Wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal has released new data gauging the 5G user experience across mobile operators in several different countries. It is important to remember that the market for the new technology is still immature with the first network launched in 2019. Nevertheless, OpenSignal did find that users enjoyed an active 5G connection in four countries for more than one fifth of the time and it was able to come up with a striking comparison between 4G and 5G download speeds. The new network is blisteringly fast, clocking up download speeds substantially pacier than its predecessor in all countries analyzed.
The data collection period for the comparison was between May 16 and August 14 with Saudi Arabia enjoying the fastest average 5G download speeds of any country. The kingdom had a lightning fast average download speed of 414.2 Mbps, more than 14 times quicker than download speeds on its 4G network. South Korea is well-known for having some of the fastest broadband speeds on the planet, along with mobile network speeds that have remained the envy of many other countries. Its 5G rollout is certainly keeping with its excellent global reputation and the analysis found its average download speeds are 312.7 Mbps, five times faster than its existing 4G network.
Even though the U.S. lags behind the rest of the pack in terms of average download speeds over 5G, it is still ranked higher when it comes to levels of network availability. OpenSignal states that the U.S. ranks better on availability than download speed because "the low-band spectrum is ideally suited to enable great 5G reach and allow users to spend more time connected than in countries with higher frequency 5G spectrum. In the U.S the low-band 5G services of T-Mobile and AT&T have helped drive a high 5G Availability result". It added that "T-Mobile U.S.’s very recent launch of standalone access 5G — where a phone no longer needs to connect to 4G in order for 5G to work — should help 5G services in future".
The analysis also makes the point that smaller countries or regions like Kuwait or Hong Kong tend to have a considerable advantage over larger geographies such as Australia or the U.S. in offering high levels of 5G availability. Both of the latter nations have powered ahead of Switzerland and the United Kingdom which is an impressive achievement by their network operators.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
Average 4G and 5G download speeds in selected countries in Mbps.
