Sweden
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.
Sweden
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
Telenor boasts a 5G Download Speed of 420.7Mbps
Telenor is the outright winner for the 5G Download Speed award – as our Telenor users observe blisteringly fast average 5G download speeds — 420.7Mbps. Tele2 comes in second, with 298.8Mbps — 3 and Telia bring up the rear with 217.7-222.3Mbps. Telenor has a lead of 121.9Mbps (40.8%) over second-placed Tele2. While our Telenor users do not see a statistical difference in their measured speeds compared to the last report, the other operators in Sweden see a decrease in their 5G download speeds of between 10.2% to 39.3% this time round.
The most consistent experience is with 3
3 is now on the winners' podium as the outright winner for Excellent Consistent Quality, with 89.8% of our users’ tests on the network meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds for more demanding applications. This is around 2.1 percentage points above the statistically equivalent scores seen on Telenor and Telia in this report, which come in second. 3 is also the outright winner of the Core Consistent Quality award, with 95.5% of our users' tests meeting the thresholds for less demanding use cases. This is around two percentage points above the statistically equivalent scores seen on Telenor and Telia.
The fastest overall experience is with Telia
Telia is now the outright winner for Download Speed Experience in Sweden, with a speed of 66.9Mbps. Telia achieves a lead of 5Mbps (8%), over the runner-up 3. Previously, the two operators shared the Download Speed Experience award, with statistically tied scores. Telia is also the winner of the Upload Speed Experience award, with a speed of 16.3Mbps. Telia achieves a lead of 2.1Mbps (15.1%) over 3, which places second.
Telia and 3 are joint winners for 5G Availability
The 5G Availability award represents the proportion of time that 5G users spend on average with an active 5G connection, for which 3 and Telia both receive the award with statistically tied scores in the 9.1-11% range. 5G Availability has gone up since the last report for Telenor, Telia and Tele2, with increases that measure three, 3.3 and 3.7 percentage points, respectively.
3 is the outright leader for overall Availability
Looking at the proportion of time that our users spend connected to a 3G or better signal, our 3 users come top, scoring 99.5% — spending only 0.5% of the time on 2G or with no mobile signal. Tele2 and Telenor followed closely, around 0.5 percentage points behind the winner.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In Opensignal's latest analysis of Sweden's mobile network experience we see a close contest between the national operators on the awards table. As with the previous report, there are many awards with joint winners — but this time there are six awards with outright first places.
Both Telia and 3 are taking home 10 awards in total, but the most outright wins is with 3 this time round, with its outright wins for Availability and both of the consistency metrics. Telia has two outright wins in its awards haul – leading in overall speed metrics. Tele2 and Telenor, take home six awards each, but while Tele2 has only joint wins, Telenor wins the 5G Download Speed award outright, with a significant lead ahead of the competition.
Swedish national operators continue to roll out 5G infrastructure across the country. In December 2022, Telia had switched on 5G network in its 100th urban area, when it also claimed it had deployed 10,000 5G antennas across the country. The operator had since stated that its 5G network covered 63% of the population, in Q1 2023 report.
Opensignal has recently published an analysis using our new Coverage Experience metric — representing the real-world experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage. In this report, Telia comes first in Sweden for Overall Coverage Experience with a score of 7.3 out of 10, and also comes first for 5G Coverage Experience with a score of 1.7 out of 10.
Telenor, in its Q1 2023 report, also stated that its 5G roll-out has ramped up in Sweden, citing ongoing investments. Opensignal 5G Availability similarly reflects the expanding 5G network across Sweden, as our users see significant increase in the time they spend connected to 5G signal on their devices, when compared to the previous one.
The Post and Telecom Agency (Post & Telestyrelsen, PTS) in Sweden has published details for holding a spectrum auction during 2023 for the 900MHz, 2.1GHz and 2.6GHz bands. The regulator has set the conditions attached to the spectrum in the 900MHz band to support network rollout in areas where there is currently no coverage.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in Sweden — 3, Tele2, Telenor and Telia — over a period of 90 days starting on February 1, 2023 and ending on May 1, 2023.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our users on 3 and Telia report the best available Video Experience in Sweden, with statistically tied scores of 71.8-71.9 points on a 100-point scale. The awards are unchanged from the previous report. Both of the operators share the Video Experience award with scores around two points higher than those on Tele2 and Telenor, on which operators our users measured an experience of 69.9 points.
All four operators in Sweden have a Very Good (68-78) level of user experience, when watching online video on their smartphones. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling on any operator’s network in Sweden.
Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
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
3, Tele2 and Telia share the Games Experience award. Our users see no statistical difference in the experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections on the three operators’ networks, with scores of 76.1-78.2 points on a 100-point scale. This is the result of overlapping confidence intervals for the results seen across our users on these three operators.
All four of the national operators in Sweden place within the Good (75-85) category for Games Experience.
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
Tele2, Telenor and Telia are the joint winners of the Voice App Experience award. The three operators have statistically tied scores of 80.3-80.9 points, on a 100-point scale. This means that our users on these three networks have a Good (80-87) user experience when using over-the-top (OTT) voice apps, with 3 users having an Acceptable (74-80) experience, scoring 79.8 points. The joint winners of this award are unchanged from the previous report.
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
Telia is now the outright winner for Download Speed Experience in Sweden, with a speed of 66.9Mbps. Second place goes to 3, with average overall download speeds of 61.9Mbps observed by our users on its network. Tele2 and Telenor bring up the rear with speeds of 52.9-53.6Mbps.
Telia achieves a lead of 5Mbps (8%), over the runner-up 3. Previously, the two operators shared the award for Download Speed Experience, with statistically equivalent scores.
All operators in Sweden measure faster download speeds, compared to the previous report – from 3 users seeing 6.3Mbps faster download speeds to Telenor users seeing 13.1Mbps faster upload speeds.
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
Telia is the winner of Upload Speed Experience award, with a speed of 16.3Mbps. Second place goes to 3, with a speed of 14.1Mbps. Tele2 and Telenor bring up the rear, with equivalent scores of 13.4Mbps.
This is the fourth consecutive mobile network experience report for Sweden, where Telia wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright, ever since the metric started to be reported for the market. Telia achieves a lead of 2.1Mbps (15.1%) over 3 this time round.
All operators in Sweden measure faster upload speeds, compared to the previous report – from 3 users seeing 1.9Mbps faster upload speeds to Telia users seeing 2.5Mbps faster upload speeds.
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).
5G Experience
National Analysis
Users on all four operators do not observe any statistically significant differences in their experience when streaming mobile video over 5G connections. 3, Tele2, Telenor and Telia are the joint winners of the 5G Video Experience award with tied scores of 78-78.4 points on a 100-point scale. The winners of this award are unchanged from the previous report.
Regardless of their choice in operator, our users' video experience rates as Excellent (78 or above) when connected to 5G. This means that they are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with fast loading times and no stalling.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
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
For 5G Games Experience, all operators statistically tie for the award. The operators' scores are in the 84.2-85.2 points range on a 100-point scale. These scores are on the verge between the Good (75-85) and Excellent (85 or above) user experience categories.
A Good rating means that most users find the experience acceptable, feel they receive immediate feedback for actions and do not experience delays. The winners of this award are unchanged from the previous report.
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
Our Swedish users have a statistically equivalent experience when using over-the-top (OTT) voice applications while connected to 5G on all national operators in Sweden — 3, Tele2, Telenor and Telia — they all share the winners' podium for the 5G Voice App Experience award. All four operators placed in the Good (80-87) category for 5G Voice App Experience, having scored in the 82.3-83.4 point range. The winners of this award are unchanged from the previous report.
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
Telenor is the outright winner for the 5G Download Speed award – as our Telenor users observed blisteringly fast average 5G download speeds of 420.7Mbps. Tele2 comes in second, with 298.8Mbps. 3 and Telia bring the rear with 217.7-222.3Mbps.
Telenor has a lead of 121.9Mbps (40.8%) over the second-placed rival – Tele2. Whereas Telenor does not see a statistically significant change in its measured speeds, compared to the previous report, other operators in Sweden see speeds of between 10.2% to 39.3% lower this time around.
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
All four national operators in Sweden have statistically equivalent 5G Upload Speed scores when measured across our users — 37.1-38.1Mbps. Previously, the award was shared between Tele2 and Telia, but now those scores have converged with those measured for 3 and Telenor as well.
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).
Coverage
3
Tele2
Telenor
Telia
National Analysis
Looking at the proportion of time that our users spend connected to a 3G or better signal, our 3 users come top, scoring 99.5% — spending only 0.5% of the time on 2G or looking for a signal. Tele2 and Telenor follow closely, around 0.5 percentage points behind the winner.
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
The 5G Availability award represents the proportion of time that our 5G users spend on average with an active 5G connection. 3 and Telia both receive the award with scores in the 9.1-11% range. This score range is around 3.2 points above that of Tele2 and Telenor, which statistically tie as well in the range of 6.3-7.4%.
5G Availability has gone up since the last report for Telenor, Telia and Tele2, with increases that measure three, 3.3 and 3.7 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.
Consistency
National Analysis
3 is the outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award, with 89.8% of our users' tests meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds for more demanding use cases. This is around 2.1 percentage points above the statistically equivalent scores seen on Telenor and Telia, in the range of 87.4-88.1%. Previously, the award was shared between 3 and Telia, but 3 has seen an improvement of 1.4 percentage points to its score since the last report, whereas Telia saw no statistically significant change to its score.
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
3 is the outright winner of the Core Consistent Quality award, with 95.5% of our users' tests meeting the threshold for the less demanding use cases. This is around two percentage points above the statistically equivalent scores seen on Telenor and Telia, in the range of 93.4-93.5%.
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