UK has slowest 5G speed and worst connectivity of 12 countries tested
Download speeds are more than 4-times slower than the top-performing country
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The UK has the slowest average 5G download speeds and worst connectivity of 12 countries tested, according to new analysis of the next-generation network.
Mobile analytics firm Opensignal performed benchmark tests to assess the real-world 5G experience for users across international operators, revealing that UK users can expect download speeds of just 32.6 Mbps.
This is more than four-times slower than average 5G download speeds in Saudi Arabia, which was the top performing country.
It is also nearly three-times as slow as Canada and more than twice as slow as the Netherlands, Taiwan and South Korea.
Other countries tested that performed better than the UK include Australia, Germany and the US.
The tests took into account the overall download speeds of the country’s 5G networks and the 4G networks that a 5G user’s device might connect to if no 5G networks are available in the area.
When looking exclusively at 5G network speeds, the UK performs marginally better than the US, Netherlands and Germany – but is still more than four-times slower than Saudi Arabia.
In terms of 5G connectivity, the UK scored worse than any other country in the study with users spending just 4.5 per cent of their time connected to 5G.
Saudi Arabia once again scored better than any other country, with users spending more than a third of their time connected to 5G networks.
Nearly every country tested had 5G connectivity that was at least twice as good as the UK, while half had connectivity that was at least four-times better.
The researchers noted that countries with smaller geographies have an advantage over larger countries like Australia and the US, which makes the UK's performance even more dismal.
The study comes just over a month after Boris Johnson officially banned Huawei from the UK's 5G network, citing security concerns due to US sanctions on China imposed by Donald Trump in May.
The Prime Minister's decision is likely to prove detrimental to the roll-out of 5G technology in the UK, as the Chinese firm was set to supply up to 35 per cent of the equipment needed to build new networks.
Announcing the decision in the House of Commons last month, digital secretary Oliver Dowden said the ban would mean "a cumulative delayed 5G roll-out of two to three years and costs of up to £2bn."
He added: "This will have real consequences for the connections on which all our constituents rely.”
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