In 2023 the UK had slowest 5G mobile download speeds in the G7
According to newly released data, mobile users in the UK experienced the slowest average 5G download speeds of any G7 nation in 2023.
The research from Opensignal found that UK users experienced average speeds of 118.2 megabits per second (mbps) between 1 August and 29 October last year.
That was considerably behind the highest average speeds enjoyed by users in France, with 221.1 mbps – nearly twice as fast as average speeds in the UK.
Italy was closer to UK speeds but was still faster, with an average download speed of 131.9 mbps.
In 2022, the UK had the joint third download speeds alongside Germany but experienced a fall in average 5G download speeds from 136.5 mbps in 2022.
Opensignal found a decline in average download speeds in 11 of the 12 UK regions it tracked.
The UK also fared poorly in 5G upload speeds in 2023, with mobile users tracked by Opensignal achieving speeds of 14.6 mbps between August and October 2023.
Of the other countries in the G7, only Japan had slower average upload speeds, at 12.5 mbps.
One of the reasons the UK has fallen behind other advanced nations is a continuing ban on the use of equipment supplied by the Chinese firm Huawei due to security concerns.
The UK government announced in April that it had already succeeded in its stated aim to provide ‘basic’ 5G coverage for most of the population by 2027.