Analyst OpenSignal partnered with Which? to measure data from mobile phones in 20 cities across the UK. After analysing 535,415,861 measurements from 30,793 devices between December 1st 2016 and February 28th 2017, they ranked 20 of the biggest towns and cities from top to bottom based on their 4G availability.
Top 5
Middlesbrough/Teesside – 82.7%
Sheffield – 79.3%
Sunderland – 79%
Leicester – 78.6%
Leeds/West Yorkshire – 78.2%
Bottom 5
Bournemouth/Poole – 67.5%
Southampton/Portsmouth – 69.6%
Cardiff – 71.8%
Nottingham – 73.3%
London – 73.6%
The report also looked at average 4G download speeds across the UK, finding Stoke-on-Trent to be the fastest city and Brighton the slowest. Which? says big cities often suffer from sub-par mobile networks because it is more difficult to build towers and masts in built-up urban areas.
The findings will be of particular concern to businesses which see good mobile connectivity as vital to a competitive economy – BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.
