UK outranked by Peru in 4G mobile communications

Unreliable and patchy networks to blame for putting the UK behind Estonia and Peru in 4G

One-third of people in the UK can't get 4G speeds on their smartphones - and the UK is outranked by countries such as Peru and Estonia for 4G mobile, according to a report from consumer watchdog Which?.

The report, which OpenSignal was also involved in, has found that average overall 4G availability across the UK is just 65 per cent, meaning that mobile subscribers in the UK can only access 4G around two-thirds of the time.

While this is up from the 58 per cent figure that OpenSignal reported back in November, which ranked the UK 54th in the world for 4G access behind the likes of Estonia and Peru, it's still widely regarded as poor.

Which? is therefore calling on the next government to work with Ofcom and mobile providers to ensure that "critical" reforms are made to the market that encourage mobile operators to provide better performance and service for customers.

Alex Neill, managing director of Home Products and Services at Which?, said: "These latest findings underline the need for Ofcom to keep the pressure on mobile operators, so that every part of the country gets a decent service on their mobile phone.

"Our mobile phone is central to how we live our lives and that is why it is so frustrating when we can't access emails or browse the internet on the go."

The report also took a look at 20 cities across the UK, and found that, oddly enough, Middlesbrough was the best city for 4G access with 83 per cent availability, while Bournemouth was the worst at 68 per cent. London ranked just 16th in the table, with 73.6 per cent availability.

London doesn't fare much better when it comes to average 4G performance either, again placing at 16th with average speeds of 20.5Mbps. Still, this is an improvement on October last year, when the capital city was named and shamed as having the worst 4G speeds in the UK.

Stoke-on-Trent ranked in first place with speeds of 26.6Mbps, while Brighton and Hove rounded off the table with average 4G speeds of 17.6Mbps.

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