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UK Struggles in 2024 Mobile Speed Tests

The Wee Bear

ULTIMATE Member
We don’t seem to be doing to well folks according to OpenSignal. :(
 
We don’t seem to be doing to well folks according to OpenSignal. :(
Nothing unusual!
 
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We don’t seem to be doing to well folks according to OpenSignal. :(
You are going to see us perform worse in this 1st quarter with all the 3G switch off
 
1 provider is holding back the other 3 when you look at the countries mobile speeds compared to others
Yes, good point, but I'm sure we can all think of plenty of other examples of what I mentioned in my post, besides mobile broadband speeds.

And on 5G specifically, the UK seems to be lagging behind not only in average speeds but also, quite significantly, in 5G deployment. I mean, come on, Bulgaria has 3 times better 5G coverage than Britain and only Sweden, Romania and Belgium are doing worse.
 
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And on 5G specifically, the UK seems to be lagging behind not only in average speeds but also, quite significantly, in 5G deployment. I mean, come on, Bulgaria has 3 times better 5G coverage than Britain and only Sweden, Romania and Belgium are doing worse.
Yeah, for 100%. It's sad watching them fall behind again. You could say it was the Huawei kit removal, but they're behind on most things with internet connectivity, and then when you look outside of internet connections you'll find they're behind on mostly all other infra

Definitely starting to improve with the FTTP rollouts though
 
I was about to say that, the UK is unfairly handicapped by having slO2 in the mix.
I don't think that O2 are just to blame, all networks have areas where coverage is poor and incredibly slow.

For me O2 is faster than Three at home, oddly EE is fastest although we only have 4G coverage whereas Vodafone have 5G but it's slower than EEs 4G.
 
I don't think that O2 are just to blame, all networks have areas where coverage is poor and incredibly slow.

For me O2 is faster than Three at home, oddly EE is fastest although we only have 4G coverage whereas Vodafone have 5G but it's slower than EEs 4G.
According to
Turkcell and Turk Telekom beat O2 in 2023, despite data being cheaper over there. Plenty of B8 around when I was there, they didn’t try to run whole towns on B20

Generally O2 is about 75-80% slower than whoever takes spot #1 in surveys comparing download speeds

Looking at OpenSignal reports from 2023, O2 UK is the slowest network when compared to networks in Ireland, France, Switzerland, Greece, Brazil (although not by much), Bulgaria, and Germany

And before a certain person gets annoyed, the criticism is directed at the multi hundred million (probably billion) company who realised that the average UK consumer measures their data signal by the bars displayed, and might not notice that said data is completely unfunctional due to being insanely congested, and then exploited that starting 6 years ago until today
 
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Honestly, I would not compare the fake "5G", across Europe. I'm more interested in the 5G SA implementation across Europe instead of what we have now. It's a kind of "déjà vu", we have the same problem with the broadband providers, advertising the fake fibre for years.
 
Honestly, I believe all the network connectivity issues in the UK are due to Ofcom; they are a bunch of crooks who only seek profit rather than a properly connected country. For years, they let BT eek out the FTTC, and now they're not relability auctioning off the right frequencies for use, and everything takes 3x as long to do compared to many European, Asian, and North American countries.

it's sad but the truth.
 
Honestly, I believe all the network connectivity issues in the UK are due to Ofcom; they are a bunch of crooks who only seek profit rather than a properly connected country. For years, they let BT eek out the FTTC, and now they're not relability auctioning off the right frequencies for use, and everything takes 3x as long to do compared to many European, Asian, and North American countries.

it's sad but the truth.
The thing is, we have two frequencies which aren't being used currently for mobile service as well, it's partially the providers faults as well

B39 1900MHz TDD (some devices support this afaik, apparently according to mastdatabase, it seems like the providers are telling investors that they're not interested) - O2 5MHz block (1909.9-1914.9), Three 5.1MHz block (1914.9-1920)
B67 700MHz SDL (granted we haven't found any devices that supported this but I'm sure they would be quick to support this if it was deployed) - EE 20MHz block (738-758)
 
The thing is, we have two frequencies which aren't being used currently for mobile service as well, it's partially the providers faults as well

B39 1900MHz TDD (some devices support this afaik, apparently according to mastdatabase, it seems like the providers are telling investors that they're not interested) - O2 5MHz block (1909.9-1914.9), Three 5.1MHz block (1914.9-1920)
B67 700MHz SDL (granted we haven't found any devices that supported this but I'm sure they would be quick to support this if it was deployed) - EE 20MHz block (738-758)
Modems are yet to support the B67 band properly, EE will probably end up using this for rural locations once modems and phonemakers enable support.
 
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The thing is, we have two frequencies which aren't being used currently for mobile service as well, it's partially the providers faults as well

B39 1900MHz TDD (some devices support this afaik, apparently according to mastdatabase, it seems like the providers are telling investors that they're not interested) - O2 5MHz block (1909.9-1914.9), Three 5.1MHz block (1914.9-1920)
B67 700MHz SDL (granted we haven't found any devices that supported this but I'm sure they would be quick to support this if it was deployed) - EE 20MHz block (738-758)
You also have n77 which isn't being deployed either. I think it's more Ofcoms fault with this one, but Three holds 84MHz which is being used for broadband in specific areas but could be used for so much more.

The block they have is 3925-4009MHz.

O2 and Vodafone seems to have done very little to deploy B38 at the moment, being used mostly on O2 for certain micro-cells or deployments in Northern Ireland
 
You also have n77 which isn't being deployed either. I think it's more Ofcoms fault with this one, but Three holds 84MHz which is being used for broadband in specific areas but could be used for so much more.

The block they have is 3925-4009MHz.

O2 and Vodafone seems to have done very little to deploy B38 at the moment, being used mostly on O2 for certain micro-cells or deployments in Northern Ireland
B3 could even be deployed a bit more on Vodafone and O2. I think they tend to use it in more urban areas but it still would be useful in places.

B8 4G could be expanded more too in areas.

Just did a further look into B39 and I think Ofcom does restrict it to 3G, it's not network unwillingness. Have networks bothered asking Ofcom whether they could use for 4G??? Just intrigued that's all.
 
The thing is, we have two frequencies which aren't being used currently for mobile service as well, it's partially the providers faults as well

B39 1900MHz TDD (some devices support this afaik, apparently according to mastdatabase, it seems like the providers are telling investors that they're not interested) - O2 5MHz block (1909.9-1914.9), Three 5.1MHz block (1914.9-1920)
B67 700MHz SDL (granted we haven't found any devices that supported this but I'm sure they would be quick to support this if it was deployed) - EE 20MHz block (738-758)
But then again, Ofcom should be sanctioning or pushing for mobile operators to use these; otherwise, putting them up for sale again.

It also makes me wonder if EE could sort out some of their indoor coverage issues with that 20-mhz block of 700-mhz but I guess if it were that easy, they would have done it.
 
And on 5G specifically, the UK seems to be lagging behind not only in average speeds but also, quite significantly, in 5G deployment. I mean, come on, Bulgaria has 3 times better 5G coverage than Britain and only Sweden, Romania and Belgium are doing worse.
It's all planning and maximum mast heights. I bet Bulgaria isn't full of people who, every time a mast is proposed, moan and object and challenge endlessly until the plan is withdrawn, and even if the thing gets built, it's shorter than all the surrounding buildings.

@jon1 mentioned Irish 5G coverage in another thread - one of the differences I always notice there is that there are taller masts dotted around the countryside. If those were proposed here, they'd be all over the BBC, local rags, etc for months until they got stopped. Hopefully a change of government may bring modifications to planning rules to stop small numbers of obsessive "campaigners" from preventing necessary infrastructure from going ahead.
 
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