The UK’s 5G experience is among the worst in Europe, according to a new report from MedUX, with the country lagging in 5G availability, latency and speed, critical gaps that risk undermining real-time digital services.

After examining data from millions of users across more than forty countries, the network monitoring firm’s latest 5G QoE Research Study found that Britain struggles with an average 5G availability of below 35%.

That means that only around one in three mobile data sessions in the UK were found to use a 5G connection, even when users have 5G-capable phones and are in areas with supposed coverage. 

It is far behind countries like Greece, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which all achieved more than 65% in 5G availability, leaving UK users more often than not connecting over 4G, even where 5G should be available on paper.

MedUX also found the UK performed poorly in download speeds, reaching less than 51 Mbps, and upload speeds, hitting less than 14 Mbps, as well as suffering packet loss exceeding 0.6%, double that of countries like Switzerland.

For those binge-watching Netflix, there’s bad news, with the report finding that the UK has among the highest stalling ratios in Europe at more than 0.4%, similar to rates observed in southern and eastern European nations.

For British gamers, it’s even worse, with MedUX identifying high gaming latency and the continent’s highest average jitter, at 33.48 milliseconds, making for one of the most unstable connections in Europe.

Overall, the report shows that the UK is falling far below ‘gold standard’ countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands, despite the UK Government investing £40 million to accelerate 5G innovation across the country just two years ago, not to mention a further £88 million for R&D connectivity projects.    

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A recent report from Ofcom outlines the scale of the problem. The regulator’s Connected Nations report, first published in December, found that 4G remains the most used technology across the UK, carrying 78% of total mobile data traffic.

While mobile operators are steadily deploying more 5G networks, Ofcom found that these currently carry only 21% of total monthly traffic, despite coverage ranging between 61% and 79%.

Similar studies to MedUX’s provide more evidence of the impact this is having on UK connectivity. Research from Speedtest.net in January found that just 42% of the UK population has 5G devices that are mainly connected to 5G networks, compared to more than 83% in Denmark.

Likewise, a study from the Social Market Foundation late last year found that the UK ranks last in a list of 15 international markets when it comes to 5G capabilities, with British users only having access to a 5G signal 10% of the time, causing the think tank to call on government to implement a ‘new deal for 5G’ to dramatically improve the UK’s standing.