With speeds attained on 5G networks varying so much among operators globally, how much value for money are consumers getting for their 5G data? And are operators selling low-grade 5G price plans that do not belong on the 5G network at all? Speedcheck investigates the 5G speed-price Index attributed to 257 unique 5G price plans from 72 mobile operators in 23 countries. Find out more about best & worst 5G plans around the world below.

For the 5G SPI study, Speedcheck selected 23 countries based on a combination of factors. These include their high GDP and reputation for being technologically advanced (examples being the USA, South Korea, Germany, Sweden, etc.). From these 23 countries, Speedcheck selects 72 5G service providers and studied a total of 257 5G SIM-only consumer mobile data plans. For each of these unique price plans or tariff packages, Speedcheck derived a monthly price per gigabyte (GB) of 5G data consumers are paying in their local currency, which was then converted into U.S. dollars. Speedcheck also adjusted this price per GB using the Purchasing Power Index (PPI) for each country, which gives a more realistic view of what it truly costs the local consumer against an international reference point.

5G SPI – the results

The Top 20 5G operators-price plans for SPI

Of the 257 unique 5G price plans studied globally, Orange Romania’s Smart 15 tariff is ranked first place with an SPI of 120.69 (normalised value).

The same operator also appears in both third and seventh places with their Smart Plus 20 and Smart Plus 25 price plans, respectively.

In Speedcheck’s most recent cycle of speed measurements by their users (June and July), Orange Romania has the fastest 5G network globally with a median speed of 479.15 Mbps. It has beaten SK Telecom South Korea into second place, whose measured speed is 462.24 Mbps.

LG U+ South Korea has the third-fastest speed in the world with 403.34 Mbps. However, LG U+ only managed to make it to 20th position in our 5G SPI global ranking because of the high cost of its 5G Premier Regular tariff, which is $105.84/month (PPI adjusted).

On the other hand, SK Telecom South Korea provides good price plans that are a little less expensive, resulting in four of their tariffs making it to 5th, 8th, 11th, and 14th positions in our ranking list. And so, South Korea is undoubtedly well represented even though mobile data is generally quite expensive in the country.

In second place in 5G SPI list is Sunrise Switzerland’s Start plan, which has the second cheapest price plan on the list at an incredible $24.87/month. For that, you get a very respectable 5G speed, 248.62 Mbps according to Speedcheck users’ measurements on Sunrise, and unlimited data.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Sunrise Switzerland also appears in 13th and 19th positions with more of their great 5G price plans.

In fourth place is Three UK’s Unlimited Data Pack which has the lowest price on the list at $16.38/month. For that, you get 144.93 Mbps, as measured by Speedcheck’s Three UK users, which is a decent speed, at least in terms of practical achieved 5G speeds and not theoretical 5G speeds. It also comes with unlimited data. One problem with this tariff is that it is a 24-month contract.

Noticeable by their absence from the top 20 list are the United States, Germany, and France. In the case of the U.S., the reason is the speeds measured are generally trailing behind the leaders in the field. In Frances’s case, the reason is down to the generally very high prices for 5G data. For Germany, it is a combination of relatively high prices and below-par speeds measured.

The first American operator to appear in the ranking list is GCI Wireless, whose FastPhone tariff appears in 59th place. The first French operator to appear in the list is Orange France, whose “Go illimités 5G” price plan is ranked 84th globally. It costs $152.51/month (PPI adjusted). The first German operator to appear on the list is O2 Germany, whose “Allrounder – Free Unlimited Smart” tariff is ranked 60th globally.

The Bottom 20 5G operators-price plans for SPI

The following list is arranged with the worst-ranking entries at the bottom. Therefore, while the bottom entry is the worst performer for 5G SPI, the top of the list is the 20th worst performer.

Surprisingly, Vodafone UK occupies the third-worst position globally with its RED 1 GB tariff 30-day tariff. You get 1 GB of bundled data allowance per month, relatively poor speed of 84.39 Mbps by global 5G standards, as measured by Speedcheck’s Vodafone UK users, all for a price of $39.24/month, which is not cheap. The same tariff on a 12-month contract secures the 7th worst SPI position in the world (251st out of 257), costing $19.63, while the 24-month version occupies the 9th worst-ranked position (249th out of 257).

5G Price Plans – Best Performers and Worst Offenders

5G price plans – Best Performers

We now look at the 5G price plans themselves without reference to the speed measured by Speedcheck users on each operator’s network. The metrics used in this section, including speed, are all taken from the price plans. Consequently, this is strictly a 5G price plan-only analysis. From our study into 257 5G price plans from 72 operators, we list below the best performers in the category of service-level performance.

Again, the prices are all adjusted using the Purchasing Power Index (PPI) for each country, normalised against the United States.

For a price plan to be included in this list of best performers, Speedcheck has chosen to cap the price at $70/month (PPI adjusted). This means that there may be even better 5G services offered by other operators, but which Speedcheck has excluded from the Best Performers list because of their very high prices (>$70/month).

For example, Orange France offers an excellent service with their Go illimités 5G price plan. It boasts excellent speeds of up to 2.1 Gbps download and 126 Mbps upload, with unlimited data and 100 GB of roaming thrown in for good measure. So why is it excluded? Because it costs $152.51 per month (PPI adjusted) after the initial reduction expires.

This seems like an exorbitant price for any ordinary consumer to have to pay for a SIM-only subscription. It is so off the scale that it would almost merit entry into the worst offenders. However, because of its excellent service, we shall leave it only as a comment here. Similarly, the SFR France Unlimited 5G tariff offers a great service but again very expensive at $128.44 per month.

Likewise, more price plans from South Korea, which has some of the fastest 5G networks globally, would have made it into the best list but for their very high prices.

Considering the price point and the service level offered within the tariff, the winner is Orange Romania’s Smart 15 tariff package. Not only is the price set to a reasonable value by international comparison, their advertised maximum attainable speeds of 1200 Mbps download (DL) and 100 Mbps upload (UL) are proper 5G speeds.

According to the most recent 5G speed tests, as measured by Speedcheck users, Orange Romania now has the fastest 5G network globally. Therefore, their advertised maximum available DL can be trusted.

The tariff is also based on a rolling monthly subscription which is a big plus for many people.

In second place is Vodafone Netherlands. This is remarkable if for no other reason than Vodafone Netherlands also has a tariff appearing in our Worst Offenders list below. But with their RED Unlimited tariff, they got it right, offering unlimited data at an excellent maximum speed, all for under $50 a month. Having said that, their fair usage policy (FUP) is a little confusing, to say the least, as per the comment in the table.

In third, fourth, and fifth places are Elisa Finland’s Mobile Broadband 5G 600M, Orange Romania’s Smart Plus 20, and Telia Finland’s Unlimited 5G 1000M, respectively.

The Mobile Broadband 5G 600M package from Elisa Finland offers unlimited data at a maximum speed of 600 Mbps DL and 20 GB of EEA roaming, for around $45 per month.

5G price plans – Worst Offenders

• The monthly data allowance is so low it is not appropriate for a 5G service. • The maximum speed allowed  artificially permanently limited by the operator to such a low value that it is inappropriate for a true 5G service, or the speed is not mentioned at all (“unknown”). • The price is inordinately high for the service, in addition to a relatively low monthly data allowance or poor maximum speed.

Where the overall service level of the price plan is excellent, but the price is exorbitant, we have omitted these from both the best performers and worst offenders’ lists, as explained in the case of SFR France and Orange France under the Best Performers’ list above.

Because there are three variables in the criteria, it is again challenging to rank the worst performers relative to each other. But certain ones do stand out.

First is Telenor Bulgaria, whose MOMAΛ+ 13.99 BGN per month tariff allows a total of 200 MB of data per month for $18.74 (PPI adjusted). Again, that is megabytes.

We shall explain later why even 1 or 2 GB monthly allowance is inappropriate for a 5G service, but for now, we can all agree that 200 MB is most definitely inappropriate. And for $25.44/month, their MOMAΛ+ 18.99 BGN per month tariff allows 600 MB.

Telenor Bulgaria also offers several other very good price plans on 5G, including unlimited data. Furthermore, there is a hint that even Telenor Bulgaria sees these two tariffs as exceptional cases. At the bottom of their advertising panel for the two tariffs, they ask the visitor to call a certain freephone number for more information. By contrast, at the bottom of the more robust tariffs, a simple click-icon says “Choose.”

Such a low-grade tariff should not be on the 5G network but is much better suited to a 2G/3G/4G environment only. It is also interesting that Telenor Bulgaria is the only network operator we have come across who calibrate their data allowance in megabytes, including for the equivalent of 1 GB and above, which they render as 1,000 MB, 3,000 MB, and 20,000 MB, etc. There is also no mention in the tariff of the maximum speed available on their 5G network.

Furthermore, their prices for these two sub-optimal tariffs are not cheap. Contrast Telenor’s $25.44 for 600 MB of data a month with Pelephone Israel who offers 1,000 GB, that is 1,024,000 MB of data, or 1,706 times that of Telenor’s, for almost the same price, $25.54/month. Also, Partner Israel’s 1,000GB/month allowance for $29.80.

Next up is Vodafone UK’s RED 1 GB tariff, which limits the monthly bundled data allowance to 1 GB of data.

Now, there is some confusion in the advertising on their website. The flagship banner for this tariff clearly states “5G Ready” and “No extra charge” for adding 5G. However, as you dig more deeply into the fine print, a general statement explains that for tariffs with 5 GB or above monthly allowance, access will be provided to 5G. This implies that anything below 5 GB will have no 5G access.

The world of 5G is complicated enough for the ordinary consumer, and so we must champion the consumer who will see clearly that the flagship banner for this tariff says: “5G ready” and “at no extra cost”.

Summary of the results

This study has proven to be both revealing and surprising in equal measure. Speedcheck has come to discover how some of the great trailblazers of 5G are to be found in unexpected places, while some of the big-brand names are trailing behind, having poor measured 5G speeds and some low-grade 5G tariffs.

With a Speed-Price Index of 120.69 for their Smart 15 price plan, Orange Romania beats all competition to become the global winner of Speedcheck’s 5G SPI ranking. Orange, who recently beat SK South Korea into second place for having the fastest 5G network globally, also occupies 3rd SPI position with another price plan.

In second place is Sunrise Switzerland’s Start 20 tariff, two of whose other price plans appear lower in the top 20 list.

Although South Korea is well-represented in the top 20, the highest any Korean operator made is 5th position, namely, SK South Korea’s price plan. Despite having some of the fastest networks globally, Korea’s price plans do not compete with Orange Romania or Sunrise Switzerland because mobile prices in Korea are relatively high compared to internationally.

DNA Finland appears three times on the Top 20 with three of their tariffs.

Countries that are noticeable by their absence from the top 20 are The United States, Germany, and France. This is down to several factors, including disappointingly poor 5G speeds (United States), the high price of data (France), or a combination of both (Germany).

As for the operator price plans with the lowest SPI, Telenor Bulgaria’s MOMAΛ+ 200 MB and 600 MB allowance take last place and second-last place with an SPI of 0.1 and 0.2 respectively. The reason should not be surprising – they offer the lowest data allowance per month on a 24-month contract at a price that compares with Pelephone Israel, who offer 1,000 GB or 1,024,000 MB of data per month for a similar price to Telenor’s.

What comes as a surprise is the frequency with which big-name operators appear in the bottom 20 SPI ranking. The Vodafone global group members occupy five positions in the worst 5G price plan SPI list, namely Vodafone UK with three of their tariffs, Vodafone Germany, and Vodafone Netherlands. Four price plans from each of NTT DoCoMo Japan and Softbank Japan also appear in the bottom 20.

Surprisingly, NTT DoCoMo’s 5G Gigalight (1GB) tariff comes in 254th place (254th worst out of 257) while Vodafone UK’s RED 1 GB (30 Days) finds itself in 255th place.

The number one thing that binds these price plans to the bottom 20 is the small amount of bundled data per month included in the 5G tariff. The second is the relatively high price. But what is surprising is that some of the global leading mobile service providers, such as Vodafone UK, Vodafone Netherlads, and Softbank Japan, are on this bottom list because they are not attaining very high speeds on their 5G networks. They still lag well behind the fastest networks in the world, like Orange Romania, Vodafone Romania, KT Korea, and LG U+ Korea.

Moving on to look at the 5G price plans on their own merit, without reference to the speed of Speedcheck’s users, Orange Romania again comes out on top of the world with their Smart 15 5G price plan.

Vodafone Netherlands’ RED Unlimited tariff made it into second place with a good package deal that is reasonably priced. However, the same operator also has a price plan on the worst offenders list!

Finland is well represented again among the best performers, with two price plans each from Elisa, Telia and DNA appearing on the list.

Pelephone Israel and Partner Israel both deserve special mention as they offer 1,000 GB of bundled data per month at some of the lowest prices in the world. One drawback with their price plans is they fail to mention the available speed on their 5G networks. Speed is synonymous with 5G, and consumers should be well informed about the available speed – especially whether the operator limits it.

As for the worst 5G price plans in our global study, again Telenor Bulgaria’s MOMAΛ+ 200 MB and 600 MB allowance take worst and second-worst positions. This is primarily because of their extremely low data allowances per month (200 MB and 600 MB, respectively) which also do not come cheap. Furthermore, the tariff does not mention what the maximum speed available on their 5G network is.

Surprisingly, many big-name operators again appear in the worst offenders list for 5G price plans, including several members of the Vodafone Group (UK, Italy, and Netherlands), Softbank Japan (twice), and NTT DoCoMo Japan.

Again, the primary thing that makes the worst 5G tariffs stand out is the meagre data allowance they offer per month.

We mentioned that Vodafone Netherlands also has a price plan in the worst offender list, their Start M tariff. It offers 1.5 GB of data with a maximum speed of 1 Gbps. This would seem to be a huge mismatch and, with the 5G uplift, surely that amount of data would be consumed in no time at all on a 1 Gbps connection.

Speedcheck’s recommendations

Because of the explosion in 5G data that is projected to happen over the next few years, a 1 or 2 GB allowance that will meet the needs of a 4G consumer now is likely not to last very long on 5G – assuming 5G speeds are available.

This is why we recommend a minimum of between 5GB and 10 GB of data monthly allowance on the lowest or most basic 5G tariffs, with a minimum speed of 10 Mbps. Anything lower than that would probably be better served by remaining on 3G/4G networks only, where they would receive a better quality and level of service.

Some purists would even say that 1 GB / 2 Mbps tariffs on a 5G network insult both 5G technology and the 5G consumer. What benefit is it to the consumer to have access to a 5G network yet enjoy none of its great features, except for possibly a lower latency whose use is lost anyway on a 1 GB of data and 2 Mbps tariff? And what about all the marketing supposedly saying that 5G promises high speeds and performance?

For low-grade 4G tariffs with 2 GB of data and/or low speeds of 2 Mbps that are now allowed access to 5G, again, we recommend the data allowance be increased to between 5 GB and 10 GB and the speed should again be increased to 10 Mbps. This will incur an extra charge beyond the 4G tariff, but we recommend that the operator keeps this extra charge to a minimum, say $5/month, as a reward to the customer for adopting 5G. Then, beyond 10 Mbps, the operator is free to charge extra at standard rates.

If the 2 GB and 2 Mbps metrics of the 4G tariff are simply replicated on 5G, the customer will receive a poorer quality of service on 5G compared with their remaining on 3G/4G only. The reason for this is the 5G handset will use more power contending with the 5G network and service, coupled with the fact that the 5G network has a much smaller coverage area than 3G/4G.

We recommend that operators use a clearly worded fair usage policy (FUP) so the customer is in no doubt. Also, the use of so-called “unlimited” data allowance marketing whose FUP states that the data is limited, is questionable. Better to use the limit as stated in the FUP in the tariff metrics.

As for tethering, advertising that says tethering is allowed only on personal devices makes little sense. If the purpose of this is to avoid the customer using their 5G as a replacement for a home internet service, then the solution would be to limit the volume of data on the tethering package rather than writing woolly words in an industry that is already beyond complicated.

In this report, we have also come across some consumer 5G SIM-only price plans (no phone included) costing in the region of $140 and $150/month (PPI adjusted). These prices are not justified in most people’s eyes, and we can scarcely understand who can afford them. Examples are Orange France, SFR France, KT South Korea and LG U+ South Korea. We see no reason why operators cannot provide an excellent 5G service for $70 (PPI adjusted) or less, as many do currently.

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