MedUX, a specialist in international fixed and mobile network testing and benchmarking, has released its 2026 report on mobile network performance across Europe. The crowdsourcing research reveals that the Netherlands leads the region for overall Quality of Experience (QoE), a measure of user satisfaction, scoring 4.51 out of 5. Denmark and Norway follow closely behind as strong competitors, with Switzerland completing the top tier of European mobile network performance.

The research was conducted during Q4 2025 across more than 33 European countries, covering a population of over 656 million people. Built on over 180 million performance tests and 39 billion radio samples collected from actual mobile users, the report provides an independent, user-centric view of network performance as 5G matures across the continent.

Netherlands excels across multiple categories

The Netherlands secures the top position in overall QoE, standing out for reliability and consistency across all measured service categories. The country wins four major awards: Best Overall Experience, Best Reliability, Best Data & OTT Experience, and Best Value for Speed, demonstrating comprehensive network excellence.

With a reliability score of 91.1 per ccent, the Netherlands ensures users benefit from the most stable and consistent network performance in Europe. The country achieves 91.3 per cent for data and OTT, delivering a balanced, high-quality mobile experience across all use cases.

The Netherlands’ value for speed performance leads Europe, providing users with the fastest and most balanced download and upload speeds for data-intensive applications including cloud services, file transfers, and real-time communications.

Denmark and Norway complete podium as Northern European countries stand out

Denmark emerges as the second-best performing country with a QoE score of 4.43 out of 5, demonstrating very strong performance particularly in data and OTT services. The country achieves 89 per cent for Data & OTT experience and 88.9 per cent for value for speed, whilst leading Europe in social media performance.

Norway secures third place with a QoE score of 4.39 out of 5, offering a well-balanced mobile experience. The country wins the Streaming Award with 88.1 per cent of the score, delivering the best video experience in Europe with the highest 4K playback rates and minimal buffering.

Switzerland achieves a very good QoE score of 4.34 out of 5, completing the top tier of European markets. The country co-leads with Luxembourg in Network Responsiveness and also co-leads Gaming, demonstrating exceptional low-latency performance.

Netherlands sets European standard for mobile network quality

The Netherlands leads a group of Northern and Central European countries – including Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, and Finland – at the top of European rankings.

Across Europe, 5G deployment presents a varied landscape, characterised by significant regional differences and adoption rates. 5G has become the default experience in nations like the Netherlands and Denmark, with their strong deployment and take-up reflected in around 87 per cent 5G usage. This high prevalence also extends to the Nordics (Finland, Sweden) and Switzerland, where large 5G-led areas report over 80 per cent usage, reflecting robust infrastructure and enthusiastic adoption. While this stands in contrast to the more mixed 5G presence in major markets and the uneven availability in Southern and Eastern Europe. Despite these disparities, 5G now carries most of the mobile load across the continent, except in the lagging markets, though 4G continues to serve as a meaningful fallback even in advanced nations.

“This report showcases European excellence in mobile connectivity,” commented Jaime González, CMO at MedUX. “The Netherlands leads the way with truly exceptional performance, joined by Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland in demonstrating what world-class 5G can deliver. What’s exciting is that these countries prove the pathway exists – high-quality mobile experiences are not only possible but are being delivered across multiple European markets today. Their success provides valuable insights and a clear framework that other countries can learn from and build upon. As Europe advances its Digital Decade objectives, focusing on quality alongside coverage will unlock the full potential of 5G. We’re optimistic about Europe’s trajectory, and this benchmark shows that the expertise, infrastructure, and commitment to deliver outstanding connectivity exists across the continent.”

The crowdsourcing methodology employed by MedUX captures real-world user experience across multiple categories including network reliability, streaming quality, gaming performance, social media loading times, web browsing speed, and overall data throughput. The comprehensive approach provides insights into what users actually perceive, closely linking technical performance to customer satisfaction. MedUX is expanding its international mobile benchmarks with a new Connectivity Observatory that turns large-scale, real-user QoE measurements into clear, comparable country indicators, making internet experience more visible and actionable for operators, regulators, consumers and the digital society. The Observatory will track performance over time and highlight where connectivity is improving or falling behind. To celebrate leadership and accelerate progress, MedUX recognises the nations and operators delivering the best real-world experience, backed by a robust methodology and a repeatable publication cadence.

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Tags: 4G, 5G, mobile, netherlands