratusan penduduk yang beragama Islam (dan oleh itu lebih berkemungkinan menyambut Ramadan) berbeza-beza dari Somalia (99.8%) ke Malaysia (61.3%).
Turki, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, dan Pakistan menunjukkan peratusan keputusan Speedtest yang lebih tinggi semasa waktu berpuasa berbanding waktu berbuka semasa bulan Ramadan 2022. Peratusan ujian waktu berpuasa dan iftar adalah agak sama dengan Morocco, Mesir, Algeria, Tunisia dan Somalia. Saudi Arabia dan Sudan mempunyai keputusan Speedtest yang lebih tinggi semasa waktu berbuka berbanding waktu berpuasa.
Corak penggunaan Internet berubah semasa bulan Ramadan
Speedtest Intelligence menunjukkan bahawa tingkah laku ujian berubah semasa bulan Ramadan apabila dibandingkan dengan bulan sebelumnya. Terdapat penurunan dalam peratusan ujian yang dilengkapkan semasa waktu siang antara bulan Ramadan dan bulan sebelumnya dalam semua negara yang dikaji selidik. Somalia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, dan Tunisia menunjukkan penurunan terbesar dalam peratusan keputusan waktu siang Speedtest apabila dibandingkan dengan waktu berpuasa semasa bulan Ramadan dengan waktu siang bulan sebelumnya. Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turki, Indonesia, dan Pakistan menunjukkan perbezaan terkecil di antara dua tempoh ini.
Terdapat juga peningkatan dalam peratusan keputusan Speedtest dari waktu iftar apabila membandingkan bulan Ramadan kepada bulan sebelumnya. Somalia dan Algeria mempunyai peningkatan terbesar apabila dibandingkan dengan bulan sebelumnya. Malaysia, Bangladesh, Turki, dan Pakistan mempunyai peningkatan terkecil. Ini selari dengan pendapat bahawa ramai yang menukar aktiviti dalam talian mereka kepada iftar semasa bulan Ramadan, berhubung dengan rakan dan keluarga, menderma kepada badan kebajikan, dan menikmati pelbagai rancangan baru yang disiarkan oleh rangkaian yang bersesuaian dengan sambutan ini.
Ini adalah satu peringatan yang baik bahawa setiap negara mempunyai peristiwa istimewa yang pengendali rangkaian perlu sediakan lebih awal seperti yang kita lihat baru-baru ini di Expo 2020 Dubai. Jika anda berminat dengan liputan acara rangkaian besar dari seluruh dunia, langganlah Ookla® 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.
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.
This week the Wholesale Agreements and Solutions Group (WAS) will be meeting in Rovinj, Croatia as part of a GSMA working group to discuss the big deals that will affect worldwide roaming speeds over the next year. That made us curious — what kinds of roaming speeds might these telecom execs experience while they’re deciding our roaming fate?
We looked into Speedtest Intelligence® data from over 2.7 million consumer-initiated tests in Southeast Europe during Q1-Q2 2018 on devices using LTE networks to see how median speeds and latency were affected as mobile users roamed around the region. Roaming speeds include Android results only.
Though we expected to see a general decline in speeds and increase in latency (the time it takes for data to travel from your phone to the nearest server and back) while roaming, we were surprised by how much a person’s home country affected their mobile roaming experience.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro are excluded from this analysis due to insufficient sample size during the examined time period. Data for Serbia includes the disputed region of Kosovo.
There’s no correlation between local download speed and decrease in roaming speed
Median Local vs. Roaming Download Speeds Southeast Europe Q1-Q2 2018 | 4G LTE
Country
Local Download (Mbps)
Roaming Download (Mbps)
% Difference
Bulgaria
37.97
18.21
-52.0%
Croatia
34.50
31.67
-8.2%
Greece
33.61
27.87
-17.1%
Romania
28.47
20.89
-26.6%
Serbia
34.19
30.32
-11.3%
Slovenia
26.26
28.26
7.6%
Turkey
29.93
21.75
-27.3%
Slovenians are the only Southeast Europeans who see better mobile speeds while traveling than they do at home. Considering Slovenia’s local mobile download speed is the lowest on this list, we can presume that residents are encountering better infrastructure abroad and seeing better speeds as a result.
That does not that mean that countries with the fastest local download speeds see the largest declines in speed when roaming. For example, Bulgaria shows the fastest median mobile download speed in Southeast Europe and sees the largest declines in download speed when roaming. But Croatia, which has the second fastest mobile download speed in Southeast Europe, shows the second smallest decline in download speed when roaming.
On the other hand, Romania, which ranks sixth on our list for median local download speed shows the third largest decline when roaming. While Turkey, which ranks fifth in the region for local download speed, shows the second largest decline when roaming.
In fact, roaming speed is affected by in-country infrastructure and also by how operators prioritize out of country traffic. These decisions are made between each individual operator in each individual country, often at meetings like those in Rovinj this week where operators negotiate who has access to what networks and how much that access should cost them. This is why some operators offer extensive roaming packages and why those often come at a cost.
Roaming dramatically increases latency
Latency is measured in milliseconds, and a mobile user usually won’t notice a lag between taking an action on their phone and seeing an expected result when latency is low. Even in Croatia, the country with the highest local latency on our list, latency is very close to what the rest of the countries experience.
Median Local vs. Roaming Latency Southeast Europe Q1-Q2 2018 | 4G LTE
Country
Local Latency (ms)
Roaming Latency (ms)
% Difference
Bulgaria
23
135
487.0%
Croatia
26
84
223.1%
Greece
23
144
526.1%
Romania
24
118
391.7%
Serbia
19
31
63.2%
Slovenia
19
67
252.6%
Turkey
24
130
441.7%
However, latency can skyrocket when roaming as some operators route a user’s traffic back through their home country, which leads to a much different user experience. This is definitely what we found in our analysis of Southeast Europe. As we saw with download speed, the percentage change between local and roaming latency was not correlated to local latency.
For example, Slovenia and Serbia show the same median local latencies (19 ms), but Slovenia shows a large increase in latency while Serbia’s increase is the smallest on our list.
This is because latency, like roaming speed, is a lot more complex than simply what infrastructure consumers are on. There’s also the matter of network agreements… the very deals that telecom execs are hammering out right now in Rovinj.
Are you at WAS? Stop by booth 23. We’d love to share a sneak peek of our roaming data with you. We have the insights and data for use in decisioning, sales, negotiation and quality steering related to wholesale and roaming solutions.
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.
