Germany
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Germany
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Our Telekom users continue to see the fastest mobile speeds in Germany
Telekom defends all four speed awards it won outright in the previous report. It remains the only operator in Germany with an average overall Download Speed Experience above the 50 Mbps mark. It also increased its winning margin in 5G Download Speed over second-placed O2 from 8.9 Mbps in the previous report to 31.6 Mbps.
Telekom is now the sole winner of Video Experience
Telekom and Vodafone shared the Video Experience award in the previous report. However, this time Telekom broke out of the statistical tie and wins the award outright with a score of 57.9 points on a 100 point scale. The operator now holds both video awards under its belt — Video Experience and 5G Video Experience. All German operators placed in the Good (55-65) category for Video Experience — but for 5G Video Experience, Telekom and Vodafone rated as Excellent (75 or above), while O2 as Very Good (65-75).
Vodafone retains its overall Games Experience and Voice App Experience awards
Vodafone holds two out of three overall experiential awards in a firm grip, as it once again wins both Games Experience and Voice App Experience outright, with 71.2 and 76.5 points on a 100 point scale. Vodafone is now a joint winner for 5G Voice App Experience alongside Telekom.
After claiming Availability, Telekom wins all coverage awards outright
In the previous report, O2 won Availability outright. However, Telekom pulled ahead of O2 thanks to an increase in its score of 1.1 percentage points. The operator triumphs with a score of 94.2%, 0.5 percentage points ahead of O2. With this win, Telekom is now the sole winner of all three coverage awards — Availability, 5G Availability and 5G Reach.
Telekom remains unbeatable for consistency
Telekom claims both consistency awards for the second consecutive report. It wins Excellent Consistent Quality (HD video, group video conference calls and gaming) with a score of 82% and Core Consistent Quality (lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing) with a score of 89.9%. These scores reflect the percentage of users’ tests in which the operator met the minimum recommended performance thresholds.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Telekom continues to dominate the awards table and has increased its award haul by one outright win, as it snatched Availability away from O2. Telekom now has 12 sole victories and one joint win, up from 11 outright wins and one joint award in the previous report. Telekom wins all speed awards outright, along with all awards in coverage and consistency categories.
Vodafone is the only other operator in Germany to win any awards this time around. It retains Games Experience and Voice App Experience as the sole winner. While Vodafone lost its grip on Video Experience as a joint winner to Telekom, it jumps onto the winners’ podium for 5G Voice App Experience. Meanwhile, O2 ends with no awards this time around, after losing the only prize it won last time — Availability — to Telekom.
5G roll-outs are on a roll in Germany. Telekom stated in July 2022 that its network provided coverage to 92% of Germany’s population, with 100,000 antennas deployed across multiple frequencies. Vodafone reported later in the same month that it had increased its 5G population coverage 55 million Germans (provided by 34,000 antennas) — including 15 million with its 5G standalone access network. It has deployed its first 5G cell in the 26 GHz band in the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. Meanwhile, O2 said that it has reached 50% population coverage with its 5G services, aiming to cover 60% by the end of 2022 and the entire German population by 2025.
The new market entrant 1&1 is also actively rolling out 5G infrastructure. However, it stated that it will miss its 5G target of deploying 1,000 sites by the end of 2022 due to supplier issues and now expects to achieve it in mid-2023. Despite the delay, it intends to launch its commercial 5G FWA services by the end of 2022 and 5G mobile services by mid-2023, as initially planned. The new player has already performed the first live test of its 5G network.
Aside from deploying 5G services on a wider scale, German mobile operators are focusing on closing Germany’s rural-urban mobile connectivity gap. O2, Vodafone and Telekom are working closely to improve rural coverage and get rid of gray spot areas. They claim to have removed more than 2,600 dead signal spots since the beginning of their cooperation in early 2021, with 400 more to be eliminated. Both operators have signed agreements with O2, allowing them to share their network infrastructure and provide mutual access. Due to the O2-Telekom cooperation, the operators will jointly cover up to 900 locations and 100,000 people by the end of the year.
German operators are also busy rolling out 5G in rural areas — Telekom commenced 5G deployments in the 700 MHz band in the first half of 2022 to improve 5G rural coverage, while Vodafone is expanding both 4G and 5G services along German waterways, aiming to finalize by mid-2023, using the 700 MHz band as well. Opensignal’s recent analysis of German urban and rural 5G experience demonstrates that there is a clear 5G urban-rural divide in the country, as those in urban areas generally found it much easier to find a 5G signal, spent more time connected to 5G and observed faster average 5G download speeds than users in rural areas.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Germany — O2, Telekom and Vodafone — over the 90 day period starting on July 1, 2022 and ending on September 28, 2022, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Telekom and Vodafone shared the awards for Video Experience in the previous report. However, Telekom broke out of the statistical tie and wins the award outright with a score of 57.9 points on a 100-point scale. Both O2 and Vodafone are now in a statistical tie for second place, with scores of 56.5-57 points — around 1.2 points behind the winner.
All three operators placed in the Good (55-65) category, which means an acceptable but inconsistent experience, even from the same video streaming provider and particularly for higher resolutions, with noticeably slow loading times and stalling not being uncommon.
Looking at Video Experience — 5G Users, our 5G Users saw a slightly better overall Video Experience than that measured across all users, with the increases in scores ranging from 3.6 points for Vodafone to 4.2 points for Telekom —which was the highest scorer, with 62.1 points. However, all operators remained in the Good (55-65) category, compared to Video Experience.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Once again, our users had the best mobile gaming experience on Vodafone’s network, as the operator remains the sole winner of Games Experience, with a score of 71.2 points on a 100 point scale. It commands a lead of 3.3 points over second-placed Telekom and 4.9 points over third-placed O2. However, Telekom scored the highest for Games Experience — 5G Users.
Compared to the previous report, all operators remained in the Fair (65-75) category for Games Experience. Users found the experience to be ‘average’ and the majority of them reported that they noticed a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Vodafone retains its Voice App Experience award with a score of 76.5 points — around 1.5 points ahead of O2 and Telekom who were in a statistical tie for second place. All three kept their Acceptable (74-80) rating.
An Acceptable Voice App Experience means some users were satisfied. Perceptible call quality impairments were experienced by some users. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion were heard, and/or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. Listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Telekom wins Download Speed Experience award outright, with a score of 50.8 Mbps — it remains the only operator in Germany above the 50 Mbps mark. Our users on this network saw 4.6 Mbps (9.8%) faster average overall download speeds than those on Vodafone’s network. O2 brings up the rear with a score of 35.9 Mbps.
Our 5G users enjoyed significantly faster average overall download speed measured across all network generations. Those on Telekom’s network enjoyed the fastest speeds in Germany of 69 Mbps — 35.9% faster than what all users experienced on this network. O2 saw the highest increase of 43.7% compared to its Download Speed Experience score, while Vodafone registered a smaller rise, of 23.9%.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
The Upload Speed Experience award once again goes to Telekom. The operator retains the prize with a score of 12.3 Mbps and a winning margin of 2 Mbps over second-placed O2 — up from around 1.9 Mbps seen in the previous report. Vodafone comes third, but only 0.2 Mbps behind O2.
Looking at Upload Speed Experience — 5G Users, Telekom had the highest score of 13.6 Mbps — 1.4 Mbps higher than its Upload Speed Experience score. Vodafone saw an increase in score of 0.4 Mbps, compared to the overall upload metric and O2 observed no statistically significant difference.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Regional Analysis
With 36 outright and 76 shared wins, Telekom dominates the overall experience regional awards table, as it wins 112 awards out of 120 available. The majority of Telekom’s outright wins were in speed categories, as it is the sole winner of Download Speed Experience in 17 cities and of Upload Speed Experience in 18 cities — down from 18 and 21 cities in the previous report, respectively. In Download Speed Experience, Vodafone is a joint winner in seven cities and in Upload Speed Experience — in five cities. Meanwhile, O2 secures two joint wins in Upload Speed Experience, in Bochum and Freiburg.
Vodafone wins six awards outright and 76 jointly, with the majority of its city wins coming from experiential awards. It collects two sole victories in Games Experience (Dresden and Frankfurt am Main) and 22 joint wins in the remaining German cities. On top of this, it wins four city awards outright for Voice App Experience (Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt am Main and Saarbrucken) and 19 jointly — not successful only in Stuttgart where Telekom completes its haul of outright wins in the overall experience categories with a single city Voice App Experience award. Vodafone also wins joint 23 city awards for Video Experience (all cities bar Munchen), while Telekom is a joint winner n all 24 of them. Telekom also shares the winners’ podium with its rivals in 21 cities for Games Experience city awards and in 18 for Voice App Experience.
O2 doesn’t win any awards outright across the overall experience city award table, but is a joint winner of 46 prizes. On top of two Upload Speed Experience awards, it wins 17 Video Experience city awards, 11 Games Experience awards and 16 Voice App Experience awards.
Regional Analysis Summary: Germany, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2022
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A-G
- Aachen
- Augsburg
- Berlin
- Bochum
- Bonn
- Bremen
- Cologne
- Dortmund
- Dresden
- Duisburg
- Dusseldorf
- Essen
- Frankfurt am Main
- Freiburg
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H-N
- Hamburg
- Hannover
- Karlsruhe
- Leipzig
- Mannheim
- Munchen
- Munster
- Nuremberg
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O-U
- Saarbrucken
- Stuttgart
in Aachen
in Aachen
in Aachen
in Aachen
in Aachen
in Augsburg
in Augsburg
in Augsburg
in Augsburg
in Augsburg
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Bochum
in Bochum
in Bochum
in Bochum
in Bochum
in Bonn
in Bonn
in Bonn
in Bonn
in Bonn
in Bremen
in Bremen
in Bremen
in Bremen
in Bremen
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Dortmund
in Dortmund
in Dortmund
in Dortmund
in Dortmund
in Dresden
in Dresden
in Dresden
in Dresden
in Dresden
in Duisburg
in Duisburg
in Duisburg
in Duisburg
in Duisburg
in Dusseldorf
in Dusseldorf
in Dusseldorf
in Dusseldorf
in Dusseldorf
in Essen
in Essen
in Essen
in Essen
in Essen
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Freiburg
in Freiburg
in Freiburg
in Freiburg
in Freiburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hannover
in Hannover
in Hannover
in Hannover
in Hannover
in Karlsruhe
in Karlsruhe
in Karlsruhe
in Karlsruhe
in Karlsruhe
in Leipzig
in Leipzig
in Leipzig
in Leipzig
in Leipzig
in Mannheim
in Mannheim
in Mannheim
in Mannheim
in Mannheim
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munster
in Munster
in Munster
in Munster
in Munster
in Nuremberg
in Nuremberg
in Nuremberg
in Nuremberg
in Nuremberg
in Saarbrucken
in Saarbrucken
in Saarbrucken
in Saarbrucken
in Saarbrucken
in Stuttgart
in Stuttgart
in Stuttgart
in Stuttgart
in Stuttgart
5G Experience
National Analysis
Telekom remains unbeatable for 5G Video Experience, as it wins the award outright for the fourth time in a row — on this occasion with a score of 81 points on a 100 point scale. The operator has claimed the prize since Opensignal first introduced it in August 2021. Vodafone comes second with a score of 77.8 points, 3.2 points behind the winner. Both operators rated as Excellent (75 or above), while O2 placed in a category below with its score of 74.3 points — Very Good (65-75). Compared to Video Experience results, all operators observed significantly higher 5G Video Experience scores — 23.1 points higher for Telekom, 20.8 points higher for Vodafone and 17.8 points for O2.
An Excellent 5G Video Experience rating means a very consistent experience across all users, video streaming providers and resolutions tested, with fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
Telekom remains unmatched for 5G Games Experience, claiming it for the fourth consecutive time with a score of 82.1 points — the only sole winner since Opensignal first introduced the prize in August 2021. Telekom triumphs with a winning margin of 1.2 points over second-placed Vodafone. Both operators placed in the Good (75-85) category — most users deemed the experience acceptable and did not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
Our users saw substantial improvements in 5G Games Experience compared to Games Experience, with Telekom seeing the highest increase of 14.2 points, followed by Vodafone (9.7 points) and O2 (7.1 points).
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world. Calculating 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Vodafone jumps on the winners’ podium for 5G Voice App Experience and becomes a joint winner with Telekom, with scores of 81-81.2 points. O2 follows both winners closely with a score of 80.2 points, 0.9 points behind on average.
With the higher scores for 5G Voice App Experience compared to Voice App Experience — 4.7 points for Vodafone, 5.1 points for O2 and 6.1 points for Telekom, all operators placed in a category higher, Good (80-87). Many users were satisfied. Minor quality impairments were experienced by some users. Sometimes the background was not quite clear, it could have been either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion were very rarely present.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
Telekom wins 5G Download Speed outright for the second time in a row, with a score of 156.7 Mbps — 31.6 Mbps ahead of second-place O2. Vodafone comes third, 7.6 Mbps behind O2..
Compared to Download Speed Experience, our users saw significantly higher 5G Download Speeds on their networks — 3.5 times faster for O2, 3.1 times for Telekom and 2.5 times for Vodafone.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Telekom keeps the 5G Upload Speed award in a firm grip, winning it for the consecutive time. It remains the sole winner of this award since Opensignal first introduced it in August 2021. This time, Telekom wins with a score of 31.4 Mbps, beating second-placed Vodafone by 7.4 Mbps (30.7%). O2 brings up the rear with a score of 18.5 Mbps.
Our Telekom users saw the highest 5G to overall uplift in terms of average upload speeds, of 2.6 times — followed by 2.4 times seen by Vodafone users and 1.8 times by their O2 peers.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Regional Analysis
With five cities reportable for 5G awards, Telekom smashes the award table with 11 outright and 14 joint wins out of 25 awards available — meaning it wins in every category and city. Similar to the overall city awards, the bulk of Telekom’s outright wins comes from speed categories, as it does so in all five cities for 5G Download Speed and in four for 5G Upload Speed — tying only with Vodafone in Cologne in the latter category. It completes its haul of outright wins with two 5G Video Experience awards, claimed in Berlin and Hamburg, while jointly winning in the three remaining cities
There are no outright wins for O2 and Vodafone in the 5G section this time around. Vodafone shares 13 prizes, while O2 — six. On top of a single joint win in Cologne for 5G Upload Speed, Vodafone shares five awards with Telekom in 5G Games Experience in all the cities, while all three operators were in a three-way statistical tie for all 5G Voice App Experience city awards. In 5G Video Experience, Vodafone jointly wins in Cologne and Frankfurt am Main with Telekom, while O2 — in Munchen, also with Telekom.
Regional Analysis Summary: Germany, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2022
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A-I
- Berlin
- Cologne
- Frankfurt am Main
- Hamburg
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J-R
- Munchen
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
Coverage
O2
Telekom
Vodafone
National Analysis
In the previous report, O2 won Availability outright. However, Telekom has pulled ahead of O2 due to an increase in its score of 1.1 percentage points. The operator triumphs with a score of 94.2%, 0.5 percentage points ahead of O2. Vodafone comes last — our users on this network connected to 3G or better services 93% of the time.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Our users on Telekom’s network spent the greatest proportion of their time on average with an active 5G connection — 15.7%, a 2.3 percentage point increase compared to the previous report. As a result, Telekom is the sole winner of the 5G Availability award for the fourth time in a row and commands a lead of 6.2 percentage points over second-placed Vodafone and 8.1 points over third-placed O2. Both Vodafone and O2 also observed improvements in their 5G Availability scores, of 2.4 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Telekom triumphs in 5G Reach for the fourth consecutive time, remaining its only winner since Opensignal added this award in August 2021. The operator wins it with a score of 4.9 points on a 10 point scale, which reflects the proportion of locations where our users observed 5G out of all the places they visited. Telekom’s score improved by 0.2 points — but O2 and Vodafone’s scores rose by more — increasing by 0.8 points and one point, respectively and as a result, Telekom’s lead over Vodafone decreased from 1.8 to one point.
Definitions
5G Reach measures how users experience the geographical extent of an operator’s 5G network. It analyzes the average proportion of locations where users were connected to a 5G network out of all the locations those users have visited. In simple terms, 5G Reach measures the 5G mobile experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users – i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. 5G Reach for each operator is measured on a scale from 0 to 10.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Regional Analysis
Only one city award was won outright in Availability, as O2 takes home the prize in Berlin. Telekom and Vodafone jointly win in the remaining 23 cities, while O2 shares the winners’ podium with them in 22 cities — all bar Freiburg.
Telekom wins all 10 available awards in 5G extent categories — seven outright and three joint. In Cologne, it shares both 5G Availability and 5G Reach with O2. Meanwhile, in Frankfurt am Main Telekom and Vodafone jointly win 5G Reach.
Regional Analysis Summary: Germany, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2022
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A-G
- Aachen
- Augsburg
- Berlin
- Bochum
- Bonn
- Bremen
- Cologne
- Dortmund
- Dresden
- Duisburg
- Dusseldorf
- Essen
- Frankfurt am Main
- Freiburg
-
H-N
- Hamburg
- Hannover
- Karlsruhe
- Leipzig
- Mannheim
- Munchen
- Munster
- Nuremberg
-
O-U
- Saarbrucken
- Stuttgart
in Aachen
in Augsburg
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Berlin
in Bochum
in Bonn
in Bremen
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Cologne
in Dortmund
in Dresden
in Duisburg
in Dusseldorf
in Essen
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Frankfurt am Main
in Freiburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hamburg
in Hannover
in Karlsruhe
in Leipzig
in Mannheim
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munchen
in Munster
in Nuremberg
in Saarbrucken
in Stuttgart
Consistency
National Analysis
Telekom wins Excellent Consistent Quality outright for the second time in a row in Opensignal reports. It met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls and gaming in 82% of users’ tests — 0.9 percentage points lower than in the previous report. O2 and Vodafone are in a tie for second place with identical scores of 78.5% — 3.5 percentage points behind the winner. In the previous report, Vodafone was the sole runner-up, but due to a decline in its score of three percentage points and O2’s lower decrease of just 0.8 percentage points, both operators aligned in scores.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
Telekom defends the Core Consistent Quality award, winning it for the second consecutive time in Opensignal reports. The operator met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower-performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing in 89.9% of the tests — 0.8 percentage points less than in the previous report. Telekom wins with a lead of 1.1 percentage points over second-placed O2 — which pulled ahead of the previous runner up, Vodafone. This is because O2 saw a smaller decrease in its Core Consistent Quality score (0.2 percentage points) than Vodafone (1.4 percentage points).
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
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