These Are The British Cities With The Best And Worst 4G Coverage

Middlesborough, Sheffield and Sunderland are the best cities in the UK to get 4G coverage, according to new research.

Residents of Bournemouth, Southampton and Cardiff, meanwhile, are the most likely to find themselves in 4G blackspots.

The consumer group Which? and analyst OpenSignal have reviewed how coverage varies across 20 British cities.

While Middlesborough and Teeside benefits from 82.7% coverage, Bournemouth and Pool is covered just 67.5% of the time. London (73.6%) and Cardiff (71.8%) are in the bottom quarter of the list.

Big cities often suffer from patchier coverage because it’s harder to build towers and masts that connect mobile users.

Researchers also assessed 4G speeds across cities. Stoke-on-Trent has the fastest coverage and Brighton’s is the slowest.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, 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.”

Ofcom’s rules stipulate that “virtually all” premises will have to receive 4G coverage by the end of the year.

The Best Cities By Availability

  1. Middlesbrough/Teesside 82.7%

  2. Sheffield 79.3

  3. Sunderland 79.0

  4. Leicester 78.6

  5. Leeds/West Yorkshire 78.2 

The Worst Cities By Availability

  1. London 73.6

  2. Nottingham 73.3

  3. Cardiff 71.8

  4. Southampton/Portsmouth 69.6

  5. Bournemouth/Poole 67.5

     

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post UK, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.