SignalTracker Compares UK 5G Performance with India, Greece, Spain and Finland
A new study from SignalTracker, which runs a popular Android mobile app (not iOS) for monitoring and testing mobile network performance, has compared the 5G mobile (mobile broadband) performance (speeds, coverage etc.) in India against the UK, Greece, Spain and Finland.
The results reveal that India has a higher proportion of 5G Standalone (5GSA) connectivity than the European countries in their sample (20% of its tests), with the UK (4% of its tests) and Greece having some of the weakest coverage. The UK (c.17%), Greece and Spain also had the highest proportion of users with so-called “fake 5G” (i.e. where Smartphones display a 5G icon, but your connection is actually using a 4G base station), while India and Finland had the lowest (c.5-6%).
Proportion (%) of Users by Mobile Connection Type
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In terms of average mobile broadband download speeds, 5G NSA users in Finland topped the table with 229Mbps (Megabits per second) and in fact they were ahead of every other country in all of the various different mobile technology types. By comparison, the UK seemed to be closer to the c.60Mbps level for 5G NSA connections, although 5G SA links did touch the c.100Mbps line.
Average Download Speeds by Mobile Connection Type
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The new report is fairly limited in the data it provides and the number of countries involved, thus we can’t really gleam too much from the limited testing, except to say that the UK’s major mobile networks (EE, Vodafone / Three UK and O2) continue to underdeliver when compared against other countries (something we’ve seen in other studies too).
Improvements are on the way, with all of the major mobile operators now making big investments in 5GSA connectivity, although it may still take a few years for that to fully manifest and by then we’ll be starting to talk about the arrival of future 6G networks.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Didn’t surprise me one bit, 4G speeds here in Rural Rhondda are either 60 to 70Mbps on 2100MHz if the signal is strong or a trifle 8 to 12Mbps at 800MHz.
I understand how RF works, and 800MHz travels further, but the cell I content to at home is within spitting distance, and the 2100MHz power outputs lower than 800MHz!
Here’s hoping once 3G is fully off O2 can harness this more?
And we look like to be the last to have 3G switched off to…. Usually the way!
India has very good coverage. I’ve been done trips in very rural areas, and been surprised how I could work from the back of a moving car better than back home on fixed broadband. But they chose to put money into rolling out 5G everywhere in preference to putting in fibre. And they know the IT industry is a significant economic driver.
Same in continental Europe, it is all about OFCOM leniency.
I am roaming with one of the under performing networks in India on the Vodafone-Idea network with my Lebara UK SIM card, when compared to UK network, the coverage is pretty good even in remote area eg middle of desert.
I can only still use 4G while roaming in India but hopefully they will allow us to use 5G soon.
I have been travelling from the UK to Malaysia over many years, as my wife is from there. They had decent 4G long before us, and now decent 5G seemingly everywhere. I still can’t pick it up here at home, a mile from a city centre, or on a big business park next to the M5. I’m waiting for Throdafone’s network integration to proceed, which might help. Still, at least we finally caught up on fixed fibre networks, after being behind on that too…
Is the UK fiddling the books? no way is there that much 5G SA (& even 5G NSA) as shown in that chart lol
UK has a lot of factors affecting mob network improvement: LPA planning difficulties, ETCC code site provider issues, new high risk building regulations, NIMBYs- all of these delay upgrades and rollout? If you’re in a poor coverage area, likely to be one of these and not lack of investment or will?
I suspect India doesn’t have these issues to contend with so much, and mainland Europe probably has more joined up thinking when it comes to essential infrastructure?
EE SA (5G+) is quite extensive now in my SE Eng experience.
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