Britain has spent billions building a digital economy while leaving large parts of the country struggling to make a telephone call.
Market analyst Ookla ranks the UK behind Italy and Romania for mobile performance. Britain has also fallen below the United States, Portugal and Poland since 2018.
According to the Financial Times, research from Opensignal is even less flattering, placing the UK last in Europe and 57th worldwide for overall mobile network quality.
The situation has become so peculiar that 4G signals on London Underground platforms are around 1.6 times stronger than those available on the streets above.
Ofcom technology and mobile director Andy Sutton said operators had improved geographical coverage, but customers were still receiving an inconsistent service. The regulator admits UK mobile quality is frequently not good enough.
Mobile operators blame restrictive planning rules, insufficient network capacity and low consumer prices that leave less cash available for upgrades.
Industry body Mobile UK estimates that 95 per cent of planned network improvements involve upgrading existing sites. More than 16,100 of those projects would still require planning permission or prior approval.
Approval rates vary wildly between councils. Richmond-upon-Thames rejected 67 per cent of applications over five years, while Southampton rejected none, although listed buildings and protected areas account for part of the difference.
Operators want towers to reach 30 metres outside protected areas and 25 metres within them. They are seeking permission to increase rooftop masts from six to eight metres.
Redevelopment creates another headache because building owners can force operators to leave sites with 18 months’ notice. VodafoneThree currently has 80 London sites offline for this reason.
Virgin Media O2 said one Paddington site had been out of service since 2018, with 13 attempts to replace it defeated by planning objections. Removing a mast takes moments; replacing it can apparently require a geological age.
Operators have spent more than £2 billion removing Huawei equipment after the government obeyed a US command to remove “high-risk suppliers” from UK mobile networks by 2027.
The government launched a Mobile Market Review in February to examine investment, regulation and network quality. The consultation acknowledged that operators had faced a difficult investment environment.
Ofcom found that the real cost of an average mobile package fell by 20 per cent between 2020 and 2025, although data consumption more than doubled. Cheap contracts pleased customers but left operators complaining that Britain expected Scandinavian coverage on supermarket tariff money.
The government may loosen planning rules or allow more differentiated services under net-neutrality regulations. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham must now decide whether voters prefer higher bills or mobile networks that occasionally function outside a railway station loo.
