United Kingdom
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
United Kingdom
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
3 users see the fastest 5G speeds in the UK
3 is the new outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award and has successfully retained its grip on the 5G Download Speed Award. It wins 5G Upload Speed with a score of 17.5Mbps, giving it a lead of 1.6Mbps over former joint winner, EE. This change was mainly driven by a 0.9Mbps (5.6%) drop in our EE users’ average 5G upload speeds. 3 comes top for 5G Download Speed with a score of 205.5Mbps — making it the only U.K. operator to exceed 200Mbps — and wins with a lead of 91.1Mbps over second-placed Vodafone. However, both 3 and EE’s scores are down from the last report, with our users observing declines of 32.2Mbps (13.6%) and 22.8Mbps (18.7%), respectively. In contrast, Vodafone’s and O2’s 5G Download Speed scores have risen by 13.8Mbps (13.7%) and 1.9Mbps (2.6%).
EE wins the Live Video Experience award outright, but now ties with Vodafone on Video Experience
EE is the first U.K. operator to win the new Live Video Experience award, doing so with a score of 58.9 points on a 100-point scale, while Vodafone follows in second place with 57.7 points. Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network, in contrast to Video Experience which focuses on on-demand video streaming. Vodafone and EE now share the Video Experience award with statistically tied scores of 62.8-63.5 points, a change from the last report when EE won the award outright.
The best multiplayer mobile gaming experience is with EE
EE is the new outright winner of the overall Games Experience award and has also kept hold of the 5G Games Experience award from last time around. It now wins Games Experience with a score of 69.7 points on a 100-point scale, commanding a lead of 1.4 points over Vodafone, which shared the award with EE in the last report. EE comes top for 5G Games Experience with 78.2 points, followed by Vodafone and 3 in joint second place with statistically tied scores of 75.3-75.6 points.
Vodafone reclaims the Voice App Experience award from EE
Our Vodafone users have gone back to having the best overall experience when using over-the-top voice apps in the U.K., after EE took the Voice App Experience award from Vodafone in the previous report. Vodafone wins this time around with a score of 77.5 points on a 100-point scale, giving it a slender lead of 0.4 points over EE. All four operators place in the Acceptable (74-80) category.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
EE continues to reap the largest harvest from our awards table — this time around, the operator wins seven awards outright and three jointly — slightly down from the last report when it won eight outright but shared first place across five categories. Our users on EE observe the fastest average overall speeds and the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games (both overall and on 5G). The operator is also the first U.K. operator to win the Live Video Experience award and also claims the Consistent Quality award, which replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards that featured in previous reports.
3 has the next largest haul, with its award wins concentrated in 5G Experience categories. It wins three awards outright — both 5G speed awards (5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed) and Availability, and is a joint winner for 5G Video Experience, 5G Live Video Experience and 5G Availability.
Vodafone has returned to being the sole winner of the Voice App Experience award and collects joint wins across four categories, including sharing both Video Experience awards. O2 collects just one shared victory — as part of a four-way tie for 5G Availability.
Opensignal’s new live video experience metrics use tests that specifically measure the aspects of mobile network performance that are critical to real-time video, such as live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate. Detailed studies allow us to understand how these parameters affect the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. Live events are significantly more challenging for streaming companies than on-demand video because of the need for the considerable back-end infrastructure that ensures reliable and high-quality distribution in real-time.
The live experience matters even more to mobile users because if there are any delays, or even small hiccups, in the production process or network, users’ experience will be ruined. For example, if a user hears their neighbors cheer a winning goal in a football match, before they are able to watch the incident happen firsthand.
While the biggest recent news was the official announcement in June 2023 that Vodafone and Three are seeking to merge their UK operations, Vodafone has also been busy with other projects. It announced at the end of August that it had begun replacing legacy Huawei technology across 2,500 sites in Wales and the South West — starting in Devon — with Open RAN (O-RAN) technology. In addition, Vodafone launched its commercial 5G standalone access service in June 2023.
EE announced in June 2023 that it had added a further 411 small cells to its network up from the 200 it announced back in March 2022, and plans to add hundreds more in the next 18 months. EE’s small cells use the operator’s 1800MHz and 2600MHz spectrum combined with license-exempt 5G spectrum to serve users in what would otherwise be densely congested areas.
O2 announced in September 2023 that it will begin switching off its 3G service in 2025 and expects to complete the process by the end of 2025. The operator claims the switch-off will allow it to improve the speeds and reliability experienced by its users, while reducing energy consumption.
In this report we examine 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 starting on June 1, 2023 and ending on August 29, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
EE and Vodafone share the Video Experience award with statistically tied scores of 62.8-63.5 points on a 100-point scale — a change from the last report, when EE won the award outright with a lead of two points over Vodafone. 3 and O2 share last place with 59.2-60.1 points. Despite declines of 1.5-2.8 points on three out of four operators — our O2 users’ scores remain statistically unchanged from last time — all four operators continue to place in the Good (58-68) category. This means that our users in the U.K. are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
EE is the first operator in the U.K. to win the new Live Video Experience award. It does so with a score of 58.9 points on a 100-point scale, while Vodafone follows in second place with 57.7 points. 3 and O2 are in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 55.6 and 54.5 points. Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
EE is the new outright winner of the overall Games Experience award. It comes top with a score of 69.7 points on a 100-point scale, commanding a lead of 1.4 points over Vodafone, which shared the award with EE in the last report. O2 and 3 are in joint last place with statistically tied scores of 61.9-62.2 points — another change from the previous report, when they were in third and fourth place, respectively. EE and Vodafone place in the Fair (65-75) category, while 3 and O2 earn Poor (40-65) ratings instead.
A Fair rating indicates that users find the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases, the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users feeling like they have control over the game. The majority of players notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Vodafone has reclaimed the overall Voice App Experience award from EE after losing it to EE in the previous report. Vodafone comes top with a score of 77.5 points on a 100-point scale, giving it a slender lead of 0.4 points over EE. O2 and 3 are in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 75.8 and 75.3 points. All four operators place in the Acceptable (74-80) category.
This means that some users are satisfied and listeners are generally able to comprehend without repetition. However, perceptible call quality impairments are experienced by some users. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion are heard, and/or the volume may be sufficiently loud.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
EE remains the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, continuing the operator’s unbroken string of victories in this category. However, a 7.6Mbps (16%) decline in our EE users’ average overall download speeds from the last report, has halved EE’s lead over second-placed 3, despite 3’s speeds falling by 0.9Mbps (2.7%). EE now wins by a margin of 5.6Mbps, down from the lead of 12.2Mbps it enjoyed last time around. Vodafone’s and O2’s scores have increased by 1.6-2Mbps, and the two operators remain in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 27.9Mbps and 20.9Mbps.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
EE remains undefeated for Upload Speed Experience, winning this time with a score of 9.3Mbps and a lead of 1.3Mbps over second-placed Vodafone — slightly down from 1.6Mbps from the last report. 3 and O2 are in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 6.3Mbps and 5Mbps.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Regional Analysis
EE performs strongly regionally — across the 84 regional overall experience awards, there are eight that EE does not win either solely or jointly. It wins all but one regional award for Download Speed Experience outright — tying with 3 in Yorkshire and Humber. EE wins 10 out of 12 regional awards for Upload Speed Experience outright, but shares the winners’ podium with Vodafone in Scotland and Wales. The fastest average overall download and upload speeds are seen by our EE users in London — 49.2Mbps and 12.4Mbps, respectively.
Vodafone, the national winner of the Voice App Experience award, racks up six outright regional wins in the same category, while sharing first place in a further five regions. EE is the only other operator to win a regional Voice App Experience award outright, doing so in London. This is in stark contrast to the previous report, when EE won seven regional awards outright.
For Games Experience, EE and Vodafone each collect one outright win — London for EE and Wales for Vodafone — and share the remaining awards. EE is the only operator to collect an outright regional win for Live Video Experience, doing so in Eastern and Wales. It picks up 10 joint wins, while Vodafone, 3 and O2 claim seven, five and two, respectively.
In most of the 12 regions, the Video Experience awards are won by three or more operators. However, Vodafone is the outright winner in the South West, while EE and Vodafone share first place in London, the North West, and the South East.
Regional Analysis Summary: United Kingdom, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2023
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- East Midlands
- Eastern
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- London
- North East
- North West
- Northern Ireland
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- Scotland
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5G Experience
National Analysis
The statistical tie that our users observed in the last report between 3 and EE has widened to include Vodafone. As a result, 3, EE and Vodafone are joint winners of the 5G Video Experience award with scores of 72.4-72.6 points on a 100-point scale. O2 is in last place with 71.2 points. As was the case in the previous report, all four operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category.
This means that they are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. 3, EE, O2 and Vodafone all place one category higher for 5G Video Experience than they do for overall Video Experience — Good (58-68).
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
3 and Vodafone are joint winners of the new 5G Live Video Experience award — they share it with statistically tied scores of 64.3-64.8 points on a 100-point scale. Similarly, EE and O2 are tied for last place with scores of 63.7-64 points. Opensignal’s 5G Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's 5G network.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
5G Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world live video streams when they were connected to 5G.
National Analysis
EE holds onto the 5G Games Experience award, winning it outright for the second time in a row. The operator comes top with a score of 78.2 points on a 100-point scale, while 3 and Vodafone share second place with statistically tied scores of 75.3-75.6 points. O2 brings up the rear with 72.8 points and is the only operator to place in the Fair (65-75) category as all three of its rivals earn Good (75-85) ratings instead.
Placing in the Good category means that most of our users deem the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users do not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
A Fair rating indicates that users found their experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users feeling like they have control over the game. The majority of players notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world. Calculating 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
EE wins 5G Voice App Experience outright for the second time in a row, after sharing the award with O2 in the September 2022 report. EE scores 79.6 points on a 100-point scale, while O2 and 3 share second place with statistically tied scores of 78.9-79.1 points. Vodafone is in last place with 78 points.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
3 is the sole winner of the 5G Download Speed award for the fourth time in a row. It comes top this time with a score of 205.5Mbps — making it the only U.K. operator to exceed 200Mbps — and has a lead of 91.1Mbps over second-placed Vodafone. EE is in third place with 99.5Mbps and O2 places last with 77Mbps.
Both 3’s and EE’s scores are down from the last report, with our users observing declines of 32.2Mbps (13.6%) and 22.8Mbps (18.7%), respectively. In contrast, Vodafone’s and O2’s 5G Download Speed scores have risen by 13.8Mbps (13.7%) and 1.9Mbps (2.6%).
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
3 is the outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award — a change from the last report when it shared the award with EE. This change was mainly driven by a 0.9Mbps (5.6%) drop in our EE users’ average 5G upload speeds. 3 wins with a score of 17.5Mbps, giving it a lead of 1.6Mbps over EE’s 15.9Mbps. Vodafone is in third place with 14.9Mbps and O2 places last with 10Mbps.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Regional Analysis
3 takes home the most regional 5G awards — out of the 84 that are up for the taking, there are only 15 that 3 does not win (either outright or jointly). 3 wins 11 out of 12 regional 5G Download Speed awards outright, only sharing the winners’ podium with Vodafone in Northern Ireland. 3 places first across all regions analyzed for 5G Upload Speed, but only wins outright in the East Midlands, the North West, Scotland, the South East and the West Midlands. EE has three outright wins and 43 joint victories, while Vodafone picks up 42 joint wins, while O2 claims 27 joint wins.
EE does well in London, winning the 5G Video Experience and 5G Games Experience awards outright while sharing the 5G Live Video Experience award with Vodafone, the 5G Upload Speed award with 3 and being part of a three-way tie for 5G Voice App Experience alongside 3 and O2. EE also is the sole winner of the 5G Games Experience award in the North West.
Regional Analysis Summary: United Kingdom, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2023
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- East Midlands
- Eastern
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- London
- North East
- North West
- Northern Ireland
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S-Z
- Scotland
- South East
- South West
- Wales
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and Humber
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Coverage
3
EE
O2
Vodafone
National Analysis
3 remains the only U.K. operator to win the Availability award. This time around it wins with a score of 99.1%, while EE is in second place with 98.5%. O2 and Vodafone statistically tie for last place with scores of 97.3-97.5%. Availability is the proportion of time that our users spend with a 3G or better connection.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
O2 has joined the already crowded winners’ podium for 5G Availability as the three-way statistical tie that existed in the last report has widened to include it. All four of the U.K.’s national operators share the 5G Availability award with statistically tied scores of 10-10.6%. 5G Availability is the proportion of time that our 5G users have an active 5G connection.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Regional Analysis
3, the winner of the national Availability award, wins all the regional awards for this metric either outright or jointly. It wins outright in the East Midlands, the North West, the South West and Wales, along with Yorkshire and Humber. In the remaining regions, it shares the winners’ podium with EE.
Things are much less clear-cut with 5G Availability. O2 is the only operator to win outright regionally, doing so in the North East. The operator also racks up seven joint wins. On the other hand, 3 is a joint winner in 10 out of 12 regions — while EE and Vodafone pick up seven and six joint wins, respectively.
Regional Analysis Summary: United Kingdom, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2023
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A-I
- East Midlands
- Eastern
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J-R
- London
- North East
- North West
- Northern Ireland
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S-Z
- Scotland
- South East
- South West
- Wales
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and Humber
in East Midlands
in East Midlands
in Eastern
in Eastern
in London
in London
in North East
in North East
in North West
in North West
in Northern Ireland
in Northern Ireland
in Scotland
in Scotland
in South East
in South East
in South West
in South West
in Wales
in Wales
in West Midlands
in West Midlands
in Yorkshire and Humber
in Yorkshire and Humber
Consistency
National Analysis
EE is the outright winner of the Consistent Quality award, which replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards that feature in previous reports. EE comes top with a score of 72.7%, giving it a lead of 6.4 percentage points over second-placed 3’s 66.3%. Vodafone comes third with 64.7% and O2 places last with 62.8%.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
Regional Analysis
EE, the national winner of the Consistent Quality award, comes top for this measure of the mobile experience across all 12 regions. 3 comes second in the most regions — seven to O2’s three and Vodafone’s two. EE wins by margins of 2.3-8.7 percentage points, with its largest leads being in Northern Ireland (8.7 percentage points versus Vodafone) and the West Midlands (7.5 percentage points versus 3). EE’s smallest winning margin is against 3 in Wales.
Regional Analysis Summary: United Kingdom, Mobile Network Experience Report, September 2023
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A-I
- East Midlands
- Eastern
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J-R
- London
- North East
- North West
- Northern Ireland
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S-Z
- Scotland
- South East
- South West
- Wales
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and Humber
in East Midlands
in Eastern
in London
in North East
in North West
in Northern Ireland
in Scotland
in South East
in South West
in Wales
in West Midlands
in Yorkshire and Humber
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience