Britain's 5G experience 'among the worst in Europe' says MedUX

Official figures for network performance don't play out in user's reality, says monitoring biz

The UK's 5G networks are among the worst in Europe when it comes to measurements such as download speed, upload speed, latency, and packet loss, according to a report published today.

Network testing and monitoring firm MedUX looked at data from millions of smartphone users across Europe for its latest 5G Quality of Experience (QoE) Research Study. The findings underscore that official figures for network performance often don't reflect the true user experience, it says.

UK users are more likely to experience a stall in streaming content than in almost any other European country

While 5G is now widely deployed across the continent, the quality of the service on offer varies widely. There is often a wide performance gap between 4G, basic 5G and more advanced 5G deployments, according to the report.

Only a few countries have seen 5G emerge as a predominant access technology, with the Netherlands, along with Switzerland and Denmark, frequently appearing at the top of the rankings for user experience.

When it comes to the UK, the nation struggles with below average 5G availability of 34 percent, meaning that subscribers can actually get a 5G connection only about a third of the time. We suspect many Reg readers will be nodding in agreement at this point.

MedUX says the British 5G experience is among the worst for download speed, upload speed, latency, and packet loss. Additionally, UK users are more likely to experience a stall in streaming content than in almost any other European country. In gaming, UK players suffer one of the worst experiences, with the highest average jitter (33.48 ms) in all of Europe.

This latest research follows earlier findings from the company that London comes close to the bottom of the table for quality of service in a survey of 15 major European cities.

However, the latest report makes it clear there are variations across Europe, with regions inside the same country delivering vastly different user experiences. This "two-speed Europe" means that some countries rank high overall, but still include areas with download speeds that are below 20 to 30 Mbps, especially in rural or peripheral areas.

Part of the problem is that many of the 5G deployments across Europe remain "basic 5G" rather than 5G Standalone (5G SA), meaning networks are still reliant on infrastructure built for 4G networks to deliver the service.

This partly chimes with what a professor in wireless network technology told The Register earlier this year.

Medux also points to availability of C-Band spectrum as an issue, covering frequencies between 3.7 and 4.2 GHz, regarded as the sweet spot for 5G, as it offers the best transmission characteristics for speed and range. Many networks operating on lower frequency bands will only be able to offer lower speeds.

The company says in many parts of Europe, there has been insufficient progress towards reaching the EU's Digital Decade 2030 targets, and there is a need to speed up investment and deployment pace in higher quality 5G networks.

Differences in quality of experience across Europe revealed by its surveys should serve as a wake-up call to ensure citizens and businesses benefit from the full capabilities offered by 5G everywhere, the report states.

"We are committed to helping countries like the UK enhance their 5G experience for consumers by providing crucial insights to transform basic connectivity into an impactful tool for long-term societal development," commented MedUX CEO Luis Molina. ®