UK Has Worse Mobile Broadband Service Than Mongolia
New research reveals that the United Kingdom has slower wireless broadband networks than that of Uzbekistan and Mongolia, according to new findings the GSM Association’s Wireless Intelligence.
With the telecoms regulator Ofcom and UK network carriers poised to move Britain onto improved 4G LTE services in 2014, mobile users in Uzbekistan, Poland and other countries are already using commercial rollouts of the technology.
In comparison, the UK is currently two generations behind by still relying on HSPA 3G technology. According to mobile network 3, users on their service can get access of up to 5.6Mbits/sec, but average download speeds are 1.5Mbits/sec.
By contrast, trials of LTE by O2 have demonstrated download speeds of between 65Mbits/sec and 150Mbits/sec.
HSPA+ is currently being lined-up as stepping stone technology to try and bridge the gap until the deployment of LTE technology, and offers significant throughput improvements on its predecessor, with rates starting from 14.4Mbits/sec.
HSPA+ services are expected to arrive in the UK in order to alleviate network congestion, but no carrier has so far announced a commercial launch.
No surprises here as the UK suffers from poor regulation which allow networks to take advantage of this – 3 being the worst culprits. HSPA is widely available on 3 but chronic oversubscription and harsh throttling as a result of this means that many 3 mobile broadband customers suffer an awful service. The situation isn’t helped by 3 customer services who have a terrible reputation for being difficult to deal with.
I agree with everything that Clare posted. 3 are awful and should definitely be avoided.