London trails behind major European cities in 5G connectivity quality, a recent study has found.
Ranked 10th for 5G quality in a group including cities like Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris, London shows room for improvement.
Berlin showcased superior 5G experience, with standout performance in network consistency and low latency.
The study, which was carried out by MedUX, a leading Quality of Experience tester, uses measurement robots to assess and solve network issues, aiding telecom providers, regulators, and enterprises.
According to the report, Berlin shines with 89.6% 5G coverage, the highest among European cities. It also beats others in 5G streaming, with an average latency less than 40 milliseconds.
Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris lead MedUX's 5G quality benchmark with Lisbon, Milan, and Porto following close behind.
London, however, lags, with just 77.5% population having 5G on their devices, falling below the urban average.
London also disappoints in terms of downlink speeds, with an average download speed of 143 Mbps. This is strikingly slow compared to Lisbon's 528 Mbps, Porto's 446 Mbps, and Barcelona's 326 Mbps.
Munich, the second-worst city for 5G downlink speeds, recorded an average of 259 Mbps.
In an interview with CNBC, MedUX CMO, Rafael Galarreta, pins the UK's struggle on lacking speed and accessibility, as well as network responsiveness. He points out that these factors significantly impact data-intensive applications like cloud gaming.
The UK's Huawei 5G network ban could also be a contributing factor behind its poor performance.
The Huawei ban, which came post the initial 5G rollout, has likely caused delays in deployment, and disrupted coverage, availability, and user experience according to Galaretta.
He also highlights the potential impact of industry mergers and acquisitions, along with regulatory pushback causing network installation disruptions.
