By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW Chairman & CEO
A study released last week surveys wireless connectivity performance in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Finland: Wi-Fi for the most part easily beats cellular for both daily and peak data rates – and around the clock. Finland is the only outlier. The study is authored by Finland-based mobile analytics company Netradar.
In an age where 5G marketers are only too happy to discuss gigabit smartphone data rates, current, everyday smartphone rates appear to originate from a different universe. Case in point: A new study by mobile analytics company Netradar has found that current cellular services in the UK, Germany, and Finland mostly operate at peak data rates well below 20 Mbps and – in all cases except for outlier Finland – the cellular rates find themselves solidly beaten by Wi-Fi.
In Germany, both peak and daily Wi-Fi rates are for the most part 40-50% higher than cellular rates. The average (daily) Wi-Fi data rate holds fairly steady around 8 Mbps while cellular delivers only around 5 Mbps or less. In the UK a similar pattern emerges although cellular average (daily) rates are higher and perhaps 20% below equivalent Wi-Fi average rates.
The outlier in the analysis is – not surprisingly – Finland, a market that has always stood out in terms of cellular maturity and development. For Finland cellular and Wi-Fi rates are curiously (nearly) identical at peak rates varying from 15 to 25 Mbps, depending on time of day.
/Claus.
Below: Comparing German cellular & Wi-Fi data rates as a function of time of day. Source: Netradar