How mature is 5G deployment? A cross-sectional, year-long study of 5G uplink performance

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2025

Authors

Khan, I (Author) Other; Ghoshal, M (Author) Other; Angjo, J (Author) Other; Dimce, S (Author) Other; Hussain, M (Author) Other; Parastar, P (Author) Other; Yu, Y (Author) Other; Deng, X (Author) Other; Hawal, S (Author) Other; Huang, S (Author) Other; Rane, A (Author) Other; Wang, Y (Author) Other; Fiandrino, C (Author) Other; Orfanidis, C (Author) Other; Aggarwal, S (Author) Other; Ana Aguiar (Author) FEUP; Alay, O (Author) Other; Chiasserini, CF (Author) Other; Dressler, F (Author) Other; Hu, Y (Author) Other; Ko, Y (Author) Other; Koutsonikolas, D (Author) Other; Widmer, J (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Computer Communications

Vol. 237

ISSN: 0140-3664

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-018-JEC

DOI: 10.1016/j.comcom.2025.108153

Abstract (EN): After a rapid deployment worldwide over the past few years, 5G is expected to have reached a mature deployment stage to provide measurable improvement of network performance and user experience over its predecessors. In this study, we aim to assess 5G deployment maturity via three conditions: (1) Does 5G performance remain stable over a long time span (1 year)? (2) Does 5G provide better performance than its predecessor Long-Term Evolution (LTE)? (3) Does the technology offer similar performance across diverse geographic areas and cellular operators? We answer this important question by conducting two year-long measurement campaigns of 5G uplink performance leveraging a custom Android app: one crowd-sourced, cross-sectional campaign spanning 8 major cities in 7 countries and two different continents (Europe and North America), and one controlled campaign focusing on mmWave deployment at a fixed location in the downtown area of Boston, MA. Our datasets show that 5G deployment in major cities appears to have matured, with no major performance improvements observed over a one-year period, but 5G does not provide consistent, superior measurable performance over LTE, especially in terms of latency, and further there exists clear uneven 5G performance across the 8 cities. Our study suggests that, while 5G deployment appears to have stagnated, it is short of delivering its promised performance and user experience gain over its predecessor. © 2025

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific