5G usage is expanding across Europe, but user experience varies widely, with Poland’s average 5G download speed increasing by 57% year-on-year and Sweden’s declining by 23% in the same period. Research from Opensignal points to spectrum availability and use as the reason for these current opposing trends and key to the future of services in the region.
The investigation by the provider of independent insights into consumers’ connectivity experiences and choice of carrier highlighted significant differences in 5G performance across Europe. It found three clear trends: a mixed picture of 5G download speeds in Europe; 3.5GHz band driving 5G speed; and the addition of lower bands.
Looking at the disparities in 5G download speeds across markets, the study found that mobile users in Poland and the Netherlands were enjoying year-on-year improvements from May 2024 to May 2025, while in contrast, markets such as Sweden and Denmark saw declines over the same period.
Opensignal suggested one possible reason for declining speeds was increased network congestion. It noted that as more users adopt 5G and more devices connect, networks experience performance degradation. It added that scaling physical infrastructure – such as small cells, fibre backhaul, or network densification – is capital-intensive and slow-moving, requiring long-term investment. Indeed, the analyst stated that it may not be possible in many cases due to local planning and other infrastructure regulations.
Yet Opensignal pointed out that shifts in spectrum usage are also key drivers of the evolving mobile experience across Europe, in particular with increases in the use of the 3.5GHz spectrum strongly correlating with higher 5G download speeds.
Opensignal noted that the 3.5GHz band is widely seen as ideal for 5G because it balances capacity and coverage, making it well-suited for enhanced mobile broadband services. Yet even though commercial 5G deployments began in Europe in 2019 in Switzerland, the assignment of 5G spectrum licences and subsequent roll-outs have varied widely across markets. In addition, the study observed that some regulators delayed 3.5GHz assignments, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and these delays have affected performance outcomes.
Looking at the aforementioned Poland and the Netherlands, Opensignal pointed out that recent 3.5GHz spectrum auctions held in both countries have enabled operators to fully utilise this key band, replacing their earlier reliance on lower-frequency bands, such as 700MHz and 1.8GHz in the Netherlands, or 2.1GHz and 2.6GHz in Poland. This shift, said Opensignal, has driven “significant” performance improvements.
Assessing Poland in particular, the study observed that the country’s earlier reliance on lower bands had constrained 5G performance and that since gaining access to the 3.5GHz band, Polish operators have quickly ramped up its usage, consequently unlocking much faster speeds.
Yet a reason why other countries are seeing reduced download speeds is that some established advanced 5G markets – such as Austria, Finland and Sweden, all early adopters of the 3.5GHz band – are increasingly using additional bands to fulfil 5G growth capacity needs and for rural coverage due to investment commitments derived from assignments. Indeed, the company said that as 5G evolves, operators will increasingly refarm lower frequencies to boost capacity using multiband carrier aggregation.
Opensignal said the 700MHz band is especially well-suited for this, and European regulators often attach rural coverage obligations to licences in this band, though the band also provides indoor and continued 5G use in urban areas.
The report noted that the Swedish regulator has linked leading telco Telia’s 700MHz licence with a requirement to provide at least 10Mbps in designated areas. Additionally, the analyst said it has observed growing use of the 2.1GHz band for 5G, offering wider coverage than higher frequencies, while still providing what it regards as “reasonable” capacity.
Going forward, the study suggests wider bandwidths available to 5G mobile users will boost 5G download speeds, and each new generation of mobile technology has introduced significantly wider channel bandwidths, enabling mobile networks to increase their overall capacity and transmit more data simultaneously.
Openreach expects 6G networks to push channel bandwidths even further, starting with 200MHz per operator, and notes that ongoing discussions around spectrum for 6G are already underway in Europe, with major implications for how the next generation of connectivity will be deployed and integrated across industries, devices and public infrastructure.
