Millions of users help testing

In CHIP's tenth mobile network test, 2.6 billion user data were included for the first time in order to assess network quality and coverage. The experts covered more than 10,000 kilometers with test cars and on foot through Germany and evaluated smartphone data from more than 2 million users. The result: Deutsche Telekom is ahead by a nose - whether 4G, 3G or 2G.

Telekom wins overall victory again

The technology experts of CHIP and its partner NET CHECK were again on the way and tested on foot and with 27 different Smartphones equipped test vehicles the reliability of the portable radio nets in Germany. By Crowd Sourcing could be evaluated additionally for the first time also net data of 2.4 million Smartphone users. The result after evaluation of almost 2.7 billion test data records: O2 and Vodafone only see magenta taillights because - no matter if 4G, 3G or 2G - Telekom has the widest network coverage.

With an overall score of 1.3, Deutsche Telekom also secured the coveted first place in the toughest and fairest network test in Germany in terms of network quality and performance. Closely followed by Vodafone, which achieved a "very good" score of 1.5. O2 Telefónica again came in last, even slightly behind last year.

Large urban-rural divide

Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Munich - In these five large cities CHIP evaluates the networks separately. Here, too, Telekom wins just ahead of Vodafone, except in Munich, where Vodafone is just ahead. O2 also achieved good to very good marks in the major cities. In rural areas, things are quickly looking worse with the expansion of the network and politicians are failing, as Wolfgang Pauler, head of the CHIP test center responsible for the network test, says.

It is and remains the task of the government to ensure that suppliers have to reinvest some of the abundant profits they can reap in the conurbations in rural areas. When members of the government now claim, after the recently decided mobile communications strategy, that with an investment of 1.1 billion euros Germany will be supplied with LTE nationwide in two years, they deceive voters.“

Better network in long-distance trains

Some light at the end of the tunnel can now be seen in the long-distance train measurements: All network operators are in a much better position here than in the previous year, which is probably due, among other things, to the fact that investments were made in the expansion of supply in tunnels. However, the German networks are still a long way from the quality of the train supply that our neighbours in Switzerland are allowed to enjoy on a daily basis: when testing Youtube live streams, the rate of faulty streams among all network operators was above 20 percent.