The specialist magazine “Connect” puts the three German mobile networks through their paces. One provider scores “outstanding”, but the other two also do “very well”. All three candidates still have a lot of room for improvement in trains.
The expansion of the German mobile networks is progressing, all three operators are improving in the “Connect” test. The specialist magazine praises the operators who, in the face of global delivery bottlenecks, drastic energy price increases and increasing cyber attacks, offer customers the “usual quality”. Deutsche Telekom does this particularly well, with 952 out of a possible 1000 points, which received the overall rating of “outstanding” and is the clear test winner. Vodafone and O2 are catching up and were rated “very good” with 915 and 849 points respectively.
When making calls, all three providers impressed with short call set-up times, with Telekom coming out on top in all scenarios. In big cities and on connecting roads, O2 is slightly better than Vodafone, in small towns it’s the other way around.
Telephone calls on trains are still no fun in Germany, compared to the exemplary performance of the Swiss network operators, “Connect” sees “continued room for improvement” among German providers. At least Telekom and Vodafone are improving in this discipline compared to the previous year, while O2 is treading water.
While phone calls only contribute 27 percent to the overall grade, “Connect” has increased the share of data evaluation to 48 percent, since users are now focusing on apps, messaging, streaming and web surfing. Here, too, Telekom clearly defends its lead, but in the big cities the lead is only wafer-thin. In the small towns only the front runner was able to improve, in the countryside Telekom is well ahead of Vodafone and O2.
According to the test report, all three providers have made great progress, especially with the 5G expansion. This not only applies in big cities, but also in small towns, on streets and even on the train. In trains, the distance to Switzerland is still “strikingly clear” despite small advances, write the testers.
For the so-called crowd rating, “Connect” determined what actually matters to users in contrast to the possible performance. In this discipline, O2 surprised the examiners by outperforming Vodafone in terms of broadband coverage. When it comes to the quality of broadband coverage, the two rivals are on par, and when it comes to time, Vodafone is just ahead of O2. Overall, Telekom is also ahead in all aspects here.
