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
Telia’s customers are able to get a connection in the most places
Telia remains the outright winner for both overall Coverage Experience and 5G Coverage Experience. This means that our Telia users continue to have the best coverage experience as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage – both when measured across all generations of mobile technology and on 5G. Telia wins Coverage Experience with a score of 7.44 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of less than one point over Telenor and Tele2, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 6.85-6.89 points. Telia’s lead is smaller for 5G Coverage Experience, as it wins with 4.01 points while Telenor and Tele2 share second place with identical scores of 3.84 points.
Telenor users see the fastest average download speeds in Sweden
Telenor is the new outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, replacing Telia. Telenor wins with a score of 81.9Mbps and a lead of around 14Mbps over Telia and Tele2, which share second place due to a statistical tie. In addition, Telenor keeps hold of the 5G Download Speed award from the last report.
3 wins the 5G Upload Speed award
Our 3 users now see the fastest average 5G upload speeds in Sweden — 34.2Mbps. This gives 3 a lead of 5Mbps over second-placed Telia’s 29.4Mbps. Last time around, 3 shared the recognition with Telenor and Telia, but now 3 wins the award outright.
Tele2 users spend the largest proportion of time with an active 5G connection
Tele2 is the new winner of the 5G Availability award, replacing Telia. Tele2 wins with a score of 15.7% and a lead of around two percentage points over Telia and Telenor, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 13.6-14%. 5G Availability is an important measure of the mobile experience as users can only enjoy the superior performance that 5G provides when they have a 5G connection.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Telenor is the most awarded operator this time around, winning two awards outright and another seven jointly. Both 3 and Tele2 pick up seven awards — either jointly or outright — while Telia follows with six.
All four operators will be shutting down their 3G networks this year, with 2G to be shut down in 2025-2027. In May, Telia announced that it had decided to push back the deadline for its 2G shutdown to facilitate a smooth transition. Swedish operators have been working to raise public awareness of the upcoming switchoffs through the Byt Nät Nu campaign.
Switching off legacy networks helps operators reduce their operating costs and frees up spectrum to improve users’ 4G and 5G experience. For more information on 3G shutdowns in Europe, and to see to what degree Swedish mobile users rely on 2G and 3G compared to those in other European markets, see our recent analysis on this topic.
The average overall download speed seen by our users on all four Swedish operators’ scores have risen significantly from those seen in the last report. Telenor's has increased the most, rising by 22Mbps. Our Tele2 users’ saw the next largest increase — 11Mbps. Those seen by our Telia and 3 users increased by 6Mbps and 5Mbps, respectively. However, Telenor's, Tele2’s and Telia’s 5G Download Speed scores have dropped steeply from those seen in the last report — falling by 153Mbps, 74Mbps and 44Mbps, respectively. This pattern is not surprising — growing 5G adoption puts more load on 5G networks, increasing congestion, while causing overall speeds to rise. According to GSMA Intelligence, 5G accounted for 39.1% of all mobile connections in Sweden in Q3 2024, up from the 25.8% seen in Q3 2023.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in Sweden — Telia, 3, Telenor and Tele2 — over a period of 90 days starting on September 01, 2024, and ending on November 29, 2024, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
All four Swedish operators share the on-demand Video Experience award, with statistically tied scores of 72.3-73.1 points on a 100-point scale. This is a change from the last report, when the award was won by Telia and Tele2 jointly.
Both Telenor's and 3’s scores have increased by four points. Tele2's score has risen by three, while Telia's has increased by two points.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
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
As was the case last time around, three operators share the Games Experience award, but 3 has replaced Telia on the winners’ podium. 3, Telenor and Tele2 win with statistically tied scores of 77.7-79.2 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around one point over last-placed Telia’s 77 points.
3's new ranking was driven by a six-point increase in its score from that seen in the last report. Both Tele2’s and Telenor’s scores have risen by two points, while Telia's score hasn't changed significantly.
All operators place in the Good (75-85) category. This indicates that 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.
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
Telenor is the new outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, replacing Telia. Telenor wins with a score of 81.9Mbps and a lead of around 14Mbps over Telia and Tele2, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 67.4-69.5Mbps. 3 is in last place with 62.3Mbps.
All four Swedish operators’ scores have risen significantly from those seen in the last report. Telenor's has increased the most, rising by 22Mbps. Our Tele2 users saw the next largest increase — 11Mbps. The average overall download speeds seen by our Telia and 3 users increased by 6Mbps and 5Mbps, respectively.
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 has gone from winning the Upload Speed Experience outright in the last report to sharing it with 3 as their scores are now statistically tied. Telia and 3 are joint winners with scores of 14-14.2Mbps. They lead third-placed Telenor by around 1Mbps. Tele2 is in last place with 12.7Mbps.
3's score has increased by 1Mbps compared to that seen in the previous report, while. Telia's has decreased by 1Mbps. Telenor's and Tele2's scores haven't changed significantly from the last report.
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
As was the case last time around, Telenor and Tele2 jointly win the 5G Video Experience award. They do so with statistically tied scores of 78.2-78.3 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around two points over Telia and 3, which share last place with tied scores of 76.6-77 points.
Telenor and Tele2 place in the Excellent (78 or above) category, while Telia and 3 place one category lower, in Very Good (68-78).
An Excellent (78 or above) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with fast loading times and no stalling. A Very Good (68-78) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little 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
In the previous report, all four operators shared the 5G Games Experience award. This time around, Telia drops off the winners’ podium, leaving 3, Telenor and Tele2 as joint winners with statistically tied scores of 85.6-86 points on a 100-point scale. They win with a lead of around three points over last placed Telia’s 83.3 points.
3, Telenor and Tele2 place in the Excellent (85 or above) category, while Telia places one category lower, in Good (75-85).
An Excellent (85 or above) rating means that the vast majority of users deem this network experience acceptable. Nearly all users feel like they have control over the game and they receive immediate feedback on their actions. There is not a noticeable delay in almost all cases. A Good (75-85) rating means that 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.
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
As was the case last time around, Telenor wins the 5G Download Speed award outright. It does so with a score of 266.3Mbps and a lead of 72Mbps over second-placed 3’s 194.7Mbps. Telia and Tele2 share third place with statistically tied scores of 165.7-170.4Mbps.
However, Telenor's score has dropped steeply from that seen in the last report — a fall of 153Mbps. Our Tele2 users also saw a marked decline in their average 5G download speeds — a drop of 74Mbps. Telia's score has fallen by 44Mbps, while 3's score hasn't changed significantly from the previous report.
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
3 is the new outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award — a change from the last report when it was shared by Telia, 3 and Telenor. 3 wins with a score of 34.2Mbps and a lead of 5Mbps over second-placed Telia. Telenor and Tele2 share third place with statistically tied scores of 26-26.8Mbps.
Telenor's, Telia’s and Tele2’s scores have all fallen by 8-9Mbps from those seen in the last report, while 3's score hasn't changed significantly.
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
National Analysis
As was the case in the last report, Telia is the outright winner of the Coverage Experience award. It wins with a score of 7.44 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of less than one point over Telenor and Tele2, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 6.85-6.89 points. 3 comes fourth with a score of 6.23 points.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
National Analysis
Telia once again wins the 5G Coverage Experience award outright, this time with a score of 4.01 points on a 10-point scale and a narrow lead over Telenor and Tele2, which place in second with their identical scores of 3.84 points. 3 comes fourth with a score of 1.54 points.
Telenor's and Tele2's scores have increased by two points, while Telia's and 3's scores have increased by one point.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
5G Coverage Experience shows the proportion of places Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
National Analysis
3 is still a joint winner for the Availability award, while Telenor has replaced Tele2 on the winners’ podium. 3 and Telenor share the award with statistically tied scores of 99.6-99.7% and a slender lead over Telia and Tele2, which share last place with their statistically tied scores of 99-99.3%.
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.
National Analysis
Tele2 is the new winner of the 5G Availability award, replacing Telia. Tele2 wins with a score of 15.7% and a lead of around two percentage points over Telia and Telenor, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 13.6-14%. 3 comes fourth with a score of 9.2%.
All four Swedish operators’ scores have increased from those seen in the last report. Tele2's and Telenor's scores have increased by nine and eight percentage points, respectively. Telia's score has risen by four percentage points. Our 3 users saw the smallest increase in the proportion of time spent with an active 5G connection — a rise of three percentage points.
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.
Consistency
National Analysis
In the previous report, the award was won by 3. Telia, Telenor and Tele2 now share the Consistent Quality award with statistically tied scores of 85.1-85.4% and a lead of around one percentage point over 3 — the outright winner in the previous report, which now is in last place with its score of 84.5%.
This metric measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices. It assesses a number of experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, and time to first byte.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
National Analysis
All of the operators share Opensignal’s new Reliability Experience award with statistically tied scores of 905-918 points on a 100-1000 point scale.
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of our users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on operators’ networks. It consists of the following components:
Signal Availability — The proportion of time Opensignal users can successfully connect to a mobile network
Data Connectivity — the proportion of time when the network is available and the device can connect to the internet
Task completion — whether tasks initiated by the user’s device are completed
Sufficiency — The probability that (basic) tasks will be executed sufficiently well for the user
Definitions
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of Opensignal users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on communication service providers’ (CSP) networks. It analyzes how much Opensignal users’ experience is affected by the radio access and core network, along with issues that prevent them from connecting to the internet even if they have a connection to their CSP’s network. It also factors in users’ ability to successfully use lower performance applications including SD video, over-the-top 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