Netherlands tops MedUX ranking for European 5G quality

MedUX has ranked the Netherlands as Europe's top market for mobile network quality in its latest benchmarking, ahead of Denmark and Norway in a table covering more than 33 countries.

Its 2026 mobile benchmark report assessed real-user experience across Europe as 5G use increases. The Netherlands scored 4.51 out of 5 for overall Quality of Experience, followed by Denmark (4.43), Norway (4.39) and Switzerland (4.34).

The study is based on crowdsourced measurements collected in Q4 2025. MedUX analysed more than 180 million performance tests and 39 billion radio samples from mobile users. The countries covered represent a population of more than 656 million.

Netherlands on top

The Netherlands led several categories in the benchmarking, winning Best Overall Experience, Best Reliability, Best Data & OTT Experience, and Best Value for Speed.

It recorded a reliability score of 91.1% and 91.3% for data and OTT. MedUX said the results point to consistent performance across use cases, from everyday browsing to data-heavy applications.

The report also highlights "value for speed", a metric that combines speed with a balance between download and upload. The Netherlands led Europe on that measure, with performance suited to cloud services, file transfers and real-time communications.

Nordic strength

Denmark and Norway rounded out the top three, with different strengths across categories. Denmark scored strongly on data and OTT services and led the rankings for social media performance.

Denmark recorded 89% for data and OTT experience and 88.9% for value for speed. MedUX measures data and OTT as a user-experience metric across common app and content usage patterns.

Norway's strongest result was in video. It won MedUX's Streaming Award with a score of 88.1%, supported by the highest 4K playback rates and minimal buffering in the dataset.

Switzerland ranked fourth overall and led responsiveness and latency-related measures. It tied with Luxembourg for Network Responsiveness and also shared the top spot for Gaming.

5G adoption gap

The report describes 5G maturity as uneven across Europe. In the highest-ranked markets, 5G has become the "default experience", with around 87% 5G usage in the Netherlands and Denmark.

It also points to high shares of 5G usage in parts of Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, where "large 5G-led areas" recorded more than 80% usage. Other markets showed a more mixed picture, with differences between regions and slower take-up in parts of Southern and Eastern Europe.

Even in countries with strong 5G use, the report still treats 4G as an important fallback layer. Across the continent, MedUX said 5G now carries most of the mobile load, except in lagging markets.

The crowdsourcing approach is intended to reflect what consumers experience in normal network use. MedUX said its methodology covers network reliability, streaming quality, gaming performance, social media loading times, web browsing speed and overall data throughput.

MedUX CMO Jaime González described the results as a sign of progress in the region.

"This report showcases European excellence in mobile connectivity," González said. "The Netherlands leads the way with truly exceptional performance, joined by Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland in demonstrating what world-class 5G can deliver. What's exciting is that these countries prove the pathway exists - high-quality mobile experiences are not only possible but are being delivered across multiple European markets today. Their success provides valuable insights and a clear framework that other countries can learn from and build upon. As Europe advances its Digital Decade objectives, focusing on quality alongside coverage will unlock the full potential of 5G. We're optimistic about Europe's trajectory, and this benchmark shows that the expertise, infrastructure, and commitment to deliver outstanding connectivity exists across the continent."

New observatory

MedUX has also introduced a Connectivity Observatory, described as a system that continuously benchmarks real-user internet experience across countries and tracks changes over time.

The observatory is intended to produce comparable country indicators from large-scale Quality of Experience measurements and show where connectivity is improving or falling behind.

MedUX is headquartered in Madrid and operates in more than 25 countries. It monitors more than 80 operators worldwide, according to the company.