A study into 4G has pointed out that the UK is one European country where download speeds fall below 20 megabits per second (Mbps) at the busiest times of the day.
Out of 77 countries the UK has been ranked 35th with 4G speeds ranging from 19.7Mbps to 34.9Mbps. Most countries’ 4G networks are busiest between 20:00 and 23:00 but UK consumers were most active at 17:00. An expert has said the move to 5G should help speed.
The study was managed by wireless coverage firm OpenSignal which is ranked the countries by download speeds experienced at different times a day. The data was gathered via an app installed on users’ phones which tracked speeds on more than 90 million devices.
Alongside the UK, Italy and Ukraine were among European countries experiencing speeds below 20Mbps at busy times. Belarus, Ireland, Poland and Russia all fell well below that speed. A speed of 20Mps should make downloading a five-minute song instant.
It was also discovered that London experienced some of the biggest swings in speeds ranging from 17.5Mbps to 38Mbps.
Matthew Howett, founder of research firm Assembly said: “The benefits of 5G is that it not only delivers faster download speeds but crucially more capacity, which should go some way to alleviating problems of congestion in the network,”
“All research points to the fact UK consumers have an insatiable appetite for data that is only going to grow over time, especially as 5G will in some instances be a replacement for fixed broadband.”
The country with the best speeds was South Korea; others in the top 10 were Singapore, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Denmark. Algeria was ranked slowest, with speeds ranging from only 2.6Mbps to 16.4Mbps, with India, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia also in the bottom five.
