In fiber optics, it is most likely that we will always have the contracted speed, or at least a large part of it. However, this is not the case in mobile networks, including 4G and 5G. There is talk of theoretical speeds, but the reality is very different. Today we analyze the service quality reports for the second quarter of 2023 to see the actual 4G speed of Movistar, Orange, Vodafone, Yoigo and Digi.
We return to the fray to extract the data published by the operators in their service quality reports. As we already told you, these must be sent to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation based on the Order IET/1090/2014, of June 16which seeks to facilitate transparency, guarantee minimum levels of quality or assure users of error-free billing by operators.
4G speed from major operators
The report includes 3 magnitudes, the average speed, the “95th Percentile Maximum Speed” and the “5th Percentile Minimum Speed”. To calculate them, the following is used, although in this article we are going to focus on average speed:
- To obtain the 95th percentile, all the measurements of the achieved transmission speed are taken, they are ordered from lowest to highest and the record corresponding to 95% of all of them is taken. It corresponds to the maximum speed reached among all download/upload attempts except the 5% fastest downloads/uploads.
- To obtain the 5th percentile, all the measurements of the achieved transmission speed are taken, they are ordered from lowest to highest and the record corresponding to 5% of all of them is taken. It corresponds to the minimum speed reached among all download/upload attempts except for the slowest 5% of downloads/uploads.
We begin the review with Movistar. The blues have reported an average download speed of 47.5 Mbps and an average upload speed of 27.4 Mbps. The second operator by number of clients is Orange and this tells us about download speeds of 48.5 Mbps and upload speeds of 27.8 Mbps. Very similar values between the two leaders in the sector.
Thirdly, we find Vodafone which is left with 53 Mbps average download speed and 24 Mbps average upload speed. The red operator takes the lead in speed by offering a little more on average than its main rivals. It follows closely yoigo which, with its 4G LTE, offers 51.6 Mbps download and 31.9 Mbps upload. The MásMóvil Group banner has the highest upload speed.
Finally, we talk about Digi which, despite using the Movistar network to offer its mobile services, does so independently as an MVNO and reports these data: 47.9 Mbps download speed and 24.15 Mbps upload speed.
As we see, there are enough parity between operators with few differences in average speeds. If we talk about peaks, with the 95th percentile, Vodafone takes the lead with 125 Mbps. In download speed, the fastest 95th percentile is Movistar with 56 Mbps.
Here other aspects are not valued such as coverage, frequency band and other things that influence the speed we have at that moment. As always, a real test carried out by ourselves in the areas where we usually move is key to determining which operator best meets our needs.