In fiber optics, it is likely that we always have a contracted speed, or at least a large part of it. However, this is not the case with mobile networks, including 4G and 5G. There is talk of theoretical speed, but the reality is very different. Today we will analyze the quality of service reports for the second quarter of 2023 to see the actual speed of 4G in Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, Yoigo and Digi.
We are back in the fight to get the data that operators publish in their quality of service reports. As we told you, it must be sent to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation based on Order IET/1090/2014, the 16th of June which seeks to facilitate transparency, guarantee a minimum level of quality or assure users of no false billing by operators.
4G speed from major operators
The report includes 3 magnitudes, the average speed, the “95th Percentile Maximum Speed” and the “5th Percentile Minimum Speed”. To calculate them, the following are used, although in this article we will focus on the average speed:
- To obtain the 95th percentile, all the measurements of the achieved transmission speed are taken, they are ordered from the lowest to the highest and the record corresponding to 95% of all of them is taken. This corresponds to the maximum speed reached by all download/upload attempts except the 5% fastest download/upload.
- To get the 5th percentile, all the measurements of the achieved transmission speed are taken, they are ordered from the lowest to the highest and the record corresponding to 5% of all of them is taken. This corresponds to the minimum speed reached by all download/upload attempts except for the slowest 5% of downloads/uploads.
Let’s start the review with Movistar. Blues reported an average download speed of 47.5 Mbps and an average upload speed of 27.4 Mbps. The second operator of the number of clients is orange and it tells us about download speeds of 48.5 Mbps and upload speeds of 27.8 Mbps. Similar values ​​between the two sector leaders.
Third, we will see Vodafone which is left with 53 Mbps average download speed and 24 Mbps average upload speed. The red operator leads the way in speed by offering slightly more average than its main rivals. It is closely followed you are enough which, with its 4G LTE, offers 51.6 Mbps download and 31.9 Mbps upload. MásMóvil Group’s banner has the fastest upload speed.
Finally, we are talking about Digi which, despite using the Movistar network to offer its mobile services, makes it independent as an MVNO and reports these data: 47.9 Mbps download speed and 24.15 Mbps upload speed.
As we have seen, there is enough similarity between operators with little difference in average speed. If we talk about peaks, with the 95th percentile, Vodafone leads with 125 Mbps. In download speed, the fastest 95th percentile is Movistar with 56 Mbps.
HERE other aspects are not appreciated such as coverage, frequency band and other things that influence the speed we have at that moment. As always, a real test carried out by ourselves in the places where we often operate is the key to determine which operator best meets our needs.
