Belfast beats London as best city in the UK for mobile network

BELFAST has been named the Best UK City for Mobile Network Performance as London, surprisingly, takes the title for worst.

In the report RootMetrics by IHS Markit, mobile networks relied upon by millions of consumers across 16 of the UK’s most populous cities were studied and Belfast was ranked as the best city for mobile network performance, with Edinburgh ranked second. Sheffield was third, followed by Glasgow in fourth and Manchester in fifth.

Belfast climbed to the top of overall rankings “largely due to leading results in network reliability and data performance”, stated the report.

It’s ascension to the top position was largely due to improved

Strong performance: Kevin Hasley

download speeds from three out of four carriers here and strong call and data reliability results across the networks.

Other larger metro areas experienced mixed results, with one of the largest populations in the UK, Birmingham, declining in overall performance rankings, falling from 10th to 14th.

Factors causing London’s poor results include the large number of tall buildings and vast crowds there which can “create disruptions for network signal” according to the report.

Kevin Hasley, head of product at RootMetrics and executive director of performance benchmark at IHS Markit, said: “As the capital city and business epicentre of the UK, you would expect connectivity that is equal to or better than rivals, but that hasn’t been the case to this point.

“5G may well be the cure London needs, but currently performance in cities like Belfast and Edinburgh has been stronger.

“It will be interesting to see how the cities at the top end of the rankings encourage investment in new infrastructure to support 5G and thus maintain their dominance.”