5G networks provided a major boost to user experience at the biggest events this year, with a 20% higher share of 5G users reporting satisfaction compared to 4G users, according to research from comms giant Ericsson.

The company’s latest ConsumerLab report collected data from over 2,000 attendees at major events like the Paris Olympics, European Football Championship, and Taylor Swift’s Eras concerts, which provided a real-world testing ground for 5G’s capabilities in delivering connectivity in challenging traffic environments. 

5G leads to better experiences.  

Performance data showed that 5G networks provided a significantly improved user experience compared with 4G at the same locations, with a total of 67% of 5G users expressing high satisfaction with their experience.

Two out of three 5G users reported their expectations for connectivity were met or exceeded, with 5G having 20% more satisfied users than 4G at the same venues.

The performance uplift from 5G at these events allowed operators to accommodate a surge in upload traffic driven by live streaming and content sharing, although 60% of that traffic was generated by just one-quarter of event goers.

At the Taylor Swift concerts, attendees consumed an average of 5.4 TB of data per night, the equivalent of sharing over 1.7 million images on social media, downloading 94,000 hours of music, or listening to the artist’s entire catalogue more than 4,500 times on repeat. 

Ericsson said that relying solely on 4G to support that kind of intense upload traffic would have resulted in overloaded networks and huge connectivity failures.

During moments of peak network usage, users reported issues around network dropouts and inconsistent experiences using apps, which the ConsumerLab findings show is ten times more impactful on their perception than network speeds.

Paying for guaranteed connection.

The prospect of losing connection is pushing attendees to consider their options, with the study finding that consumers are willing to pay a premium for guaranteed connectivity and app experience during live events. 

Given the option of guaranteed, seamless connection as part of their ticket price, event goers said they would pay up to 15% more to improve their connectivity and app experience.

According to Ericsson, 5G standalone would be the best way for operators to meet this requirement, by allowing them to reserve a part of their network to provide assured quality of experience for specific users or apps.

Jasmeet Sethi, Head of ConsumerLab at Ericsson, said: “While network speed is important, it’s not the most important factor—our findings show that user satisfaction is driven more by the consistency and quality of app performance. 

“As previous ConsumerLab studies have already shown, poor experience can have a lasting impact on customer loyalty, and these results underline that users are willing to pay more for guaranteed service quality. 

“This means that, with 5G standalone, operators have a significant opportunity to meet rising user expectations and capitalize on premium services for consumers seeking assured quality of experience.”

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As well as the ConsumerLab study, Ericsson have published a technology paper detailing the technical steps operators took to ramp up their connectivity ahead of these big events, such as Orange deploying temporary mobile sites powered by 5G to handle 25% of total traffic for the anticipated 11 million attendees at the Paris Olympics.

With 5G rollouts continuing to show promising results, more UK firms are ready to invest. Research from Vodafone this year found that 40% of UK companies were ready to invest in 5G Standalone, with 14% intending to make the move within 12 months and nine in ten looking to technology to improve operational efficiency. 

To make the leap to 5G successful, however, the UK Government will have to focus on upgrading the country’s capabilities.

At the moment, the UK is drastically lagging behind in its 5G capabilities compared to other nations, ranking last in a list of 15 developing and advanced international markets.