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EE has remained the only operator on which our users observed 4G Availability in excess of 90%. Impressively, it has climbed 3.6 percentage points since our last report to 94.8%. We typically see a slowing down in improvements in this measure of the mobile experience above the 90% mark, but for the moment EE shows no signs of doing so.
Vodafone has retained the Voice App Experience Award, but it is no longer the only operator to fall into the Good category for this measure of the mobile experience. Both EE and O2 scored above 80 points for the first time and therefore offered their users a Good Voice App Experience. This means that many users were satisfied but some experienced minor quality impairments such as clicking sounds or distortion.
Once again, EE has scooped the vast majority of awards, winning six out of seven national awards (up one from last year thanks to the introduction of the 4G Coverage Experience Award). It also racked up 68 out of a total possible 96 city-level awards and drew for another 27. To put this second achievement into perspective, only one city-level award was won by another operator, namely Vodafone.
In our last report, two operators — O2 and 3 — fell into the Good category, while users on the other two enjoyed a Very Good Video Experience. This time our data shows that three operators Vodafone, O2 and 3 provided their users with a Very Good Experience, while EE’s users saw an Excellent Video Experience up from Very Good six months ago.
The gap between the Download Speed Experience of EE’s users and those of runner-up Vodafone has increased by 2.1 Mbps to 11.6 Mbps. EE’s lead has also widened in percentage terms, with its users on average seeing roughly 50% faster speeds than their Vodafone counterparts.
In this report we examined the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in the U.K.: 3, EE, O2 and Vodafone, over a period of 90 days beginning December 1, 2019, to see how they fared, and further delved deeper into 16 cities, comparing the results of these four operators. With all four operators now having launched 5G services commercially in parts of the country, we have also included our users’ 5G experience measurements in our overall metric categories to understand the true user experience as the usage of new technology grows.
Looking ahead, while we expect that users’ mobile experience will improve as the U.K. moves further into the 5G era, this process will be a long and gradual one. After all, operators are in the early stages of their 5G roll-out and are waiting for more 5G spectrum to be auctioned. In addition, to extend their 5G footprint they usually have to obtain planning permission for 5G site upgrades and in some cases deal with landlords who are incentivized by the reformed Electronic Comms Code to delay entering into new agreements for as long as possible.
More positively, the news that the major operators and the U.K. government will work together to improve coverage in rural areas through the Shared Rural Network (SRN) is to be welcomed, given that the sparsely populated nature of rural areas has long made it difficult for operators to justify rolling out large numbers of rural sites on purely economic grounds. However, it may make it harder for operators to compete on the quality of their rural coverage.
| Mobile Experience Awards United Kingdom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2020,
United Kingdom Report
|
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
Video Experience
| ||||
Voice App Experience
| ||||
Download Speed Experience
| ||||
Upload Speed Experience
| ||||
Latency Experience
| ||||
4G Availability
| ||||
4G Coverage Experience
| ||||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
April 2020,
United Kingdom
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
E
EE
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
V
Vodafone
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
E
EE
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
E
EE
|
|
Latency Experience
|
E
EE
|
|
4G Availability
|
E
EE
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
E
EE
|
EE’s users observed an Excellent Video Experience — up from the Very Good rating seen in our last report. This indicates a very consistent experience with fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling. EE’s lead over second-placed Vodafone has grown, increasing to 3.3 points — up from 0.8. O2 and 3 have caught up with Vodafone in that all three operators’ users observed a Very Good experience — O2 and 3 previously fell into the Good category.
|
Video Experience
Additional Metrics |
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | ||||
|
4G Video Experience
| 73.1 (± 0.18) | 75.1 (± 0.18) | 70.6 (± 0.24) | 76.7 (± 0.13) |
|
3G Video Experience
| 50.0 (± 0.88) | 52.9 (± 0.90) | 60.1 (± 0.65) | 56.3 (± 1.22) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
O
O2
|
73 (± 0.18) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
75 (± 0.18) |
|
3
3
|
71 (± 0.24) |
|
E
EE
|
77 (± 0.13) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
O
O2
|
50 (± 0.88) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
53 (± 0.90) |
|
3
3
|
60 (± 0.65) |
|
E
EE
|
56 (± 1.22) |
All four operators’ users observed considerable improvements in their Video Experience since our last report ranging from an increase of 7.2 points for EE to 4.7 points for Vodafone. This is in marked contrast to our previous report — users across all four operators saw less than a point of improvement in their Video Experience when compared to that seen in our April 2019 report.
Vodafone remains king when it comes to Voice App Experience, but its competitors are snapping on its heels. In our previous report, its users were the only ones to observe a Good Voice App Experience. This means that many users were satisfied but some experienced minor quality impairments such as clicking sounds or distortion. However, our latest results show that EE and O2 users’ Voice App Experience also falls into the Good category. In addition, Vodafone’s lead has shrunk from the 1.3 points seen in our last report, to just 0.4 of a point. This has been driven by a 5 point rise in EE’s score, while Vodafone’s score rose by only 1.2 points in the same period.
|
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics |
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | ||||
|
4G Voice App Experience
| 81.7 (± 0.11) | 82.5 (± 0.09) | 79.5 (± 0.13) | 81.4 (± 0.09) |
|
3G Voice App Experience
| 71.2 (± 0.36) | 73.2 (± 0.35) | 76.4 (± 0.25) | 72.0 (± 0.62) |
| 4G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
O
O2
|
82 (± 0.11) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
83 (± 0.09) |
|
3
3
|
80 (± 0.13) |
|
E
EE
|
81 (± 0.09) |
| 3G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
O
O2
|
71 (± 0.36) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
73 (± 0.35) |
|
3
3
|
76 (± 0.25) |
|
E
EE
|
72 (± 0.62) |
Our Voice App Experience metric quantifies the quality of consumers’ experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services using apps like WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger over mobile networks. It ranks operators on a scale of 0-100 using a mean opinion score (MOS) model derived from an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) based approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters such as UDP latency and UDP packet-loss.
EE has extended its lead. Since our last report, the gap between the Download Speed Experience observed by its users and those of second-placed Vodafone has increased by 2.1 Mbps to 11.6 Mbps. EE’s lead has also widened in percentage terms, with its users on average seeing roughly 50% faster speeds than their Vodafone counterparts. Going forward, all eyes will be on whether 5G and the new spectrum that it will employ will allow the other operators to chip at EE’s stranglehold on speed.
|
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | ||||
|
4G Download Speed
| 18.0 (± 0.12) | 25.4 (± 0.19) | 22.4 (± 0.16) | 35.9 (± 0.19) |
|
3G Download Speed
| 5.0 (± 0.09) | 5.0 (± 0.08) | 7.9 (± 0.09) | 6.3 (± 0.17) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
O
O2
|
18 (± 0.12) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
25 (± 0.19) |
|
3
3
|
22 (± 0.16) |
|
E
EE
|
36 (± 0.19) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
O
O2
|
5 (± 0.09) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
5 (± 0.08) |
|
3
3
|
8 (± 0.09) |
|
E
EE
|
6 (± 0.17) |
Users of all four operators have observed an increase in their users’ average download speeds since our last report, with EE users seeing the biggest increase (3.1 Mbps), while O2 users saw theirs rise by 1.5 Mbps. In contrast, Vodafone and 3 users observed increases of 1 and 0.9 Mbps, respectively. These changes have not broken the pattern that we’ve seen since October 2018 — namely EE in first place, Vodafone in second, 3 in third and O2 bringing up the rear.
In contrast to Download Speed Experience, EE’s lead in Upload Speed Experience was static in absolute terms — 1.5 Mbps ahead of the speeds experienced by users on Vodafone’s network — and declined in percentage terms by 4 percentage points to 18% (from 22%).
|
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | ||||
|
4G Upload Speed
| 6.4 (± 0.05) | 9.1 (± 0.06) | 8.2 (± 0.06) | 10.2 (± 0.06) |
|
3G Upload Speed
| 1.4 (± 0.04) | 1.6 (± 0.05) | 1.7 (± 0.02) | 1.8 (± 0.07) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
O
O2
|
6 (± 0.05) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
9 (± 0.06) |
|
3
3
|
8 (± 0.06) |
|
E
EE
|
10 (± 0.06) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
O
O2
|
1 (± 0.04) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
2 (± 0.05) |
|
3
3
|
2 (± 0.02) |
|
E
EE
|
2 (± 0.07) |
The placings remain unchanged since our last report, with EE in first place, Vodafone in second, 3 in third and O2 in last place. Users of all four networks observed increases in upload speeds, with those on EE and Vodafone seeing increases of 1.5 Mbps; and those on 3 and O2 seeing their average upload speeds rise by 0.8 Mbps. Of the four, Vodafone users saw the biggest increase in percentage terms, with their speeds rising by an impressive 21.8% since our last report
Little has changed since our previous report with regard to Latency Experience, although EE, Vodafone and O2 users all observed modest improvements in this measure of the mobile experience. In contrast, 3 users saw a 1.1ms worsening of their Latency Experience. This caused the gap between 3 and its rivals to widen to around 9ms.
This is perhaps surprising given that Latency Experience owes much to the nature of each operator’s core network and 3 announced back in July that it had launched a “5G-ready fully integrated cloud core network” and had started migrating 4G users onto it with the migration to continue throughout 2019.
|
Latency Experience
Additional Metrics |
O
O2
|
V
Vodafone
|
3
3
|
E
EE
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in ms | ||||
|
4G Latency
| 38.1 (± 0.07) | 39.0 (± 0.08) | 48.3 (± 0.11) | 36.0 (± 0.09) |
|
3G Latency
| 72.8 (± 0.58) | 59.6 (± 0.59) | 63.0 (± 0.44) | 58.2 (± 0.83) |
| 4G Latency | in ms |
|
O
O2
|
38 (± 0.07) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
39 (± 0.08) |
|
3
3
|
48 (± 0.11) |
|
E
EE
|
36 (± 0.09) |
| 3G Latency | in ms |
|
O
O2
|
73 (± 0.58) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
60 (± 0.59) |
|
3
3
|
63 (± 0.44) |
|
E
EE
|
58 (± 0.83) |
EE remains the only operator on which our users observed 4G Availability in excess of 90% and it is now closing in on the 95% mark, given its score of 94.8%. This is up 3.6 percentage points from our last report. O2 is only 0.8 of a percentage point shy of 90%, as the 4G Availability observed by its user has risen by 3.5 percentage points since our previous report.
Vodafone is hard on O2’s heels, with its users seeing 4G Availability that is just 1.2 percentage point lower than their O2-using counterparts. Vodafone and 3 users have seen 4G Availability increase by 3.8 and 3.7 percentage points, respectively — enough to allow 3 to hit the 80% mark for this measure of the mobile experience.
As a rule of thumb, we expect improvements in 4G Availability to start to tail off as that experienced by users gets closer to 100%. However, users across all four operators observed greater increases in 4G Availability between this report and the last one six months ago in October 2019, than they did between that report and the one published in April 2019.
In our first look at the 4G Coverage Experience in the UK, our users observed a similar pattern to that seen for 4G Availability, with EE out in front, O2 in second place, Vodafone in third and 3 bringing up the rear. However, EE’s lead was narrower in this measure of the mobile experience, while the difference between O2 and Vodafone’s scores was greater. EE’s victory in this area is to be expected, given its efforts to boost its geographical coverage as part of its work to roll out the Emergency Services Network (ESN).
Opensignal’s 4G Coverage Experience metric is a measure of how Opensignal’s mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by Opensignal users of all network operators.
The mobile experience across 16 cities in the U.K. mirrors national trends to some extent, given that EE once again dominated the awards table, claiming 68 out of a possible 96 awards and drawing for another 27. Our users observed the highest 4G Availability on its network in all 16 cities. It also came near to achieving another clean sweep with Download Speed Experience and would have done so if it hadn’t tied with Vodafone in Cardiff.
Vodafone’s success at the national level in terms of Voice App Experience proved difficult to replicate at the city level. It only came first for this measure of the mobile experience in Liverpool and Birkenhead, while it and EE both racked up 15 draws.
Vodafone’s win in Liverpool and Birkenhead for Voice App Experience was the only victory by any operator other than EE across all 16 cities and the six different measures of the mobile experience that we assessed at the city level. O2 racked up 13 draws, while 3 only managed to tie once — as part of a four-way tie in Reading for Voice App Experience.
The Download Speed Experience observed between cities and operators varied hugely, ranging from 46.9 Mbps (Hull, EE) to 10.7 Mbps (Reading, O2). The Upload Speed Experience was more consistent, ranging from 12.9 Mbps (Glasgow, EE) to 4.4 Mbps (Reading, O2).
Examining the capitals of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom in turn, our users in London observed a mobile experience that played out largely along the same lines as the national results, save for Vodafone and EE statistically tying in London on Voice App Experience. Londoners also saw Vodafone close some of the gap between it and EE on Download Speed Experience, with EE users seeing speeds that were on average 7.3 Mbps higher than those observed by Vodafone users — 4.3 Mbps less than the difference of 11.6 Mbps seen nationally.
While users saw faster download speeds in London than nationally for EE, Vodafone and O2, the same couldn’t be said for 3, whose users saw an average Download Speed Experience of 16.0 Mbps in London, 3.1 Mbps less than that seen nationally, highlighting the challenges 3 faces and the importance of rolling out its 5G services throughout London quickly to boost network capacity.
Users in Belfast witnessed a three-way statistical tie between EE, Vodafone and O2 for Voice App Experience, while Vodafone and EE tied for first place on both Video Experience and Upload Speed Experience. However, EE’s lead in terms of the Download Speed Experience widened to an impressive 13 Mbps, with its users seeing an average download speed of 43.8 Mbps. In stark contrast, 3’s users were only seeing around 17.1 Mbps.
O2 performed strongly in Edinburgh — statistically tying for first place for both Latency Experience and Video Experience. It was also part of a three-way tie for Voice App Experience and while EE took home the awards for Download Speed Experience and 4G Availability, O2 statistically tied for second place with Vodafone for these two measures of the mobile experience.
In Cardiff, there was very much a two-horse race between EE and Vodafone, with both statistically tied for first place for Video Experience, Voice Experience, Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience. However, EE won outright on 4G Availability and Latency Experience.
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