Bundesnetzagentur publishes annual report on broadband speed tests
Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.03.21
Today the Bundesnetzagentur has again published detailed results of its broadband speed tests (Breitbandmessung). This time, the focus is on the ongoing 5G rollout in mobile communications. In the most recent 2022/2023 reporting period, 5G measurements already make up 28.5% of all measurements (2020/2021 reporting period: 6%).
"I'm pleased that the network operators are pushing ahead rapidly with the 5G rollout. More and more mobile customers are benefiting from very high speeds. This trend will pick up even more in the coming years,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.
It is possible to achieve very high data transmission rates with 5G, which are sometimes well over the contractually agreed estimated maximum of the relevant tariff. This year's annual report includes a special examination of such measurements.
Results for fixed broadband connections
The proportion of fixed broadband users whose connection had a download speed of at least half their contractually agreed maximum speed was 85.5% (2021/2022: 84.4%). The proportion of users whose connection had a speed equivalent to or higher than their contractually agreed maximum speed was 43.5% (2021/2022: 42.3%). Slight improvements on the previous year were thus evident.
Most end-users (79.1%; 2021/2022: 78.2%) were satisfied with the performance of their provider (rating of 1 to 3 on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the highest). 10.4% of customers (2021/2022: 10.9%) gave their connection a rating of 5 or 6. These results show that customer satisfaction was slightly higher than in the previous year. The actual speeds measured by satisfied end-users were closer to the contractually agreed maximum speeds.
Results for mobile broadband connections
For mobile broadband connections, general performance was again considerably lower than for fixed broadband. The proportion of users across all bandwidth categories and providers whose connection had at least half their contractually agreed estimated maximum speed was 25.5% (2021/2022: 23.2%). The proportion of users whose connection had a speed equivalent to or higher than their contractually agreed estimated maximum speed was 4% (2021/2022: 3%).
The large majority of end-users (70.4%) once again gave their providers a rating of 1 to 3. This is a very small decline on the previous 12-month period (2021/2022: 70.8%). The fact that at the same time the broadband speeds measured as a percentage of the contractually agreed estimated maximum speeds were again low still suggests that mobile broadband users rated mobility and absolute speeds higher than actually receiving their contractually agreed maximum speeds.
Speed test results do not allow conclusions on broadband coverage
The test results depend on the tariffs agreed between the users and their providers. It is therefore not possible to draw conclusions from the broadband speed checker results about broadband coverage or the availability of broadband internet access. Rather, the tests show if the providers supply their customers with the contractually agreed bandwidth.
Annual report on broadband speed tests
The eighth annual report covers the period from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023. A total of 305,035 valid tests were made using the desktop app (2021/2022: 398,747 valid tests). For the mobile sector, the number of valid tests was 563,363 (2021/2022: 623,581).
The reports on fixed and mobile broadband connections (in German) as well as an executive summary are available at https://breitbandmessung.de/archiv-jahresberichte. A separate document provides explanations on the validation, the methodology used and the test results.
The interactive graphs and tables (in German) at https://breitbandmessung.de/interaktive-darstellung provide more detailed information and results relating to all providers.
Breitbandmessung Annual Report 2022/2023 - Short Version (pdf / 1 MB)