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For the first time, all three mobile network operators in Germany received the grade “very good” in the network test carried out by the trade journal “Connect”.

This is a surprise success, especially for Telefónica.

In the past few years, the mobile operator was well behind Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone.

The “Connect” test is the most renowned investigation of network quality in mobile communications.

The network operators have never been so close to each other in terms of results.

Source: WORLD infographic

With this, the bottom of the class managed to catch up unprecedented.

In the past few years, Telefónica has been busy merging the O2 and E-Plus networks.

This repeatedly led to difficulties and complaints from users who complained about dead spots, creeping Internet connections and poor service.

Apparently the company was able to make improvements here.

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Overall, according to the study, all networks in Germany have improved in terms of voice connections and mobile Internet.

Even if the overall grade is the same for all three providers, there are differences:

The order has remained unchanged compared to the previous year.

Deutsche Telekom was able to take the top position for the tenth time in a row.

Vodafone follows in second place, and Telefónica is a little further behind.

Better reception in the car

For voice calls, reliability in cities large and small is or near 100 percent.

However, reliability decreases on connecting roads.

All providers now transmit voice over the 4G network (LTE), which leads to very short call setup times.

At Telekom and Vodafone this is only a second, at Telefónica around two seconds, and a little shorter in cities.

Source: WORLD infographic

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Those who value voice quality when traveling should rather drive a car.

Because it sinks noticeably on Deutsche Bahn trains, even if all network operators have improved somewhat.

Here even Vodafone takes a slight lead over Telekom.

Telefónica is clearly falling behind in the rail sector.

The fact that it is still enough for “very good” for Telefónica is due to the results for mobile data transmission.

Even here, Telekom has the best network throughout, but Telefónica is no longer lagging behind.

In large cities, Telefónica does at least as well as Vodafone.

Even better for mobile use outside of vehicles.

Telefónica is also in second place in the rail sector - and only just behind Telekom.

No comparison for the 5G cellular standard

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Rural regions have always been the domain of Telekom, here it is usually far ahead of its competitors.

But the competitors are quickly catching up there, as the network test shows.

However, there is still a lot to do for all network operators in small towns and on connecting roads.

Overall, however, it has been shown that Telekom still manages the highest data transmission rates and thus has the fastest network.

In trains, however, the performance of all providers drops significantly, even if they have improved compared to the previous year.

Telefónica has overtaken its competitor Vodafone in trains with mobile Internet.

Source: WORLD infographic

With the new and thus fifth 5G mobile communications standard, the “Connect” testers were only able to compare the providers to a limited extent.

Telefónica did not turn on the first 5G antennas in some cities until October, too late for the test.

The investigation confirms the information provided by mobile operators.

Telekom has a significantly higher 5G availability than Vodafone.

The Telekom wants to reach two thirds of the population with the new mobile radio by the end of the year.

Vodafone has set itself the goal of covering 15 million people.

Two billion individual readings

The managers of the cell phone companies are looking forward to the result of the “Connect” test.

Not least because the investigation is carried out by an independent party with great effort and enables comparability.

"Connect" is supported in its analysis by the service provider Umlaut.

In Germany, the testers drive around the country with four measuring vehicles and six smartphones each in October and November.

The results are listed as the results of the so-called "drive tests".

They are also testing the networks in Austria and Switzerland.

In total, more than 22,000 kilometers are covered and more than 400,000 data tests and almost 50,000 language tests are carried out.

In Germany, the measuring vehicles were used in 21 large and 25 small towns.

Measurements were taken on foot in ten cities.

These results are included in the overall ranking as "walk tests".

For the "Connect" test, Umlaut analyzes the data of more than 400,000 smartphone users in Germany, whose devices continuously provide anonymized data on network coverage and network quality in the background.

In this way, around two billion individual measured values ​​could be taken into account within a good five months.

The "white spots" in the mobile network should finally disappear

5G is to become the new cellular standard everywhere in Germany.

The operators are currently working feverishly on converting their networks.

The reality for many Germans is currently still "zero G".

Source: WELT / David Schafbuch