Coventry is ranked as the best UK city for mobile network performance, whilst London and Birmingham lag behind many of the UK’s towns and cities, reinforcing the need for 5G implementation. New data from performance bench-marking firm RootMetrics, has ranked the 16 most populous cities based on: overall performance, network reliability, speed, mobile internet and call and text testing.

Key highlights from the latest data report show:

  • For the first time Coventry is the top performing UK city for mobile performance even though it has one of the smallest populations out of the 16 cities tested
  • Worryingly London and Birmingham remain amongst the UK’s worst cities for mobile network performance, ranking fifteenth overall out of the sixteen cities tested
  • Leicester logged impressive scores in testing, securing its position as the second-best city for mobile performance
While various operators claim they’re the fastest and most reliable, evidence suggests mobile experience can be far worse in densely populated major cities struggling with modern day demands for increased connectivity regardless. This reinforces the need for 5G in major cities to help alleviate demands for connectivity, speed and reliability.

The RootMetrics Best Cities report uses the very latest smartphones to mimic activities consumers use their mobiles for, both day and night, across the big four operators (EE, O2, Three, Vodafone) to measure performance.

Kevin Hasley, RootMetrics Head of Product, said: “In an ever-growing connected world, the demand for fast and reliable mobile experiences is both business critical and vital for consumers. What our latest set of data reveals is that in some of the largest cities in the UK, network operators have to work harder than ever to meet the increasing demands of consumers.

The introduction of 5G technology will offer opportunities for the UK’s major cities to liberate themselves from underachieving network performance. Highly populated cities will be the first to deploy the small cell infrastructure required to deliver 5G coverage. As a result, the operators should be able to deliver the strong performance that users expect in major economic areas.

Reliability is important for consumer satisfaction. Coventry, Manchester and Leicester all performed well and consumers and businesses should reap the benefits in those cities.”