cities

In this new analysis, Opensignal has analyzed the 5G Experience in 11 of the largest cities in the Asia Pacific region. 5G will eventually become a ubiquitous mobile technology and is traveling down the same path as 4G to offering national service. However, for now 5G comes into its own in urban areas where operators have sought to serve the greatest number of users quickly and have used new 5G mid-band spectrum to help relieve congestion on existing 4G networks.  

As U.S. carriers continue to hit new milestones in their 5G network rollouts, Opensignal has now conducted the most comprehensive analysis of smartphone users’ 5G mobile experience across the U.S. We included all 50 states and as many as 250 cities in this new study. While 5G was present to some extent everywhere, the quality of 5G experience varied significantly. Our 5G users on the East Coast generally had a better 5G experience, followed by users on the West Coast and in the Great Lakes region.

Ever since smartphone users started consuming video on their phones, it’s become a common assumption that fast download speeds translate to a good mobile video experience. While speed is certainly an indicator of video experience, it is not the only factor to determine the quality of video we see.

In Opensignal’s latest Brazil Mobile Network Experience report published in January, we recorded steady increases in mobile speeds across all operators, although we saw big differences in Download Speed Experience ranging from Oi’s average score of 7.7 Mbps to Claro’s 18.8 Mbps.

Wildly seesawing 4G speeds throughout the day are common in U.S. cities. Over a 24-hour period consumers in major metro areas will often see their 4G Download Speeds drop by 20 Mbps or more as consumer demand increases and networks become more congested. It's not a issue that should be taken lightly. The consistency of our network connections will determine the mobile content and services they are able to support. Developers are forced to design their apps for the slowest speeds seen throughout the day, which is precisely the time most consumers want to use those apps.