Optus Leads 5G Download Speeds for 10th Straight Report, Opensignal Finds

Optus has held its lead in 5G download speeds for the tenth consecutive Opensignal report, though Telstra chipped away at the margin. The findings come from the May 2026 Mobile Network Experience Report published Wednesday.

The Singtel-owned carrier clocked an average 5G download speed of 199.9 Mbps across the measurement period. Telstra managed 171.7 Mbps, while TPG Telecom’s Vodafone brand sat at 161.8 Mbps. The 28.2 Mbps gap between first and second is narrower than the 33.9 Mbps spread in the October 2025 report, when Optus hit 208.4 Mbps.

Optus walked away with six outright wins across Opensignal’s 14 categories, plus two shared with Vodafone — the most-decorated operator this time around. Its 4G download speed also led the pack at 58.3 Mbps, comfortably ahead of Telstra’s 51.7 Mbps and Vodafone’s 39.3 Mbps.

“Optus continues to be the operator to beat for speed in Australia,” said Valentina Salome, Opensignal’s senior market research analyst. The report notes that while Optus’s raw 5G speed eased 8.5 Mbps from the previous survey, its broader experience scores — covering video, gaming, and voice app performance — kept pace with Telstra.

Telstra, Australia’s biggest mobile operator, held its ground in network reach. Its Coverage Experience score of 9.6 out of 10 led both the overall and 5G-specific coverage categories. The carrier also shared the 5G Video Experience award with Optus and Vodafone in a three-way tie.

Vodafone claimed wins in upload performance across 4G and 5G. Its average 5G upload hit 15.6 Mbps, ahead of both Optus and Telstra, while its 4G upload of 8.8 Mbps was also the fastest. The TPG-owned brand also topped the Consistent Quality metric at 85 per cent — Opensignal’s gauge of whether a network is “good enough” for everyday tasks.

A companion analysis by Opensignal analyst Robert Wyrzykowski found that across Australia’s 14 designated market areas where all three operators compete head-to-head, the national picture held. Optus took the most outright wins at a market-by-market level too.

The Opensignal report draws on measurements collected from millions of Australian mobile devices over the first quarter of 2026. It captures real-world user experience rather than lab or drive-test data, and has become a closely watched benchmark across the local telco industry.

For consumers comparing 5G options, WhistleOut’s analysis of the report points to the narrowing gap between Optus and Telstra as a sign of a tightening race, with both carriers pushing mid-band spectrum into their networks. Telstra has bet heavily on its 5G standalone core, while Optus has relied on its 2300 MHz spectrum holdings for capacity.