New Study Slams Lack of 100% UK Geographic 4G Mobile Coverage

A new Which? study has found that in 524 out of 650 UK parliamentary constituencies 4G mobile coverage is not available via all four operators to the whole constituency. The most poorly-served city-based constituencies (all under 80% coverage) were Rochford, Southend, South West Devon, Romsey and Southampton North.

The results appear to be based on a mix of two sources. On the one hand the magazine has simply analysed public data already released via Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2018 report (here) and on the other hand they’ve conducted a survey of UK people (it’s not stated how many were surveyed or when) in order to better understand their experiences of mobile connectivity.

At this point we should highlight how Ofcom’s data from January 2019 shows that the 4G geographic network coverage of the UK from all four operators (EE, Three UK, Vodafone and O2) is currently just 67%, which rises to around 91%+ when only looking at EE’s reach. In their analysis Which? refers to UK constituencies lacking “full” or “comprehensive” coverage where there is not 100% geographic (outdoor) 4G signal from all four operators.

The results are presented in an unorganised scatter-gun blast of information, which makes for a difficult read and so we’ve opted to simply summarise the key highlights below.

Data analysis (Ofcom)

• 266 (40%) of constituencies do not have complete (100%) geographic (outdoor) coverage of 4G services from at least one operator, although 546 constituencies (84%) have at least 99% access.
• Access is generally poorest in rural areas (especially rural Scotland), which is to be expected given the low population density rates in these areas and how the data is constructed.
• 524 constituencies (80%) do not have 4G coverage from all 4 operators in 100% of the constituency by geography.
• Among the worst affected town-based constituencies for mobile coverage – with less than 60% of the constituency receiving 4G coverage from all four operators – were Clwyd West in Wales, Barrow and Furness in Cumbria, Ribble Valley in Lancashire and Scarborough and Whitby in North Yorkshire.
• Only three constituencies in Scotland had complete 4G coverage from all four operators – Aberdeen North, Glasgow North West and Glasgow South West.
• In Wales, only the constituency of Central Cardiff had 100% 4G coverage from all four operators.
• In Northern Ireland not a single constituency area had 4G coverage from all four operators.
• In England 23% of constituencies have 4G coverage from all four operators. Among those who are well-served are the Loughborough constituents of Nicky Morgan MP – the new Culture Secretary.

Which? consumer survey results

• 41% of mobile phone users who have a landline at home pay for it but never use it.
• 49% of people said they experienced patchy mobile phone signal at least once a month.
• 81% of those with an active landline and a mobile phone said their mobile phone was of equal or higher importance than their landline
• Consumers do a wide variety of activities on their mobile phones. Two thirds (68%) of consumers with a mobile phone use it whilst connected to 3G/4G whilst out and about at least once a week
• Those who said their mobile phone signal whilst at home was bad were asked what they did as a result. Half (50%) connect to their home wifi network instead
• A quarter (23%) of those who experienced a lack of mobile phone coverage in the last 3 months said they felt extremely/quite stressed as a result.
• Over half (57%) of those who experienced a lack of mobile phone coverage in the last three months said they experienced a significant impact as a result – the most common was the inability to make or receive important phone calls or messages.

The report also makes several mentions of the Government’s 2017 General Election manifesto commitment, which aimed to achieve 95% UK geographic mobile coverage by 2022. However it should be said that the text of that manifesto never specifically mentioned 4G itself alongside the 95% target.

Caroline Normand, Which? Director of Advocacy, said:

“Millions of people are finding it difficult to get a reliable mobile connection and risk missing out on digital services we increasingly rely on like online banking, maps and NHS information – while some even struggle to receive important calls and messages.

To tackle this unacceptable and widening digital divide, the government must act now to connect the UK with truly comprehensive mobile and broadband by swiftly putting in place a plan to give communities the infrastructure they need.”

At present one of the ways in which Ofcom plan to improve geographic coverage is by attaching a new obligation to their forthcoming auction of the 5G friendly 700MHz radio spectrum band (details). As part of that two of the winning bidders would be expected to extend outdoor data coverage (3G, 4G and 5G) to “at least” 90% of the UK’s entire land area within 4 years of the award (92% often gets talked about as the real target).

On top of that the two operators would also have to improve coverage for at least 140,000 premises which they do not already cover, as well as providing coverage from at least 500 new mobile mast stations in rural areas. In exchange each lot would carry an associated discount, up to a maximum set by Ofcom, on the price of spectrum (i.e. a top discount in the range £300m-£400m for each obligation).

As usual this has caused plenty of industry disagreement and the Government have also been keen to find a way of going further. In response to that the industry recently reached agreement on a new Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal (here), which operators claim could achieve 92% coverage without the need for tough new obligations (but getting to 95% would take until the end of 2025).

However it’s probably unrealistic for Which? to expect mobile operators to deliver 100% (universal) outdoor 4G geographic mobile coverage of the UK, which would include a vast landmass gaps where nobody lives and is thus extremely uneconomic to tackle. Ofcom has previously estimated that addressing all total not spots could cost between £3bn to £6bn, once the 700MHz coverage obligations are factored in (here).

As it stands today mobile operators, Ofcom and the Government are still trying to come to a final agreement. Early indications suggest that the Government are looking favourably upon the industry’s SRN proposal, although the proof will be in what direction Ofcom takes when they issue their next statement on the 700MHz auction. Landowners are known to harbour concerns (here).