South East: Which? finds large variation in mobile coverage

Which? has teamed up with independent mobile coverage experts OpenSignal to reveal the best and worst mobile phone networks across the UK, and found that while the South East is in the top three regions surveyed for coverage some providers were much better than others.

The analysis of the different networks in the South East found a variation of 26.8% between the top and bottom 3G provider, and this figure rose to 33.5% when looking at 4G providers:

·         Highest average time on 2G, 3G or 4G: EE (94.8%)
·         Lowest average time on 2G, 3G or 4G: O2 (93.9%)
·         Highest average 3G time on: Three (93.3%)
·         Lowest average 3G time on: Vodafone (66.5%)
·         Highest average 4G time on: EE (43.9%)
·         Lowest average 4G time on: Three (10.4%)

As part of the research, Which? also rated 12 regions in the UK for mobile coverage and gave the South East a ranking against the others. With an average time on percentage of 94.2%, the South East was the third-best region. The region also recorded an average time on 3G or 4G of 78.6%.

OpenSignal’s 'State of the Market' report, produced in association with Which?, looked at the 3G and 4G mobile signals of 39,294 phone users of the EE, O2, Three and Vodafone networks and found big differences in coverage and speeds across the country.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, said: "We’ve looked at consumers' real-life experiences in the South East and found big differences in service between mobile phone providers.  We want providers to publish the reliability and speeds their networks actually achieve so people can make an informed choice before signing on the dotted line.

“We also support the Government's action on mobile roaming to rid the country of unnecessary 'not spots', so that a lost mobile phone signal becomes a thing of the past.”

Which? has free consumer rights advice around what you can do if you receive poor mobile phone signal, click here.