Summer is over, and with it Speedtest Intelligence data is useful for understanding in advance whether your phone will be a help or a hindrance when traveling.
Ookla examined results from Android devices in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) in the second quarter of 2023, including 5G performance data, to see if “Roam Like at Home” is delivering on its promise.
Analysis of 5G Roaming Performance in Europe
Speed and Latency in Roaming: Speed and latency are two important indicators of online performance. Speed affects the enjoyment of streaming content, while latency affects online games and video calls. Both are crucial when browsing online for that tasty new ice cream your friends recommended.
Roaming Speeds Do Not Match Local Performance: Although the European Union has extended its Roam Like at Home regulations until 2032, our previous analyzes have shown that mobile speeds are typically slower when roaming than when used in the country of residence. Actual speeds vary greatly based on roaming agreements between mobile operators, something you can’t really control unless you’re willing to do research and look for a new plan before your trip.
Improve Your Experience with 5G: What you can control is whether to upgrade to 5G before your big trip. The data below represents local speeds and multi-location latency for each country, as well as those experienced by residents of the named country while roaming in the EU or UK in Q2 2023.
Roaming Speeds Fail to Compete with Local Performance: While EU residents can call, text and browse without additional roaming charges, decreasing speeds are an issue according to data from the second quarter of 2023. Residents of 17 countries showed faster local download speeds compared to roaming speeds considering the results of all technologies during the second quarter of 2023.
The 5G exception: However, in all countries listed, average download speeds are significantly higher when roaming on the 5G network than when roaming on all technologies. Despite this improvement, 20 countries showed faster 5G local download speeds than 5G roaming speeds during the second quarter of 2023.
High Latency While Roaming: Residents of every country surveyed experienced much higher multi-location latency in roaming during the second quarter of 2023. This is because roaming signals are routed through the user’s home network, making latency a significant issue for Europeans travelling. The difference was smallest in Italy and France, where residents experienced 97% higher latency while roaming than at home. At the other end of the scale, Cyprus residents experienced 615% higher latency while roaming than at home.
5G Does Not Always Improve Latency: Surprisingly, 5G did not consistently improve multi-site latency. What this tells us is that it’s worth upgrading to 5G before a trip if speed is your main concern. Regardless, you can expect high latency when roaming. Plan ahead accordingly.
Outbound Roaming Speeds Vary Dramatically: As discussed above, roaming speed depends heavily on where you’re traveling from, where you’re traveling from, and the agreements your home mobile operator has with operators in the country you’re visiting. However, it is interesting to see what the best and worst roaming speeds are in Europe during the second quarter of 2023.
Fastest Roaming Speeds in Europe: Italian customers roaming in Portugal saw one of the fastest median download speeds in roaming on 5G across Europe during the second quarter of 2023, reaching 317.94 Mbps. Estonians roaming in Finland experienced faster download speeds median on 5G of 278.69 Mbps, while Finns in Sweden achieved a median download speed on 5G of 252.57 Mbps. Looking at the best results across all technologies combined, Latvians roaming in Finland achieved a speed of median download of 137.49 Mbps, while Greeks achieved average download speeds of 129.75 Mbps when roaming in Bulgaria and 125.83 Mbps when roaming in Austria.
Slowest Roaming Speeds in Europe: At the other end of the scale, Slovakian visitors to Poland achieved one of the slowest median download speeds among all roaming technologies during the same period, at 10.82 Mbps. Users roaming in Poland saw a faster Median download speed of 13.27 Mbps in the UK and 14.78 Mbps in Romania. Ten of the 20 slowest roaming speeds in our country-by-country list for all technologies were for Europeans roaming in the UK.
This means that travelers going to the UK not only see lower benefits, but may also pay more for the privilege, as they do not benefit from “Roam Like at Home” regulations.
Conclusion: Whether you choose to roam, buy a local SIM or simply spend less time online, we hope this information helps you make the most of your holidays. And if you have a minute between tasks, take a Speedtest® to see how your performance compares.
Source: ookla.com