RootMetrics Name EE Fastest for Mobile Broadband in Manchester UK

A new study from RootMetrics has named EE as the fastest mobile broadband operator in Manchester (England) after it blitzed past rivals, including distant runner-up Three UK, to record an average download speed of 15.2Mbps (Megabits per second) and uploads of 9.4Mbps.

The study conducted 31,000 mobile performance tests and also looked at other areas of mobile connectivity, including reliability and the performance of voice calls and TXT messages. Both 3G and 4G services were tested, although nobody will be surprised to find EE at the top because they’re currently the only national 4G operator (excluding some smaller fixed wireless providers).

In terms of Network Reliability, Three UK came top with 98.3 out of 100, while EE was second on 97.7, followed by O2 with 97.2 and sadly Vodafone came bottom of the pile with 91.4.

Bill Moore, RootMetrics CEO and President, said:

“Our testers conducted more than 31,220 tests to deliver a highly accurate picture of mobile network performance in the area. Using our data, we’ve seen that there remains a clear split between the operators in Manchester and the surrounding areas. EE is ahead of its competitors thanks to the introduction of its 4G service, which offers mobile internet that is more than twice as fast as the newest 3G technologies offered by other networks. This is going to become more important for people as they increasingly use their mobiles to search the internet, listen to music or watch videos.

While all operators have broadly upped their game in the last five months, some have achieved less than others, leading to a major reordering of the rankings. Manchunians may not think that the service provided by a mobile network can shift so dramatically so quickly. Our tests and online reports allow people to see just how fast things can change and then decide which operator is best for them, where they live.”

As for the other areas..

Manchester – Best Operator for Calls

1. O2 (92)
2. Three UK (93)
3. EE (91)
4. Vodafone (84)

Manchester – Best Operator for TXTs

1. EE (96) Tied
2. O2 (96) Tied
3. Three UK (95)
4. Vodafone (94)

The situation will most likely change once EE’s rivals have deployed 4G services of their own, which is expected to start happening within the next few weeks and months (except for Three UK – they plan to wait until later this year). Otherwise the ranking order for Manchester is broadly similar to the previous RootMetrics study of Hull (here), which also found Vodafone to be lacking.