The CEO of O2 UK, Ronan Dunne, has apologised for the poor performance of its mobile data network since the summer, especially in London. Dunne admits that the operator’s network was simply unable to cope with the surge in data usage by Mobile Broadband and iPhone users, though improvements are already working their way into the system.


No mobile operator is immune from capacity problems, with recent Mobile Broadband benchmarks indicating that most have enough trouble achieving a stable average speed of 1Mbps let alone the dizzy heights of 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps promoted by some.

O2 plans to solve its problems by imposing better Traffic Management, installing 200 additional base stations in London and working more closely with handset manufacturers to help keep usage down. Future LTE technology will also help, but ultimately operators will have to find cash and invest in more capacity.