London is trailing behind other major European cities in 5G performance, ranking alongside Brussels as the worst in the region, a report from broadband monitoring company MedUX showed.

The study, based on tests conducted across 15 major European cities in Q4 2024, revealed significant gaps in 5G connectivity across the continent. It highlighted that 5G availability, speed, and reliability across London and Brussels were significantly inferior compared to other European capitals.

However, findings suggested that network challenges are not just confined to those two cities, with users in key European capitals connected to 5G only 65 per cent of the time.

According to MedUX, inconsistent service quality remains a key challenge, limiting the technology’s “transformative potential”.

On the flip side, Porto and Stockholm emerged as top performers, with the city in Portugal taking the lead in data and OTT experiences. Stockholm delivered the strongest overall network performance and streaming quality. Lisbon followed closely, offering the most reliable network, highest success rates for internet sessions and the fastest 5G download speeds.

To improve the situation and meet goals for the Digital Decade programme by 2030, MedUX emphasised the need for policy reforms and renewed investments. The European Commission (EC) backed initiative aims to fast-track digital transformation in the region.

The study also evaluated mobile coverage in urban areas with more than 60 million inhabitants.

Sustained challenges
Earlier this week, a separate report by speed testing company Ookla further highlighted that despite the EC’s ambitious network infrastructure targets for the programme, Europe continues to lag behind the US and Asia in the deployment of standalone (SA) 5G networks.

In Q4 2024, China, India, and the US led the charts in SA 5G availability with Europe trailing far behind. According to the report, setbacks including poor performance and large disparities in the deployment of the technology across member states led Europe to have the “poorest outcomes in terms of 5G SA performance and availability among major global regions”.