How good are Telekom, Vodafone and O2?

By Adrian Muehlroth | Dec 02, 2022 1:58 p.m

Who has the best mobile network in Germany and what about 5G coverage? The network test from COMPUTER BILD answers these and more questions.

Telekom still at the top

Year after year, Telekom takes first place in terms of coverage and speeds in the mobile network. On average, Telekom users achieve a download rate of 100.5 megabits per second (Mbit/s). Vodafone is in second place with 70 Mbit/s, followed by O2 with 64.3 Mbit/s. The differences in 5G speeds look similar. Here, too, Telekom is clearly ahead with 187.9 Mbit/s, followed by Vodafone with 124.3 Mbit/s and O2 with 99.8 Mbit/s. With 4G/LTE, on the other hand, the providers are closer together. Although Telekom leads with 73 Mbit/s, Vodafone and O2 are not far behind with 59.2 Mbit/s and 55.6 Mbit/s.

COMPUTER BILD also examined the coverage of the three providers with 5G and 4G/LTE in the 2023 network test. The result: the proportion of 5G measurements has increased. Overall, 34 to 41 percent of the measurements took place in the 5G network. According to the study, Vodafone and O2 have significantly expanded their 5G networks. However, this is often not “real” 5G. Typically, the older 4G towers are upgraded to expand 5G coverage. However, these masts transmit at frequencies below 6 gigahertz and are not compatible with millimeter wave (mmWave) beyond 24 GHz, which characterizes “true” 5G. In such regions, the speeds are therefore somewhere between 4G and “real” 5G.

Download speed increased by 30 percent

The 2023 network test shows that download speeds have increased significantly across all measurements. Compared to the previous year, the download rate has increased from 47.1 Mbit/s to 62.7 Mbit/s – an increase of almost 30 percent. This is good news, but in an international comparison Germany is still only in the middle. Countries like Norway and South Korea achieve speeds that are twice as high.

In 13 of the 15 cities with the most measurements, Telekom users are by far the fastest. In terms of downloads, Cologne is at the top here with an average of 299.2 Mbit/s in the Telekom network. That’s more than twice as fast as Vodafone (132.8 Mbit/s) and more than three times as fast as O2 (84.4 Mbit/s). Vodafone and O2 are only able to hold their ground ahead of Telekom in 14th and 15th place among the cities evaluated. In Dresden, which occupies 14th place, Vodafone leads with 126.1 Mbit/s, Telekom achieves 49.6 Mbit/s and O2 63.8 Mbit/s. Bottom of Bochum in 15th place goes to O2, whose users achieve an average downstream of up to 62.9 Mbit/s. Telekom and Vodafone are significantly slower at 52.7 Mbit/s and 46.1 Mbit/s respectively.

Netztest 2023 shows two-class society

While the speed is increasing and the expansion is progressing, the 2023 network test also reveals the problems with mobile communications in Germany. The fact that almost 60 to 70 percent of the measurements were still taken in the 4G network is not just due to a lack of coverage. COMPUTER BILD criticizes that discount tariffs often do not include 5G and users can therefore only surf with 4G/LTE. It is also evident that the gap between town and country is widening. While urban users can often access mmWave 5G at high speeds, rural regions are left behind. On average, rural users can only achieve half the download rates in cities. Christian Just, head of the Telekom & Internet department at COMPUTER BILD says: “The networks are getting better and better – but users without 5G will soon be left behind. There is a threat of a two-class society for mobile phone users. In addition, the pressure to expand the network is increasing, especially in areas with very patchy networks. Less bureaucracy, especially at the municipal level, would help with the pace of expansion.”

source

COMPUTER IMAGE: COMPUTER BILD’s big network test: Who has the best network for 2023? (accessed December 2, 2022)