Press Release
London ranked last among the ten largest cities in the UK for mobile network quality in the latest report on mobile network experience from independent crowdsourced mobile data company Tutela. London’s mobile networks met Tutela’s thresholds for “Excellent” Consistent Quality 74.4% of the time. Glasgow, which topped the league table, provided its mobile network users with an Excellent experience 78.4% of the time.
The Excellent Consistent Quality standard is a set of thresholds that represent whether a network is suitable for a range of different key uses like HD video streaming, group video calling and online multiplayer mobile gaming. The results were in spite of both cities having similar median download speeds – 13.0 Mbps in London compared to 12.9 Mbps in Glasgow – and reinforces how different mobile network components contribute to user experience.
Other key findings from the report include:
Leicester had the fastest download speeds, with a median of 14.5 Mbps (based on measurements across all networks, and all times of day)
EE delivered the best mobile quality in 8 out of the ten cities tested, while Vodafone was the best provider for Excellent Consistent Quality in both Glasgow and Liverpool
EE also proved to be the fastest network in all cities on average, with the highest median download throughput out of any of the “big four” operators
Tom Luke, VP at Tutela commented: “London is a major power centre of the UK – and consistent mobile network quality is vital for everyone from businesses to tourists to residents. It’s a surprise to see London at the bottom of the list when it comes to Excellent Consistent Quality in the UK’s 10 largest cities, but no doubt reflective of the challenges of ensuring mobile quality in such a densely populated, data-hungry city. It’s interesting that London’s Excellent Consistent Quality is actually comparable to Wales’s in Tutela’s recent State of Mobile Networks Report on the UK – and the challenge for operators going forward will be finding the right balance between ensuring adequate capacity in busy urban areas, expanding rural coverage and making the most of the potential of 5G. This will be critical for success in enabling better mobile experiences and succeeding in an ever more competitive mobile marketplace going forward.“
The report used over 3 billion records, including 16 million speed tests and 258 million latency tests, collected in the UK between 1st March and 31st August 2019.
