Porto & Stockholm lead 5G quality across Europe - MedUX

A recent report by MedUX has unveiled the comparative performance of 5G services across 15 major European cities, emphasising varied results in Quality of Experience (QoE) with some cities excelling, while others show notable deficiencies.

The study, which is based on data from drive tests conducted during the fourth quarter of 2024, indicates that Porto and Stockholm are leading in terms of overall QoE, both scoring 4.78 out of 5. These findings reflect the effective deployment and quality of 5G services in these cities, which have benefitted from robust network infrastructure.

Porto emerges as a prominent city in terms of 5G performance, particularly excelling in data and over-the-top (OTT) experience. The city records the lowest gaming average jitter at just 10 ms and provides exceptionally fast cloud service performance. Porto also stands out for its speed, achieving peak speeds above 800 Mbps in the fastest 10% of sessions and maintains a high 5G availability rate with an 86.54% registration and 100% connectivity time in the 5G Mid-Band n78 spectrum.

Stockholm shares the top ranking with Porto, demonstrating notable efficacy in video streaming services with a 95% rate for 4K playback. It also leads in 5G upload speed with typical speeds exceeding 116 Mbps. Stockholm's performance in web browsing and file transferring complement its high rankings, as does its co-leading position with Porto in data and OTT experiences.

Lisbon ranks third, showcasing strong service reliability with a high rate of successful Internet sessions at 99.63%. The city delivers the fastest 5G download speeds, achieving up to 1.9 Gbps, important for data-heavy applications. Lisbon shares the leading position with Porto in terms of value for speed and social media experience.

While Copenhagen excels in 5G availability with an 86.99% registration rate, ensuring broad 5G access, Brussels and London are identified as lagging significantly. Issues in Brussels include low 5G availability, decreased speeds, and a requirement for enhanced streaming services. Similarly, London ranks the lowest in overall mobile experience, with subpar metrics reflected in the report's findings.

Rafael González, Senior Vice President EMEA at MedUX, remarked, "This report underscores the importance of a holistic approach to 5G quality. While coverage and speed remain key factors, high-quality 5G Connectivity and consistent performance across all services and applications are crucial for delivering a truly superior user experience. Our findings provide valuable insights for operators wanting to optimise their networks and meet the evolving needs of their customers in the 5G era."

MedUX's analysis further highlighted that on average, end-users in major European cities connect to 4G 25% of the time. "Furthermore, of the remaining 75% connected to 5G, 10% of deployments lack mid-band spectrum," González noted. "This reality dampens the transformative potential of 5G and calls for urgent policy and investment shifts toward dedicated high-quality 5G deployments for enhanced experience and reliability. Addressing these issues is crucial for Europe to ensure universal 5G coverage across all urban areas by 2025 and to fully leverage the benefits of 5G technology."