5G Experience Report Ireland September 2021

Ireland

5G Experience Report
September 2021

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.

Author
Sam Fenwick Senior Analyst

Key Findings

The fastest 5G speeds were experienced on eir and 3’s networks

eir and 3 are joint winners of both the 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed awards. Our users on their networks saw average 5G download speeds of 180.1-195.5 Mbps when connected to 5G, far faster than the 83.6 Mbps reported by their Vodafone counterparts. It’s the same story with 5G Upload Speed — eir and 3 racked up statistically tied scores of 22.8-23.3 Mbps, ahead of Vodafone’s score of 13.9 Mbps.

On all three operators’ our users had an Excellent 5G Video Experience

There was no statistical difference between eir, 3 and Vodafone’s scores for the experience of our users when streaming video over 5G connections. Therefore all three operators share the 5G Video Experience award. With scores between 76.4 and 80.8 points on a 100 point scale all three operators place in the Excellent (75 or above) category. This is a significant improvement over the Very Good (65-75) and Good (55-65) ratings they received for Video Experience across all generations of network technology in our Mobile Network Experience companion report. An Excellent 5G Video Experience indicates a very consistent experience across all users, video streaming providers and resolutions tested on 5G connections, with fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling.

Users on eir and Vodafone’s 5G networks have the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games

eir and Vodafone are joint winners of the 5G Games Experience. Both operators placed in the Good (75-85) category for 5G Games Experience, while 3’s score of 74.3 puts it in the Fair (65-75) category. A Good rating indicates that most users deemed the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience was generally controllable and the user received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game.

eir and 3 are ahead on 5G Availability

5G offers an enhanced mobile experience but users will only enjoy the full benefits if they are spending a significant proportion of their time connected to 5G. This is why 5G Availability is so important because it reflects the time our users spend with an active 5G connection. eir and 3 are joint winners of the 5G Availability award with statistically tied scores of 7.8-10.3%, while our Vodafone users spent only 4.8% of their time on 5G.

eir and Vodafone share the 5G Voice App Experience award

Our 5G users had the best experience when using voice apps on 5G networks with eir and Vodafone’s as the two operators’ scores are statistically tied for first place. Our users on both eir and Vodafone had a Good (80-87) 5G Voice App Experience, which means that many users were satisfied, but some experienced minor quality impairments. Meanwhile, 3 placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category.

Introduction

Our first look at Ireland’s 5G experience reveals fierce competition among the three national operators. The results were so close that no operator was able to win any of our 5G experience awards outright. However, eir has the most wins as it is a joint winner in all six categories. Meanwhile, 3 had the edge over Vodafone, as it is a joint winner in four categories compared to Vodafone’s three. In addition, both eir and 3’s scores for 5G Download Speed, 5G Upload Speed and 5G Availability were well ahead of Vodafone’s. The average download speeds seen by our users on the two frontrunners’ 5G networks were more than double those of their counterparts’ on Vodafone.

In this report, we've analyzed our data from our users with both a 5G smartphone and a 5G plan gathered in the 90 day period starting May 1, 2021, and ending July 29, 2021, to see how Ireland’s three national operators — 3, eir and Vodafone — measure up. Our 5G experience metrics assess the experience of our users when they are connected to 5G.

We have also published a companion report — Ireland Mobile Network Experience Report September 2021 — which analyzes the overall experience of our users across all generations of mobile network technology.

Opensignal Awards Table

5G Mobile Experience Awards Ireland
September 2021, Ireland Report
5G Video Experience
5G Games Experience
5G Voice App Experience
5G Download Speed
5G Availability
5G Upload Speed
Download Image
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
September 2021, Ireland
5G Video Experience
5G Games Experience
5G Voice App Experience
5G Download Speed
5G Availability
5G Upload Speed
Download Image

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
5G Video Experience
in 0-100 points
3
76.4
Vodafone
77.5
eir
80.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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National Analysis

5G Video Experience

5G Video Experience
in 0-100 points
3
76.4
Vodafone
77.5
eir
80.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

5G Games Experience

5G Games Experience
in 0-100 points
3
74.3
Vodafone
84.8
eir
81.7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

5G Voice App Experience

5G Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
3
79.1
Vodafone
83.6
eir
82.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

5G Download Speed

5G Download Speed
in Mbps
3
195.5
Vodafone
83.6
eir
180.1
050100150200
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

5G Availability

5G Availability
in %
3
10.3
Vodafone
4.8
eir
7.8
03.757.511.2515
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

5G Upload Speed

5G Upload Speed
in Mbps
3
23.3
Vodafone
13.9
eir
22.8
06.2512.518.7525
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Learn more

Opensignal measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks in the places they live, work and travel.

We continually adapt our methodology to best represent the true experience of smartphone users. Therefore, comparisons of the results to past reports should be considered indicative only.

For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars. In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

More about Methodology

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For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.

In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience