UK market research firm Cellsmart finds that 5G network performance has greatly improved over the last 12 months.  Real-world testing shows new peak download and upload speeds on 5G
networks. The industry is on the cusp of the gigabit era in cellular networks with these speeds moving from the lab to field in 2023.

Cellsmart survey results revealed the global average outdoor download speed for 5G is 210.05 Mbps, compared to 182.46 Mbps indoors. 5G download speeds show a significant improvement over 4G with an increase of 486.57% (outdoor) and 694% (indoor).

Average upload speeds continue to lag behind download speeds with almost no improvement from 4G to 5G in indoor tests. Both 4G and 5G upload speeds remain significantly lower than download speeds. 5G upload speeds as a percentage of download speeds is 17%, compared to 74% on 4G. Download and upload speeds remain hyper-asymmetrical in 5G, which needs to improve to support enterprise use cases.

Source: Cellsmart

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The survey results also revealed how latency is negatively impacted in indoor settings, with average 5G latency being 14.58ms lower indoors than outdoors.  Tests run in Norway and the Philippines had outdoor speed tests that showed latency of less than 10ms, followed closely by US (10ms), China (11ms) and France (11ms). Average latency indoors was 15.32 higher on 4G than outdoors.

At the city level, Norway’s Oslo leads the way, while Spain’s Cerdanyola del Vallès and Bilbao come in second and third, while fourth placed Munich also recorded a 5G download speed in excess of 1 Gbps.

“Europe is ready for fixed wireless access,” declared Toby Forman, CEO at SmartCIC, owner of Cellsmart.

“Our test results show that 5G is beginning to mature into a justifiable investment that is ready to serve as an alternative to wired broadband and LEOs in multiple countries throughout Europe,” Forman said. “With performance rates that rival those of broadband and LEO, cellular should be considered when connecting enterprise locations. It’s a viable option.”

Cellsmart earlier this month reported that 5G upload speeds are insufficient for industrial applications.

As Cellsmart’s mission is, in its own words, “liberating enterprise from the constraints of fixed line connectivity,” it clearly has a vested interest in the results of its own study. It helps enterprises hook up to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions, essentially. However, the data still makes interesting reading against a backdrop of mobile network operators spending billions on the rollout of 5G networks.

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References:

https://cellsmart.io/

https://cellsmart.io/whitepaper/

https://telecoms.com/521982/5g-ready-to-support-fwa-in-europe/

CELLSMART: 5G upload speeds are insufficient for industrial/enterprise applications