EE and Three UK Top RootMetrics H2 2014 Study of Mobile Network Quality

RootMetrics has today published their report into mobile operator performance across the United Kingdom for the second half of 2014, which sees O2, EE, Three UK and Vodafone battle it out over areas including service reliability, call / text performance and Mobile Broadband speeds.

The report is apparently based upon the results of approximately 1 million tests, which were conducted at various different times of the day and night while the RootMetrics team drove 24,000 miles around the United Kingdom (including visits to 1,200 indoor locations).

Bill Moore, RootMetrics CEO and President, said:

“The networks are all getting better, period. We saw improvements across the board in speed, mobile internet performance, and network reliability. Consumers deserve reliable mobile experience wherever they are, whether they’re making a call, downloading a video, or texting friends.

That’s why, in this third time we tested the UK, we went even further into cities, rural communities and on the road to provide the most comprehensive, scientifically sound, and fiercely independent view of mobile coverage available anywhere.”

The tests themselves were conducted using “unmodified, off-the-shelf devices purchased from operator stores“, although it’s not clear if they used exactly the same kit for each operator and Vodafone has previously criticised the group for allegedly carrying out their testing “in an inconsistent manner“.

The report also fails to separate out 3G and 4G network performance (this is crucial since EE has a wider 4G coverage than its rivals) and doesn’t state Internet speeds in Megabits per second (Mbps). Readers must instead attempt to guess the performance of each provider based on a very general 0 to 100 scoring system (100 being the best).

But, while keeping all of this in mind, what were the results? Look below.

It’s easy to see why Vodafone might be unhappy and it should be said that some other studies, such as this one conducted by NetRadar (here) and Ofcom’s own data (here), depict a somewhat different picture to that of the RootMetrics report. This just goes to show that methodology counts for a lot and so does the inherent variability of mobile platforms.

We have requested a summary of the speed results in Megabits (Mbps) and will update this article if one is ever provided.

RootMetrics H2 2014 Report
http://www.rootmetrics.com/uk/blog/special-reports/year-in-review-2014-uk