The UAE topped the GCC 5G rankings for 5G Download Speed, with users having experienced average speeds of 316.8 Mbps, ahead of Qatar’s score of 278.5 Mbps and Kuwait's score of 263.4 Mbps, according to the UK mobile analytics company OpenSignal.
In this first GCC 5G Experience Benchmark, the same three markets topped the rankings for 5G Peak Download Speeds as well, with scores of 743.3 Mbps in UAE, 713.4 Mbps in Qatar and 663.7 Mbps in Kuwait.
5G Peak Download Speeds were more than twice as fast as the average 5G Download Speeds in all six GCC markets. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman, the difference was closer to three times as fast — the ratio between 5G peak and average speeds was 2.7 times.
The 5G Upload Speeds were considerably slower than the 5G Download Speeds. Average 5G Upload Speeds were approximately one-tenth the speed of users’ average 5G Download Speeds because initial versions of 5G technologies have focused on the download connection.
In terms of video experience, Kuwait topped the market where users rated an excellent experience (75 or above on the 100-point scale) while UAE scored 72.4. On mobile video streaming, Qatar dropped further with a score of 68.6. Other than Kuwait, all five remaining markets had a very good 5G Video Experience (65-75) meaning that users saw generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling.
For 5G Games Experience, UAE ranked first with a score of 74 on a 100-point scale while Qatar (69.6), Bahrain (69.6) and Kuwait (67.4) followed respectively, quantifying the multiplayer real-time gaming experience of users in 5G.
In the 5G Voice App Experience using popular mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger and Facetime, Qatar topped the rankings with a score of 80.6 on a 100-point scale, with only 3.2 points separating the six GCC markets.
Users experienced a vast difference in the speeds using 5G compared with the older 4G technology in all six markets. Average 5G Download Speeds were between 8.6 and 5.6 times faster. 5G Video Experience with 5G connectivity boosted the mobile video streaming experience by between 24 and 45%. These stark differences highlight the importance of helping users to connect to 5G as often as possible so they can enjoy this better experience.
Comparing the time users spent with an active 5G connection — 5G Availability —Saudi Arabia scored 28.2%. Though Saudi Arabia ranked third, it is by far the largest market in both geographic area and population, and yet its score is only a small percentage behind Bahrain (34.9%) and Kuwait (33.6%). Markets much smaller than Saudi Arabia scored lower, with Qatar scoring 16.9%, UAE 15.3% and Oman 13.9%.
Also read: Four GCC countries among top 10 mobile speeds globally
Also read: UAE ranks 1st on mobile, top 20 in fixed broadband speeds globally
