The Call for High Quality of Experience (QoE) networks in Europe to Transform Connectivity

Supporting Europe’s Digital Decade Goals, 2030: Advancing Meaningful Connectivity to Drive Europe’s Digital Transformation and Bridging the Connectivity Gap with High-Quality Networks for a Competitive Digital Future.

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, the importance of high-quality and meaningful connectivity cannot be overstated. As Europe drives forward with its Digital Decade 2030 Strategy, aiming for 100% 5G and FTTP coverage, the stakes for our continent’s digital future are higher than ever. Yet, the disparity in connectivity across regions, especially between urban and rural areas, underscores the critical need for urgent action to deliver a truly inclusive Gigabit Society.

At MedUX, we are not just advocates of this vision; we are actively shaping it. Our commitment to the Fourth Industrial Revolution is clear—5G and Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) are transformative enablers that will redefine Smart Cities, Efficient Mobility, Digital Health, and more. But beyond the infrastructure, it's the Quality of Experience (QoE) that will truly transform connectivity into a cornerstone of societal progress.

The State of Europe’s Connectivity: The Challenges Ahead

The EU’s Digital Decade 2030 Strategy sets ambitious goals for high-performance fixed and mobile networks. Yet, according to the latest 5G Observatory Report and State of the Digital Decade 2024 review, Europe is falling short of these targets:

• 5G coverage in Europe is at 89%, but due to over-dependence on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) and slow Stand-Alone (SA) 5G rollouts, it lacks the high-quality, low-latency networks required by industries and consumers. Only 51% of 3.4-3.8 GHz 5G coverage is achieved, serving as a "proxy" for high-quality 5G coverage that balances coverage and capacity.
• Fiber access reaches only 64% of households, with a low gigabit connection uptake of just 18.5%. If progress continues at the current pace, Europe risks missing its 2030 connectivity targets.

The Draghi Report further highlights the financial shortfall—an estimated EUR 200 billion investment gap—and warns that without consolidation and more aggressive national strategies, Europe’s digital infrastructure will lag behind global technology leaders such as the US, South Korea, and Japan. This is a wake-up call for policymakers, regulators, operators, and stakeholders across Europe to act now.

Meaningful Connectivity: The Time for Action is Now

At MedUX, we are calling for a paradigm shift. Speed and coverage, while critical, are no longer enough. We must shift our focus to Meaningful Connectivity—universal access to reliable, satisfying, and productive online experiences. This requires a comprehensive approach to measuring connectivity quality, going beyond traditional methods to include advanced tools such as active testing with robots, crowdsourcing and embedded SDKs. These tools ensure that we track not just where connectivity exists but how well it performs in real-world scenarios.

Our 5G QoE Benchmarking study reveals relevant disparities in network performance across European cities. These gaps are not just technical issues; they represent missed opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and societal development. To bridge this gap, we advocate for bold, agile collaboration between policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders. The EU must adapt its Digital Decade Strategy to reflect the realities of meaningful connectivity, focusing not just on coverage but also on the quality of the experience across all regions—urban, rural, and remote.

Bridging the Digital Divide: MedUX’s Vision for Europe

As we look towards 2030, MedUX is uniquely positioned to contribute whit valuable insights to shape Europe’s connectivity landscape. Our Gigabit Society for All vision focuses on:

1. Going beyond coverage for meaningful connectivity: Transforming basic connectivity into an impactful tool for societal development, where quality and service experience are key.
2. Understanding the details behind coverage targets: Policymakers must consider the fine details—spectrum allocation, bands employed, indoor/outdoor infrastructure, and 5G flavors (NSA & SA vs. DSS)—to create networks that meet future needs.
3. Catching up with world-class technology leaders: National strategies need to be more ambitious. It’s time for Europe to catch up with global technology leaders, accelerating investments and deployment rates.
4. Closing the urban-rural digital divide: Ensuring that the benefits of 5G and gigabit connectivity are equally distributed across all regions. Without intervention, Europe risks creating a 5G divide that leaves rural and remote areas behind.     
    

The current KPI tracking does not consider Quality of Service (QoS) or Quality of Experience (QoE). Most of the current 5G deployments can be categorised as “basic 5G”. "Stand-alone" 5G, which ensures high reliability, low latency and is crucial for enabling advanced features, is still not deployed on any meaningful scale. Since 2023, the European Commission, together with the Member States, has been working on an update of the 5G tracking KPIs.

Call to action: Join our 5G QoE Measurement Campaign

To further our mission, MedUX will soon be launching a new 5G QoE Measurement Campaign across Europe, one of the largest efforts to date to assess the real state of 5G in major European cities. We invite policymakers, regulators, and operators to join us in this initiative, providing key insights into 5G network performance from the user's perspective.

This campaign underscores MedUX's commitment to supporting the Digital Decade 2030 agenda. Our comprehensive MedUX Scorecard, transforming performance metrics into Mean Opinion Scores (MOSes), delivers a holistic view of network quality and customer experience across Europe.     
By participating, stakeholders can address gaps in connectivity quality, ensuring superior network performance for citizens and businesses alike.     
 

Key Findings from Our 5G Quality of Experience Benchmarking Study

In our latest 5G QoE Benchmarking Study, several key findings highlight the urgency of the current situation:

• Disparities in 5G Quality Across Europe: The MedUX report emphasises the gap between cities like Berlin, which perform well in 5G availability and QoE, versus cities like London, where overall experience lags despite individual operator successes. This highlights that 5G networks are not created equal, with users in certain regions facing inconsistent performance. Download speeds vary, with some regions still struggling to achieve basic levels of 5G performance.
• 5G Speed Gaps: For example, Lisbon shows an impressive average download speed of 528 Mbps, while London falls behind with just 142 Mbps. These disparities underscore the urgent need for policy action and investment to ensure equitable access to high-quality 5G networks.
• 5G Performance Does Not Guarantee Positive Experience: Despite coverage growth, QoE indicators reveal that users still experience issues like latency, slow downloads, and unreliable connections, even in well-covered cities.

Meaningful Connectivity is not yet a reality for many users, and urgent action is needed to close the gap between current 5G capabilities and the needs of businesses and consumers. QoE indicators show that many users experience suboptimal network performance, even in areas marked as "covered."

Conclusion: The Road Ahead

Europe stands at a critical juncture. The time to act is now. To remain competitive in the global digital economy, the EU and its member states must prioritise investment in high-quality digital infrastructure, including comprehensive measures for Quality of Experience (QoE). At MedUX, we are dedicated to leading the way, providing the tools, data, and insights to ensure that Europe achieves its Digital Decade 2030 goals.

Together, we can build a Gigabit Society for All—one that delivers meaningful connectivity to every citizen and business, driving Europe’s digital transformation and securing its place on the global stage.

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MedUX is the leading Quality of Experience (QoE) company, providing comprehensive and innovative solutions for measuring the performance of fixed, mobile, and TV telecommunications networks for telecom operators, governments, and digital enterprises. With a focus on delivering grand scale, end-to-end network, and service visibility, MedUX leverages real-time customer perspective data and advanced analytics to ensure quality and regulatory compliance, while also offering valuable insights for optimizing networks and improving customer experiences. With a presence in over 25 countries across Europe, America, Africa, and the Middle East, and monitoring over 60 operators worldwide, MedUX’s patented technology and expertise make it a trusted partner for improving the digital experiences of customers everywhere.