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Average 5G download speeds in the US are 50.9Mbps, a nice step up from average 4G speeds, but far behind several countries where 5G speeds are in the 200Mbps to 400Mbps range. These statistics were reported today by OpenSignal, which presented average 5G speeds in 12 countries based on user-initiated speed tests conducted between May 16 and August 14. The US came in the last of the 12 countries in 5G speeds , with 10 of the 11 other countries posting 5G speeds that at least double those of the US.
The US average 5G speed is 1.8 times higher than the country’s average 4G download speed of 28.9 Mbps. Usage testing in neighboring Canada produced a 4G average of 59.4Mbps and a 5G average of 178.1Mbps. Taiwan and Australia both produced 5G averages above 200Mbps, while South Korea and Saudi Arabia produced the highest 5G speeds at 312.7Mbps and 414.2Mbps, respectively.
In the US, average download speeds for users who had access to 5G at least some of the time were 33.4 Mbps – that figure includes both their 4G and 5G experiences. This was the second lowest of the 12 countries surveyed by OpenSignal, with the highest speeds in Saudi Arabia (144.5Mbps) and Canada (90.4Mbps). The US performed better in 5G availability, the percentage of time users were connected to 5G; the US figure in that statistic is 19.3 percent, fifth best, with Saudi Arabia first at 34.4 percent and the United Kingdom last at 4.5 percent.
These charts show how the 12 countries step up in 4G and 5G download speeds, the percentage of time users are connected to 5G, and total download speeds:
OpenSignal says it “collects billions of measurements daily from more than 100 million devices worldwide.” OpenSignal told Ars that the 12 countries included in the report are the ones in which it has collected the highest quality data.
Modest speed bump in low band spectrum
The relatively small gap between 4G and 5G speeds in the US (28.9Mbps vs 50.9Mbps) reflects the widespread use of low bandwidth for both the old and new networks. In particular, T-Mobile has upgraded large parts of its low-band 4G network to 5G, which provides a speed increase, but not the enormous speed upgrades that are possible in 5G networks that rely on high-band spectrum. The OpenSignal report explained:
The modest 5G download speeds in the US are due to a combination of the limited amount of new mid-band 5G spectrum available and the popularity of low-band spectrum T-Mobile’s 600MHz and AT & T’s 850MHz-which are excellent offer availability and range but lower average speeds than the 3.5GHz midband spectrum used as the main 5G band in any country outside the US.
Earlier OpenSignal research released in June, based on tests between March 16 and June 13, showed that Verizon is by far the US leader in average 5G download speeds, at 494.7 Mbps. T-Mobile and its newly acquired subsidiary Sprint both posted average 5G speeds of just 49Mbps, while AT&T posted an average of 60.8Mbps.
But Verizon’s 5G network is small, in large part because of Verizon’s reliance on millimeter-wave frequencies that are easily blocked by walls and do not travel far, so Verizon’s high 5G download speeds have virtually no impact on the US average across all carriers. OpenSignal speed test app users were able to get a Verizon 5G signal just 0.4 percent of the time, compared to 22.5 percent for T-Mobile, 14.1 percent for Sprint, and 10.3 percent for AT&T. OpenSignal’s June report shows the average 5G download speeds per carrier, 5G carrier availability, and total speeds experienced by 5G users on each carrier:
For more detail on how 5G works across different spectrum bands, see Ars’ Jim Salter’s recent feature, “What the advent of 5G – mmWave and others – will mean for online gaming.”
Despite Verizon’s small 5G network, the FS ranks higher in 5G availability than in 5G speeds, because the low-band spectrum used by other carriers’ is ideally suited to enable large 5G range and users more time to connect than in higher frequency countries. 5G spectrum, “OpenSignal wrote in today’s report. “In the US, the low-band 5G services from T-Mobile and AT&T have helped drive a high 5G availability result. T-Mobile US’s very recent launch of standalone access 5G – where a phone is no longer needed to connect with 4G to work for 5G – should help 5G services in the future. “
The slow shift from 4G to 5G may seem familiar to those who remember the shift from 3G to 4G that began about ten years ago. The 5G brand is currently “unripe” in the OpenSignal view. “We are still in the early stages of a 5G era that will last at least a decade, as the first 5G services were only launched in 2019, and in some countries we will continue to see 5G services targeted at smartphones users launching for the first time, “the report said.
