Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Friday, November 14, 2014

Ofcom survey shows 4G mobile data is twice as fast as 3G in the UK

Ofcom has published its first research into the consumer experience of UK mobile broadband services since the 4G auction last year. The regulator’s own engineers conducted around 210,000 tests of 3G and 4G services on smartphones in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Manchester between March and June 2014.

Download speed, upload speed, web page loading times and latency were all measured.

According to the study, the average 4G mobile broadband download speed was 15.1 megabits per second; more than twice as fast as the average 3G speed of 6.1Mbps.

Uploads showed an even more dramatic difference: average 4G mobile upload speeds were more than seven times faster than for 3G (12.4Mbps compared to 1.6Mbps).

EE offered the fastest average 4G download speed (18.4Mbps) followed by O2 with 15.6Mbps, Vodafone with 14.3Mbps and Three with 10.7Mbps.

The fastest average 3G downloads were also offered by EE (6.8Mbps), closely followed by Vodafone (6.7 Mbps), then O2 (5.6Mbps) and Three (5.2Mbps).

Again, EE had the fastest average 4G upload speed (14.7Mbps), although Three offered the fastest average 3G upload speed (1.7Mbps).

An average web page took 0.78 seconds to load on a smartphone using a 4G mobile connection and 1.06 seconds on a 3G connection. Three offered the fastest service on both 4G and 3G.

Latency was lowest (i.e. fastest data delivery) on Three for 3G and 4G services.

Differences between cities were also notable: Edinburgh had the highest average download speeds for 4G and 3G, while London had the lowest. Conversely, 4G latency was lowest in London but highest in Edinburgh.

Ed Richards, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said “Having fast, reliable broadband on the move is vital for many consumers and businesses across the UK. Today’s research shows 4G is providing a significantly enhanced mobile broadband experience to customers, which we expect to be available to 98% of the UK population by 2017 at the latest. Improving mobile quality of service is an important area of Ofcom’s work. Our research both incentivises mobile providers to offer a higher quality of service, while helping consumers choose a mobile package that best suits their needs.”

[Report: Measuring mobile broadband performance in the UK]

Image
Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Opinion Articles

How AI technology is transforming the smartphone experience

How AI technology is transforming the smartphone experience

From improved performance to personalized recommendations, AI is enhancing the functionality and usability of smartphones for users

By incorporating advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, AI can help to optimize a smartphone's performance, providing users with a faster, more efficient and user-friendly experience.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Whatever happened to all my tech?

Whatever happened to all my tech?

Mark Bridge revisits his mobile technology reviews

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Predictions for 2016: Network Function Virtualisation, 4G throttling and video calling

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Kapture review: the audio-recording wristband

Kapture review: the audio-recording wristband

A 'recording watch' that links to your smartphone

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

Author: The Fonecast
4 Comments
Article rating: 4.0
Making mobile websites work better

Making mobile websites work better

Device detection and responsive design explained

Mark Bridge writes:

James Rosewell shows me a colourful roll of paper that's the width of an iPhone but well over three metres long. When I look closer, I can see it's a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal's mobile website. That's a lot of scrolling to do... and a pretty unfriendly user experience for anyone reading the news online. Why does it work so badly?

Author: The Fonecast
1 Comments
Article rating: 4.0
RSS
1234567810Last

Recent Podcasts

The week's top mobile news stories: Vodafone expands, EE celebrates and Europe prepares

Podcast - 19th March 2014

We begin this week's programme by looking at Vodafone's acquisition plans in Spain before moving on to discuss universal mobile chargers and 4G roaming.

There's also time to talk about UK mobile coverage, EE's new customer tracking service, contactless transactions and a smartphone camera that can identify objects hidden behind something else.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Johan Lodenius of MediaTek talks about wearable devices, smartphone evolution and the importance of driving costs down

Podcast - 13th March 2014

This year's Mobile World Congress was notable for the number of product launches by handset manufacturers. To get a better understanding of smartphone manufacturing, we spoke to Johan Lodenius of semiconductor company MediaTek.

He gave us a simple overview of how 'fabless' manufacturing works, discussed developments in smartphones and wearable devices, contemplated the end of the PC era and talked about the importance of driving costs down.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Mobile payments, new smartphones, wearable devices, connected cars, CeBIT and David Cameron

Podcast - 12th March 2014

This week's programme opens with a quick look at David Cameron's commitment to 5G technology and the Internet of Things, which was made in a speech at CeBIT.

Iain and Mark then move on to talk about the other big mobile news headlines from the past few days, including the forthcoming Paym m-payment service, new HTC and LG smartphones, the growth of Chinese handset manufacturers, wearable devices, in-car connectivity and damaged iPhones.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

The rise of OTT messaging and the future of SMS: we talk to Stacy Adams of mBlox

Podcast - 7th March 2014

Messaging was very much on the agenda at Mobile World Congress this year, following Facebook's announcement that it was planning to acquire WhatsApp in a 19 billion dollar deal. So if the future for this type of internet-based 'over the top' messaging service looks good, what does this mean for SMS?

To find out more, we spoke to Stacy Adams of mBlox to learn what was happening in the messaging world, to find out how SMS is being integrated with mobile apps - and to discover some of the other ways SMS was being used by businesses today.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

We talk about 4G LTE coverage and device sensors with OpenSignal at Mobile World Congress

Podcast - 6th March 2014

Even at Mobile World Congress, the relevance of the mobile network operator can sometimes be forgotten. So for a different perspective on this year's event, we spoke to Samuel Johnston from British mobile crowd-sourcing firm OpenSignal.

Samuel discussed the announcements from MWC14 and OpenSignal's latest report into 4G LTE coverage around the world, as well as giving us an exclusive insight into OpenSignal's next research subject.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First567810121314Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«December 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
2526272829301
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
303112345

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement