Earlier this year, MedUX released its 2024 benchmark report on 5G performance across 10 European capitals. The research revealed that Berlin not only leads the way in data and OTT experience but also provides the overall finest quality of experience (QoE) in Europe with a score of 4.69 out of 5.
The research consisted of drive tests conducted during Q2 and Q3 2023 across 10 major cities across Europe, covering a population of over 25 million people.
The drive test cars covered more than 4,000 kilometres to understand how mobile operators cover European capitals with 5G services.
González says the aim of the report was to provide insights into the industry to enable pan-European comparisons at city level, particularly from the end-user perspective.
“I think the results are very useful for any industry stakeholder, from private parties, operators or government regulators,” González says.
“It helps with the understanding from an end-user perspective and what improvements need to be made from a network perspective.”
With MedUX’s technology, González says anything that is relevant to the wider decision-making regarding network experience can be evaluated. That goes for both operators and regulators.
“Our latest research showcases how much disparity exists amongst 5G networks. It enables telecommunications operators, regulatory authorities and service providers to understand – from a consumer perspective – the true performance of 5G network,” he said.
Across Europe, Porto has the best 5G coverage, with over 90% technology registration, followed by Berlin with an 89.62% registration rate.
In terms of speeds, Lisbon secured first place both in 5G download and upload speeds. The typical (median) download speed in Lisbon was above 537 Mbps, and the typical upload speed was above 53 Mbps. Porto ranks as the second city in terms of download and upload speeds but is slower than Lisbon by 15% and 33%, respectively.
The European report came out a few weeks after the London report and signals that London is behind the rest of Europe, ranking tenth in the report’s overall mobile experience ranking.
The many flavours of 5G
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) earlier this year, a key theme surrounding the event was the progress of 5G and how the industry is transitioning into 5G-advanced (or 5.5G) technology.
According to González, before talking about 5G-advanced, we first need to understand what 5G brings to the table.
“There are so many flavours when it comes to 5G,” he says.
González says we are only halfway through deploying mid-band 5G, which is widely considered perfect for 5G because it can carry plenty of data while travelling significant distances.
“Once we agree that mid-band is important and that measuring from the end-user perspective is key to making human-centric decisions, then we can start evaluating new use cases for 5G bands and complementary deployments,” he says.
The monetisation of 5G deployments is also key, González believes. Once new use cases are brought to the table, it seems as though users will be willing to pay for 5G services, as evidenced in countries such as South Korea and China, which he says are a “little more advanced” in terms of deployment and quality of deployment.
González says he has learnt at DWP that it's always about “more capacity, faster networks and a more interconnected future”.
Because of this, he believes that we will gradually begin to see more viable use cases for 5G that will enhance the 5G experience for users.
