Drivers beware: Ankara has one of the largest signal blackspots in Europe

• Sofia, Bulgaria experienced the highest percentage of download speeds slower than 1MB per second, which results in loss of GPS signal and slow internet while driving

• Drivers in Helsinki, Finland, have the least reliable GPS signal in Europe, totalling 254 failures between January and April 2021

• Paris, France, is the only European city who scored a perfect 0 on all factors analysed, meaning that drivers are least likely to lose GPS and internet signal while driving

• Confused.com car insurance expert, Alex Kindred offers his advice on driving new and unknown routes

Ankara, Turkey has been revealed as one of the European city’s drivers are most likely to experience a GPS signal drop and slow internet, with a navigation failure score of 83.93/100.

That’s according to the latest study by Confused.com (Q1,2022), which calculated a ‘navigation failure score’ out of 100 for 216 global cities. The score considers factors that can contribute to driver accuracy, safety and journey times, such as the access to Map apps and real-time travel and traffic updates. To determine the score, we analysed the total number of GPS satellite failures, internet download speeds and internet latency within each city.

The results:

*GPS satellite failures represent the number of times satellite receivers tracked less than four GPS signals according to the European Space Agency (ESA)(2)

**Low download speed is anything below 1MB per second

***High internet latency is anything above 200ms

Ankara ranks fourth for navigation failure

Ankara, Turkey has the fourth biggest signal blackspot in Europe, with a score of 83.93/100. The Turkish city placed eighth for the percentage of tests with a slow download speed (0.27%) and seventh for the tests with high internet latency (0.22%). However, Ankara falls into the top four due to experiencing the third highest number of GPS satellite failures (101) - 2 cases less than Stockholm (103).

The European cities with the highest navigation failure scores

With a score of 91.97/100, Confused.com can reveal that drivers are most likely to experience GPS signal loss and slow mobile internet in Sofia, Bulgaria. With 37 instances of GPS signal failure in Q1 2021, the capital also had the highest percentage (0.85%) of slow download speed across Europe. This can stop drivers from accessing digital maps and traffic information when on the road. Only 0.03% behind Luxembourg (0.44%) in top spot, Sofia had the second-highest percentage (0.41%) of tests with internet latency higher than 200ms (milliseconds). This can further result in slow response and consequently a map navigation delay.

Barcelona, Spain, has the second highest navigation failure score at 90.83/100. The city experienced 82% more GPS satellite failures (67) than Sofia between January and April 2021. However, drivers in Barcelona are less likely to have internet speed issues than those in the Bulgarian capital. On average, 0.43% of tests in Barcelona resulted in a slow download speed - 0.42% less than Sofia (0.85%) and 0.15% more than the country's capital, Madrid (0.28%).

Confused.com found Stockholm, Sweden is the third European city that drivers are most likely to experience signal loss in, with a navigation failure score of 88.53/100. Stockholm experienced the second highest number of GPS signal failures in Europe (103), just 59% fewer than Helsinki, Finland in top spot (254). The Scandinavian capital also had the fourth-highest percentage of tests with a slow download speed (0.34%) - just 0.09% fewer than Barcelona in third.

Alex Kindred, car insurance expert at Confused.com comments: “Driving somewhere new can be a stressful experience even if you do have access to Maps or other navigation apps. Whether you are driving abroad or taking a new route in town, it’s key to make sure you’re fully prepared before the trip. Do your research to grasp a basic understanding of your route so you’re not relying on your map app to get you there.