Opensignal, an independent global organisation who offer reports and insights into the world’s communication networks, have this month published data revealing the UK’s fastest locations for 5G mobile broadband.
The fastest city for 5G download speeds is Birmingham, coming in at 162.7 Mbps. The fastest region was the West Midlands with 151.4 Mbps 5G download speeds.
Where does the data come from?
The numbers in this report come from data collected across hundreds of thousands of devices like Smartphones between November 1st 2022 and January 29th 2023. Primary mobile network operators were then compared across different categories.
Is 5G faster than 4G?
The study also reported on the uplift in mobile broadband speeds when devices went from a 4G to 5G network in various locations.
The majority of users found 5G download speeds to be between 3.7 to 5.5 times faster than 4G. The biggest uplift was found in Reading, Berkshire where users enjoyed 5.5 times faster speeds on 5G. London however saw the lowest uplift at a rate of 3.7 times faster than 4G.
With thanks to OpenSignal for the image
Is 5G or 4G better in urban or rural areas?
The report also studied the differences between rural and urban areas when it comes to 5G. You might think that there would be a difference in uplift between these types of areas, but there was actually little difference. For rural areas with 5G, the uplift was 4.7 times faster. In urban areas, the uplift for 5G was 4.5 times faster.
With this being said, mobile broadband users in urban areas do see significantly faster download speeds on both 4G and 5G networks than those in more rural areas. On 4G networks, download speeds are 23.7% faster (5.8 Mbps) in urban areas. On 5G networks, download speeds are 20.1 Mbps which is 17.6% faster than rural areas.
5G networks are more limited in rural areas with less coverage. Unsurprisingly, this means that users on a 5G network in an urban area spend more time with an active 5G connection than rural users (9.6% and 6.6% respectively.
With thanks to OpenSignal for the image
Where in the UK do users connect to 5G the most?
It will probably come as no surprise that it’s Londoners who are actively connected to 5G networks for the longest.
Unfortunately for us (as we’re based in Hampshire) the South East and South West come very near the bottom of the table when it comes to 5G availability and time spent connected to the network.
Will mobile network coverage improve in rural areas?
As we mentioned above, the data from this report does reflect on there being a gap between the mobile experience of users in rural and urban areas.
Thankfully, there is ongoing commitment and work happening to try and improve mobile connectivity in rural areas.
The UK government and mobile network operators are currently working together on the Shared Rural Network programme to increase the geographic coverage of 4G networks.
Last year in their 2022 Connected Nations report, Ofcom found that through the SRN and other initiatives, users should be able to get good mobile coverage from at least one operator across 92.2% of the UK. This is a rise of 0.3% from the year before so things are moving in the right direction.
