In this new analysis, Opensignal looks at the regional mobile network experience of our smartphone users in Poland. Opensignal data shows that there are some disparities between Polish voivodeships in terms of 5G Availability or 5G Games Experience metrics, while the experience of 5G video streaming is very similar across the regions. Compared to other markets worldwide, average 5G download and upload speeds, in general, are very low across the Polish regions, with the 4G to 5G uplift ranging between 2.2 to 2.8 times.
Opensignal looked at 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed results across all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships. The results for 5G Download Speed range from 69Mbps in Zachodniopomorskie in the northwestern part of the country to 89.4Mbps in Opolskie and Lubuskie — 29.5% faster than in Zachodniopomorskie. Only 20.4Mbps separate the highest and lowest scores for 16 regions, which is not a substantial difference for 5G Download Speed, compared to the differences we see between countries. Nine voivodeships share first place for 5G Download Speed in the country, with scores of 81.1-89.4Mbps, further proving the small scale of regional differences in the Polish 5G mobile network experience.
For 5G Upload Speed, five voivodeships hit the 20Mbps milestone — Mazowieckie, Śląskie, Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie and Łódzkie — and jointly take first place. Lubelskie, in the eastern part of Poland, is the only region with an average 5G Upload Speed below 15Mbps — 6.2-8Mbps behind the five top voivodeships.
Opensignal observes very small differences between Polish regions for 5G Video Experience. Only 2.8 points separate the highest and lowest voivodeships’ scores and 11 regions line up for the highest result in the country, with scores of 73.9-75.1 points on a 100-point scale. This means there are minuscule disparities between regions when it comes to the experience of our Polish users when they use video streaming services on their smartphones. Regardless of the voivodeship, our 5G users in Poland enjoy a Very Good (68-78) video streaming experience when connected to 5G services. This means they are on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Our analysis demonstrates wider gaps between Polish regions in terms of 5G Games Experience, with scores ranging from 75 to 84.3 points on a 100-point scale. Five voivodeships jointly place first — Łódzkie, Mazowieckie, Świętokrzyskie, Opolskie and Podlaskie. Our users across all of Poland’s regions enjoy 5G Games Experience that rates as Very Good (75-85). This means most users deem the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users do not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
Turning to 5G Availability — our 5G users spend between 9.3% and 16.2% of their time with an active 5G connection, depending on the region. Four Polish voivodeships — Mazowieckie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Pomorskie, and Podlaskie — take the top spot for 5G Availability in the country, with scores of 14.3-16.2%. We can observe a greater disparity between Polish regions for this metric, as 5G users in leading regions proportionally spend over 1.5 times as much time connected to 5G services as those in the voivodeships that bring up the rear.
Comparing 5G Download Speed to 4G Download Speed across the sixteen analyzed Polish regions, the Podlaskie voivodeship sees the highest 4G to 5G uplift, of 2.8 times — ahead of Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Podkarpackie. Śląskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Mazowieckie, and Wielkopolskie observe the lowest uplifts in the country at 2.2 times. While Podlaskie’s 5G uplift of 2.8 times is enough to give it a competitive edge between Polish regions, this result is hardly impressive compared with other markets in the region — with our users in Slovenia and Bulgaria enjoying more than five times faster speeds on 5G than on 4G.
Depending on a metric, there are smaller or more significant differences in 5G mobile experience between Polish regions — but in general, 5G speeds and 4G to 5G uplift are relatively low, compared to other markets globally or even in Central Eastern Europe. However, this may change very soon, as the Polish government has finally started the 5G auction process and aims to finalize it in November 2023. All four Polish national operators have applied for bidding, some like Orange already conducting local tests in the 3.5GHz band. Once 5G networks start using the 3.5GHz band, Polish operators and users will be able to finally embrace 5G’s full potential, making the market more competitive. However, initial 5G rollouts in the 3.5GHz band might lead to increased disparities in 5G experience between Polish regions, if some of them get prioritized by mobile operators before others.
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