Britain’s smartphone users suffer slowest 5G speeds in G7

MOBILE phone users in Britain suffered from the slowest 5G download speeds of any G7 country this year, according to data.

The UK has fallen behind Germany and France in the roll-out of high-speed mobile network technology, despite ministers claiming it is key to boosting economic growth.

British smartphone users had average 5G download speeds of 118.2 megabits per second (mbps) between Aug 1 and Oct 29, according to Opensignal, a mobile network think tank. This is 13pc lower than the 136.5mbps recorded during the same period last year, when Britain was ranked joint third best performing country with Germany, the Financial Times reported.

In France and Germany, mobile users enjoyed average 5G download speeds of 221.1mbps and 151.8mbps respectively.

It means that Britain is the worst performing member in the G7, after Italy increased download speeds 35pc from 97.6mbps to 131.9mbps.

The UK was one of the first countries to commercially launch 5G in 2019, with the mobile and wireless technology hailed as one of the most important developments in history. However, Britain has since fallen behind in the global race to 5G following security concerns about critical telecoms equipment made by Chinese company Huawei. Network operators have until 2027 to replace Huawei’s kit in British 5G infrastructure following concerns that the hardware could be used for spying, allegations that the Chinese supplier has repeatedly denied.

The Huawei ban, along with insufficient investment by phone operators, slowed the UK’S 5G roll-out, resulting in restricted coverage across the country. Average download speeds fell in 11 of 12 regions last year, according to Opensignal, with Northern Ireland and the West Midlands among the worst laggards.